So the first time I heard about this cat was in this post. I'm old (40+) but I take an interest in hip-hop and the direction it's taking. I checked out "17" and it was absolutely not what I was expecting. It's not an instant classic or anything but it wasn't terrible by any means. His stuff came off more like the Weeknd than any rapper.
On Friday, I saw that he was doing a free show here at the Orpheum, which is small joint in Ybor City. They say that their capacity is 750 people. Ybor is a historical Cuban community that has an entertainment district that's been called a poor man's Bourbon Street. It has a lot of bars, restaurants, clubs, tattoo shops, breweries, etc. It's pretty eclectic.
I thought about going to the show but since it was free, I'd have to get there at 7:00 PM and probably wait around til midnight for him to come out to perform. No thanks.
However, I was in Ybor anyway watching the Michigan-Florida game and stayed for the FSU-Alabama game. At some point, I saw police lights down by the Orpheum. No big deal. There's been trouble in Ybor here & there so a police presence isn't weird.
I posted up outside on the patio at a spot to watch FSU-Bama. There was a police helicopter circling around overhead so I figured that whatever was going on down there must be bigger than I expected.
Like I said, I'm old and probably very out of touch with who's hot and who's up & coming. Still, a response like this for this kid is really surprising to me.
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