Juicy J, Fat Trel
Friday, March 2 at Epic Theatre aka Hat Factory
On Friday, March 2, fans gathered outside of the Hat Factory for the much-anticipated show that everyone had been hearing about for weeks. If you were lucky enough to get a ticket for the sold-out show, you got a firsthand experience of a crowd that, for the most part, paid more attention to what was in their rolling papers than who was on stage.
Juicy J, Fat Trel
Friday, March 2 at Epic Theatre aka Hat Factory
On Friday, March 2, fans gathered outside of the Hat Factory for the much-anticipated show that everyone had been hearing about for weeks. If you were lucky enough to get a ticket for the sold-out show, you got a firsthand experience of a crowd that, for the most part, paid more attention to what was in their rolling papers than who was on stage.
There were various opening acts, but it wasn’t until Washington DC rapper Fat Trel took the stage that everyone was reminded why they were there. Fat Trel took everyone by surprise as he hit the stage with original material that showed RVA why he has been getting a lot of buzz this past year. He finally got the crowd hyped–maybe even a little too hyped, as things were becoming too uncomfortable all around the club. The attention of the crowd was drawn away from the performance, as security kept constantly busy telling people to stay off the stage. At one point, shit got so bad that the owner of the club himself was out trying to bounce people of the stage. There was no space to do anything.
Eventually things were semi-cleared, at least enough for Juicy J to hit the stage. This past year Juicy J has been keeping us trippy with his three mixtape releases, Rubba Band Business, Rubba Band Business 2, and Blue Dream & Lean. All three of the projects are collaborations with Virginia native Lex Luger, and give listeners that signature Three 6 Mafia feel with a blend of the new age trap sound that has been taking over the hip hop scene.
When Juicy J jumped out on stage, everyone’s night was rejuvenated, and the crowd started to go hard as fuck. When the hip hop legend was not chugging gin straight out the bottle, he was hitting us over the head with classic snippets of old school Three 6 Mafia hits we grew up with, along with new hits that kept our attention. The show was hectic as fuck throughout, but Juicy J’s crazy antics during his performance made it a good time for everyone. It was exactly what I expected, and although it was over quickly, we got to see a pioneer of the hip-hop game wild out like we knew he could.
Words by Henry Soza
Video by VanWilderLife
