At a smoke-filled Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the biggest names in hip-hop filled the stage during last night’s Powerhouse 2015, an annual gig hosted by New York radio station Power 105, which showcased the odd state of the genre and its many facets.
When Big Sean took the stage with an elaborate set that included two massive smoke machines and a video wall, he alluded to the ephemeral nature of hip-hop. He explained that many of his peers who entered the scene at the same time he did, a mere four years ago, have already been cast aside, and thanked the fans in attendance for allowing him to stick around. Some could argue it was his high-profile relationship with pop songstress Ariana Grande that kept him in the spotlight, but after launching into his recent hits, including Paradise or the instantly recognizable I Don’t Fuck With You, he proved his career is sitting on a foundation of solid songs that continue to allow him to remain relevant; something that can easily be scooped up by a different artist.
Another artist that knows this fact well is Omarion, who first hit the scene in 2001 as a member of the group B2K and has managed against all odds to stick around since. He’s currently riding high on the success of his Chris Brown-assisted hit Post to Be, which he performed as best he could sans Brown, along with new track I’m Sayin’ that didn’t pack quite as hard a punch. Despite a decade of past hits, I’m Sayin’ probably won’t earn him a spot back next year.
If you’re lucky enough, however, you can lean on multiple hits from the past few months. That was the case for New Jersey’s Fetty Wap, an unknown commodity this time last year who got the biggest reaction of the night when he launched into his litany of top 10 sing-along smashes, from Trap Queen to My Way and Again. Wap’s performance marked the first time he’s hit the stage since a motorcycle accident the week his debut album went to No 1 in September. The crash almost took his life, but in the end only managed to break his leg and lead the 24-year-old to clear his schedule of shows up to his return last night. Wap was rolled out in a golden throne with his leg propped up, with Wap noting multiple times how nervous he was, how his leg was in pain, and how he was trying to work through it all. In a sign of respect and gratitude for the audience, Wap ended his set with members of his crew holding him up and him exclaiming “I wanted to stand for you”.
Wap and most of the artists referenced the importance of hard-work and perseverance to their success, but if there was the one artist who put in the most work into his set, it was Meek Mill. Despite performing smack in the middle of the night’s proceedings, his set was worthy of a grand finale, and he trotted out special guests Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, DJ Khaled and ASAP Ferg.
The problem was that with the sheer amount of people on stage, Meek got lost in the shuffle and a moment that could have been solely his morphed into a giant distraction. (Other cameos during the show included French Montana during Wap’s set, and Natalie La Rose, who came out to belt out her hit Somebody with Jeremih.)
Meanwhile Kendrick Lamar, the show’s headliner who hit the stage just past midnight, appeared with no frills or special guests and wound up demonstrating why he’s one of the more well-respected acts in the genre today. Forgoing the fireworks that acts like Meek Mill or Big Sean brought with their cameos and sets, Lamar coasted through his biggest hits from a bare stage that featured just him and a DJ. From Swimming Pools to Backseat Freestyle and Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe, Lamar gave an energetic performance despite supposed threats from show producers that they were going to have to pull him off stage due to the night running too long. “They’re going to have to cut my mic off,” he repeated to the crowd before launching into his next song. Whether or not they’d actually cut the headliner’s mic off in front an audience that waited the better part of five hours for him is up for debate. Despite the rush, Lamar effortlessly commanded the night even as people began trotting out due to the late hour. While he actually wound up delivering one of the shortest – and simplest – sets of the night, it was also the most effective.
