In an age where success can be found almost overnight with the help of the right algorithm, it’s almost second nature to scrutinize newer artist’s music and wonder if they have the capacity to maintain their rise to fame. With the wrong move, the life span of new artist can end just as quickly as it began, and it’s not uncommon for a rapper with one or two hit songs to fade into obscurity within the span of a few years.
While rap has always been a young person’s genre, a popular belief is that the quality has dropped recently from a lack of dedication by the artist to the music. It’s partially true. The anatomy of rap music has changed drastically in the past few years. The typical rap song structure now consists of a long intro, a melodic chorus, about thirty seconds of rapping, and a long outro; an almost formulaic method of creating music geared towards dominating social media while lasting little more than two minutes. It contrasts starkly to the rap music from a decade or two ago.
However, while the music has shifted from a more classic style of hip hop, rappers are currently bringing an energy that, while not foreign, has been missing in hip hop for a while now.
Lil Tecca’s “Tecca Loves You” tour features himself and three other artists, with ages ranging from fifteen to nineteen years old. I’m not unfamiliar with newer artists, but before coming to the concert, I made sure to go through their bodies of work. What I heard was catchy, melodic, bass-heavy music that generally lacked substance. It was easy to listen to, but I wasn’t sure what to expect from this line up.
When I arrived at the venue (a few minutes late due to a credential mix up), what I saw was a concert experience unlike any I’d ever personally experienced before.
The energy in the concert hall was more akin to rock concerts I’ve only heard stories about than any rap concert I’ve been to. The artists encouraged the audience to fully participate in the experience; at one point even inviting an audience member to stage dive into the crowd. The songs were short, but were still impactful enough for the crowd to mosh to every few minutes. During the show the artists climbed up the stage’s structures and prompted the audience to shout “f**k you”. And while doing all of this, they still ensured that the audience members were safe by reminding them to open up space on the floor so they didn’t get smashed together.
I wasn’t sure how the artists’ music would hold up during the concert as most of them only have a song or 2 that were big on Tik Tok. But you could tell that, even being so young and not having the largest body of work, they were still able to build a loyal fanbase. Their music translated smoothly to the concert space and created a unique experience.
