Curren$y has always been a classic to me. I remember being late in 11th grade because I just had to give “Elevator Muzik” another listen.
Curren$y has always been a classic to me. I remember being late in 11th grade because I just had to give “Elevator Muzik” another listen. When I worked for Warner Music Group in college, The Stoned Immaculate was my favorite album to push. Throughout my developmental years, it’s true that the New Orleans MC has always held a special place in my heart.
Now, while I’m not the type to constantly tweet out #JetLife, I have a deep respect for the longevity and strong following Curren$y has built. After all, it’s not the type of artist that has any one-hit wonders or platinum albums. No, Curren$y has been delivering the same classic style for years, which in turn is what’s made him so great.
This past Thursday was my second time seeing Curren$y at The National. Upon arriving, it was surprising to see that the audience varied in age from old to young. For what some outside the genre would consider ‘stoner rap’, the audience is usually no older than 22. But Curren$y isn’t weed rap…but rather just a rapper who happens to smoke a ton of weed.
The Jet Life Founder took the stage dressed in a blue Polo Oxford, green pants, Adidas Blue High Tops, and a New York Mets hat. It’s true that while fashion (and rap styles) have changed, Curren$y’s kept it constant. In yet, he’s never been out of style.
As the crowd cheered, SpittaAndretti asked “So, y’all want to hear my old shit or my new shit? Oh, you want to hear that old shit? Well alright then”.
Immediately I knew this was a show for his fans rather than his label. Instead of being forced to only play his recently released Canal Street Confidential, Curren$y was out to put on a performance. Something he definitely knew a thing or two about.
With the grace of a Southern Gentleman meets street-intellect, Curren$y commanded the stage with diving straight into “King Kong” from Pilot Talk. He then transitioned into some of his most famous mixtape verses over household-known instrumentals, as well as other cult-classic hits off Covert Coupe (with The Alchemist) like “Smoke Break” and “BBS”.
“Oh, y’all forgot about ‘BBS’, huh?” he interjects as the audience went crazy.
It shows his clever wordplay naturally plays in conversation as well, playing this game with fans like: “Oh, you want my classics? How deep can you go?”
Keeping the joke up, Curren$y finally asked “Y’all like that old shit? Can I play this new shit or y’all ain’t know it?”
Even still, Curren$y bounced around playing fan favorites like “Showroom” (where the crowd went apeshit as he let “Word to Pusha-T and that’s legal drug dealing” hang with no beat, a nod to the Virginia native) and “Jet Life” off The Stoned Immaculate. He also did some tracks off Cigarette Boats with Harry Fraud (which he claims that’s all his fans asked for on Instagram).
Towards the end of the show, his storytelling in and out of his music only got better and better. He let us know that the best weed from dispensaries isn’t up front, but in the back of the shop. The pinnacle of this though had to be when he stopped one line into Pilot Talk III’s “Opening Credits”.
“Fuck y’all smiling for? This is one of the most impressive raps I’ve ever written. You’re talking about a man that had to sell his lowrider. No lights in the crib…and y’all are smiling?”
But before following up with “Drive By”, he told a great closing story about how the suits at his label wanted to smoke his weed.
“They heard that 808 Mafia ad-lib and said (in an uptight, WASP-like voice) ‘damn, Spitta that’s a Trap beat, do you know how to handle that?’. After they heard my verse, they wanted to smoke the weed that I was on”.
Halfway through the song he stopped to let the audience know:
“Y’all are really going to think I’m a gangsta…but you can truly kill your enemies by stuntin’ on them to death”.
That’s the core to his whole Jet Life fanbase. It’s not about being high, but feeling high. The essence of Curren$y’s message is always about holding true to your individuality and valuing it tremendously. And as an artist that came up during the exit of the ‘mixtape era’ and into the ‘free album era’, Curren$y’s cult following has held true to him as long as he’s been true to himself.
His career is actually pretty remarkable considering how much pressure labels have put on him. In yet, it’s his authenticity to why he’s remained classic, and why he puts on one of the best hip hop shows on tour right now.
