Vancouver, BC – Grammy award-winning Atlanta-born rapper-actor Tip “T.I” a.k.a. Clifford Harris Jr. hit the Commodore stage this past Thursday night touring for his latest EP release, the politically-charged Us or Else: Letter to the System. T.I.’s 2016 Us or Else project serves up an uncensored, unapologetic response to the countless accounts of police brutality and social injustice that the African-American community has faced and currently faces within the U.S. today.
Vancouver-based rappers ninetyfour and DaamCP were the evening openers and their performances did the city proud and proved successful in getting the sold-out West Coast crowd warmed up for their much-anticipated, multi-platinum headliner.
Georgian rapper T.I. stepped onto the stage in dark shades, a black hoodie, black pants, and black kicks, either consciously or subconsciously pledging allegiance to the “Black Lives Matter” movement in America. Tip kicked his set off with tracks “Top Back”, “Why You Wanna”, and “What You Know” off his 2006 album King, as well as the classic song “Rubber Band Man” from his Southern trap-pioneering album of 2003, Trap Muzik.
Surviving and thriving over a decade in this now oversaturated and A.D.H.D. music industry, T.I. had several club hits to boast throughout the night including crowd-favourites “Live Your Life” and “Whatever You Like” off the widely-acclaimed Paper Trail album from 2008. The performance of these 2 tracks were unarguably the climax of T.I.’s performance. Although his lyrics were often slurred and inaudible over the blaring bass and backing tracks, T.I. made an effort to work the crowd from each side of the stage, with the help of his hype man of course. During his performances off Paper Trail, the crowd got a trip down memory lane and partied like it was 2008/2009 again–a perhaps more blissful time in popular culture, when Top 40 artists were less blatant in their political messages and audiences were in turn less aware of political and racial tensions in North America.
The final moments of the show entailed a fight which was nipped rather quickly by security and T.I. himself called the brawlers out saying that there was no reason for this and “we don’t need that s*** right now.” Though his performance on the Commodore stage unfortunately lacked a definable awe-inspiring moment, there’s no debate, that at age 36, T.I. still has the drive to remain in the rap game and the desire to bring a relevant, raw message to his fans, to his country, and to the world at large.
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Words By: Racquel Villagante
Photos By: David Dalley