Pusha T conquered Atlanta’s heart this past Sunday night with his dynamic performance. I’ll admit, I’m not the most hardcore Pusha T fan, but after watching the show, I was definitely impressed and yearning for more. I’ve enjoyed his lyrical style and collaborative tracks, but I never had a chance to see Pusha T live in his element. I am happy to say that he came with his best for the all the ATLiens at the show.
I walked into Center Stage fashionably late and I could hear the crowd raging inside the venue. Met Ian at the bar, grabbed a couple of drinks and followed him up to the private sky box. I immediately became excited as I saw CyHi the Prynce and Pusha T massacring their collab performance on stage. I sat down with Bem for a moment, then was propelled by the energy in the room to stand and feel closer to Pusha and the rest of the crowd. I’m not use to being so far away from the action. Normally I wrestle my way to the front of the crowd and enjoy enough moving space to dance in the process of the performance. Not this time. Instead I stood away from the crowd looking at them from a far enjoying the simple pleasure of having the option of sitting down and lounging whenever I pleased. I’m still not quite sure which one I prefer. Ian claims “This is how the Tomorrows do it.”
While smoking and sipping, I enjoyed being guided back and forth through the set list. His track-list featured many solo bangers off the Wrath of Caine LP and MNINM. Sean Falyon and Fly Union opened for him, with a surprise performance by Two-9 and appearance by Wiz Khalifa. As I looked out to the crowd that engulfed the stage, there was a lot of diversity that spanned every color pallet, style, and sub-genre of Atlanta culture. They screamed in unison for his encore and I couldn’t help but to get extra hyped with his reemergence onto the stage as he performed “Grindin’“.
Afterwards I met and spoke with the event curator [and member of the Tomorrows], Richard Dunn. From our conversation, what I found most interesting was his reason for bringing Pusha T to Atlanta… he simply said “I’m a fan, I respect his craft… and I thought it would be fun.”
Indeed, it was and in the words of Richard, it was “a cool risk to take.”
