Slim Jesus Concert Review
Slim Jesus
December 20th, 2015
The Riot Room - Kansas City, MO
Back in August social media erupted after Slim Jesus posted his debut video for "Drill Time." The song features lyrics about shooting people, hating cops, getting head, and wearing designer clothing done in the fashion of Chicago drill rap. These things are abundant in mainstream rap today. What made Slim Jesus stand out was that he was an 18 year-old white kid from Ohio who has never even been arrested. Hip-hop fans went back and forth on the subject for weeks until he slowly faded from the spotlight.
Fast-forward to last night, December 20th. At exactly midnight Jesus and his crew (consisting of a few other white teenagers with a laptop and a bigger fellow wearing a hat that said "security") quietly took the stage. The boy entrusted with the laptop played some popular rap songs for the crowd as Jesus and his disciples drew out their game plan. After a few minutes, a rapper traveling with Jesus (whose name I didn't catch) performed a couple of his own songs. The rapper then stayed on stage to act as Jesus' hypeman for the set.
Slim Jesus asked the crowd of about 50 if they were ready to turn up and was not greeted with much excitement. The majority of room was nudging their friends while snickering and getting their phones ready to record. Jesus then pulled a bold move, one unthinkable to almost any performer, and dropped the beat for his biggest song first, "Drill Time." While it was often hard to discern Jesus' small voice from that of the backing track (something I noticed multiple times throughout the 30 minute set), Jesus delivered the song with as much force as a skinny, 5'7" guy can muster. His hypeman barked the hooks along with him while swinging his arms low in front of himself as much as humanly possible, something that certainly didn't hurt considering he was nearly twice the weight of Jesus.
The rest of the set included five more original songs and a full-song cover of Post Malone's "White Iverson." Perhaps Slim Jesus feels a bit of camaraderie with this year's other white rapper with a viral hit. That was one bit of awkwardness that Jesus' set brought to The Riot Room. At another point a girl near the front was taking a selfie with him in the background. He then invited her and her friends to stand on the stage, probably hoping that they'd dance to his music. They ended up standing mostly still, fixing their hair, and taking pictures on stage for the remainder of the show.
The crowd had thinned out considerably to about 30 by my guess near the end. Slim Jesus announced that he was through with the tracklist but asked if we wanted to hear "Drill Time" again. We prayed for it and Jesus blessed us with it. (Fun fact: Post Malone performed his hit "White Iverson" twice at his show this year at The Granada!) Jesus then thanked the crowd for coming out because he couldn't be touring the country without people like us coming out to see him. I also noticed him crack a few honest smiles while pretending to swerve a car around stage and rapping his violent, drug-heavy lyrics earlier in the performance. He offered to take pictures with anyone who wanted one (which I may have taken him up on).
Yeah, he gets a lot of shit online for rapping about shit he doesn't do in real life and for looking like Caillou (deservedly), but at the end of the day it seems like he just enjoys trap music and that his heart is in the right place. SHUTTLECOCK will always be there for you, Slim Jesus.
Note: Local rapper Loogey also performed an opening set. The heavily tattooed '80's baby rapped a lot about smoking weed, getting drunk, and other popular rap things. Many of his hooks were half-sung and very catchy, although a few of the songs dragged on by the end. He also sent multiple shots at the man he was opening for, proclaiming that he (himself, Loogey) was the only white rapper he cared about. I am still interested in him and would definitely be open to seeing another performance by him.
Full photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/118613296@N06/albums/72157661933803489
December 20th, 2015
The Riot Room - Kansas City, MO
Back in August social media erupted after Slim Jesus posted his debut video for "Drill Time." The song features lyrics about shooting people, hating cops, getting head, and wearing designer clothing done in the fashion of Chicago drill rap. These things are abundant in mainstream rap today. What made Slim Jesus stand out was that he was an 18 year-old white kid from Ohio who has never even been arrested. Hip-hop fans went back and forth on the subject for weeks until he slowly faded from the spotlight.
Fast-forward to last night, December 20th. At exactly midnight Jesus and his crew (consisting of a few other white teenagers with a laptop and a bigger fellow wearing a hat that said "security") quietly took the stage. The boy entrusted with the laptop played some popular rap songs for the crowd as Jesus and his disciples drew out their game plan. After a few minutes, a rapper traveling with Jesus (whose name I didn't catch) performed a couple of his own songs. The rapper then stayed on stage to act as Jesus' hypeman for the set.
Slim Jesus asked the crowd of about 50 if they were ready to turn up and was not greeted with much excitement. The majority of room was nudging their friends while snickering and getting their phones ready to record. Jesus then pulled a bold move, one unthinkable to almost any performer, and dropped the beat for his biggest song first, "Drill Time." While it was often hard to discern Jesus' small voice from that of the backing track (something I noticed multiple times throughout the 30 minute set), Jesus delivered the song with as much force as a skinny, 5'7" guy can muster. His hypeman barked the hooks along with him while swinging his arms low in front of himself as much as humanly possible, something that certainly didn't hurt considering he was nearly twice the weight of Jesus.The rest of the set included five more original songs and a full-song cover of Post Malone's "White Iverson." Perhaps Slim Jesus feels a bit of camaraderie with this year's other white rapper with a viral hit. That was one bit of awkwardness that Jesus' set brought to The Riot Room. At another point a girl near the front was taking a selfie with him in the background. He then invited her and her friends to stand on the stage, probably hoping that they'd dance to his music. They ended up standing mostly still, fixing their hair, and taking pictures on stage for the remainder of the show.
 |
| Loogey wants you to buy him a shot |
Yeah, he gets a lot of shit online for rapping about shit he doesn't do in real life and for looking like Caillou (deservedly), but at the end of the day it seems like he just enjoys trap music and that his heart is in the right place. SHUTTLECOCK will always be there for you, Slim Jesus.
Note: Local rapper Loogey also performed an opening set. The heavily tattooed '80's baby rapped a lot about smoking weed, getting drunk, and other popular rap things. Many of his hooks were half-sung and very catchy, although a few of the songs dragged on by the end. He also sent multiple shots at the man he was opening for, proclaiming that he (himself, Loogey) was the only white rapper he cared about. I am still interested in him and would definitely be open to seeing another performance by him.
Full photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/118613296@N06/albums/72157661933803489
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