YG Sets an Easy Vibe in Seattle

YG w/ Kamiyah, Mozzy, and Eearz
WaMu Theater, Seattle, WA
01.18.19

When you think of the most notable cities for gang activity in the US, Seattle isn’t usually one of the first to come up. But when YG came through WaMu in January, you never would’ve guessed that. With his entire crowd dressed head to toe in red to support the rapper, it almost looked more like a fashion show than a concert.

The Stay Dangerous tour opened up with Eearz, a ball of energy that would not hold still. A powerhouse of an opener for the night, Eearz had the crowd feeling like they’d been listening to his music for years. The songs were catchy and high-energy, and even with less than 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, it felt like everyone in the room knew who he was.

Next up was Kamiyah, easily the coolest girl in the room. Dressed in a purple and black jumpsuit, she had so much confidence that she was entertaining to watch even without the backup dancers twerking behind her. She carried a carefree vibe with “How Does it Feel?” that was a nice breath of fresh air among the aggressive rap clouding most of the night.

Our last opener for the night, Mozzy, was all smiles with his whole crew on the stage with him. His set made the crowd feel like they were just hanging out with Mozzy and his friends, rather than watching a performance. They were all laid back, Snapchatting the whole set and lightly bouncing around to the easy beats. His set definitely had tones of mid-2000’s rap, clean cut and easy to follow, which was refreshing among so much of the Soundcloud mumble rap around right now.

By the time YG came out for his set, stiletto heels were coming off and hair was being tied up as everyone was ready to go off. While most of his music comes off pretty dark sounding, YG’s set was shockingly light feeling. There were a few ragers, but for the most part, everything was easy to vibe to as they all watched the rapper dance on stage.

Strutting around in shiny black dress shoes and bright red Dickies, YG matched his fans with all the red clothing. By the time “Big Bank” closed the night out, smiles flooded the room with a happy energy ready to rap along to the lyrics everyone’s been hearing for months.

Review and photos by Lulu Dawson