Just 8 miles from the newly opened Donald Trump HQ on PCH in Newport, YG and Co. made their second stop on the Fuck Donald Trump Tour. During his Still Brazy Tour, YG used one of his talk breaks to tell us how opportune it was to rename the tour in this election year. Before YG would take the stage -looking leaner than usual after becoming a part-time, skinny jean-wearing vegan, a slew of up-and-coming artists warmed up an already steamy, musty crowd.
Coming out of the most unlikely place you’d think to find a gangster in California, Ese Sad Boy, out of Santa Barbara stormed onto the stage wearing what had to be jail-issued grey sweatshorts, thigh-high white socks, and a black shirt reading “Que Viva La Raza” in Mexican colors. Bald and tattooed, Sad Boy appeared more and more similar to YG through his set as he rapped over sampled beats from the 80s and 90s that would have found a home on Still Brazy. While unfamiliar with the opening act, the crowd responded emphatically when he interpolated a classic Mexican ballad into his set and asked “where my Mexicans at?”, now exposing all tattoos in a wife beater; Sad Boy was an instant fan favorite in SanTana.
Up next was a Slim 400, likely best known for his skits on YG’s My Krazy Life. He too rapped over beats that resembled Sad Boys G-Funk/Zapp-inspired lowrider music. Face tattoos and freakishly thin frame give a Slim a menacing demeanor something like the Crypt Keeper. Not even billed, Slim 400 was a surprise and before leaving he let us know, “you’ll peep me again” wearing a mischievous grin. He would indeed return this time in a Texas Rangers hat with a red bandana underneath, this time as YG’s ace.
After a high energy interlude hosted by DJ Vision, who jumped from behind an elevated booth to stretch his legs and spaz a bit, began chanting “Go Yah Yah! Go Yah Yah! Go!”. The Bay Area’s own Kamaiyah emerged three striped-down in a pair of Adidas joggers and Adidas Originals with “Los Angeles” emblazoned on the black and white gradient kicks. She giggled and even went dumb at times, letting her braids whip with her hands throwing up the Thizz. She bounced through the hits from her debut mixtape “A Good Night in the Ghetto” including “Freaky Freaks” and “Niggas” which we absorbed, though at times the energy in her set could’ve used a bit more work.
Another rising star was in the building in RJ, who’s been riding with YG since we heard his nasally voice on the 2013 mixtape “Just Re’d Up 2”. Looking like Dooky or Monster from Boyz n The Hood about the hair, RJ added the legendary Randy’s Donuts logo to his haircut. “Mr. LA” was etched in his head also. Immediately, RJ stole the energy that either of the other acts and even audience members had. While performing “Flex” from his most recent project “OMMIO 3”, he exposed his wiry arms and beat on his chest like Kevin Durant. He flailed his arms, groped himself and thrusted the air while he ran through songs from his popular project, the“OMMIO 2” mixtape. His sexed antics were Prince-like.
Following RJ’s set, the tall screen on the stage lit up for the first time. First, a bright, crimson solid flashed which transitioned to “Who Shot Me” in white letters. It was one of the first times the crowd lit up. The paranoid track from the acclaimed “Still Brazy” played without the artist taking the stage. He lay in an all black hospital bed atop the stage instead. When he did finally rose he made sure to shout out his tourmates in the most YG way possible, dragging out their names more and more as he got down his list.
“Shoutout Sad Boy!”
“Slim 4Hunniddd”
“DJ Divisionnnnn”
“Kamaiyahhhhh”
“RJayyyyyy”
Soon after that Slim 400 was egging on YG to “do his dance” for “Twist My Fingaz”. Pen and Pixel flames appeared on the screen behind the Compton rapper while he obliges his right hand and his fans. It’s the YG we’ve come to know and love after all of his years in the spotlight, though he’s matured astronomically, he’s still the same Bompton emcee who spit a verse on the one-time party favorite “Toot It and Boot It.” That precociousness is ever-present today, especially when on stage fooling around with a childhood friend. It’s what led YG to announce he needed a drink right after that. The joyful YG even managed to get his grandma, celebrating her 71st birthday, to come to the venue where he’d refer to her as “my nigga,” knowing the proclaimed churchgoer would chide him later. “I know she ain’t gone like this but…” YG said before his words of endearment.
She likely also wasn’t a fan of YG dancing on a virtual female silhouette, appearing on the screen at one point in the show. It’s why she’ll grant the Bompton rapper’s request to pray for him. Aware that Big Mama was in the crowd, the crowd acted accordingly, refusing to twerk, strip, or be naughty in a sequence that combined YG’s “Don’t Tell Em” verse, “Toot It and Boot It” and Lil Jon’s “Get Low.” Luckily one fan would check all those boxes later in the show.
Before then, the tone would change to reflect more of who YG has matured into, now on his second LP after breaking out in 2009. “Still Brazy” turned about a drastic change from what we expected of YG. Prior to his initial lyrical assailing of Donald Trump, YG had grown more expressive of his thoughts and emotions which was largely responsible for a progressive project that established him as a serious artist, distinct from the “I Just Wanna Party” guy. He let us know he’d venture into that side.
“Can I get into some deep shit?” the Blood inquired. “I know y’all wanna turn up but I gotta get into some of this real shit” he continued. Leading to the unleashing of real, YG called out the audience for not knowing the words to his more conscious cuts on Still Brazy. They sat silently being scolded, as they would when he performed songs like “Blacks and Browns” and “Police Get Away with Murder”.
“They gotta put some respect on our fuckin’ names, you feel me?!” YG broached after commenting on the solidarity between Sad Boy and the Latinos in attendance. “Sad Boy kept telling me ‘Que Viva La Raza’, I’m like ‘what the fuck that mean?’” he quipped as he extended the message to the Black people in attendance. It was all leading up to this moment where the fun-loving YG could team with his more mature self to create something so petty, yet profound as he transmits the voice of silent minorities throughout the country.
So when YG dedicates his entire tour to a song that stands to unify the masses considering what he raps about, it’s sure to create a spectacle worthy of tuning into and that’s exactly what went down.
“If y’all met Donald Trump, what would y’all do to him?” YG asked. One guy in the pit raised his hands to make a “gun” to YG’s confusion. “You got yo two fingers in the air, you look like you gone fingerbang him… Oh what’s that, a gun? That ain’t no gun nigga.”
Upon coming to a consensus that above “fucking his daughter,” kicking in the nuts or spitting on him were not as good as fucking him up, a Donald Trump pinata flew from stage left into YG’s face orange stringy hair under red “Make America Great Again” hat and all.
“What’s up, bitch?” were YG’s only words. He began the search for a male and a female worthy to come on stage and destroy the piñata. Perhaps he took a cue from our infernal rag’s shenanigans at the Anaheim Trump rally earlier this year. Serendipitously, a heavy set guy in a worn “Bickin’ Back Bein’ Bool” hoody stood next to a female who’d exposed her breast to show paint reading “Fuck Donald Trump” on her torso; the team was assembled.
YG confirmed that the two were on stage to do what they yelled in the audience.
“I’ll fuck that foo up” the guy in the worn sweater gushed. Then YG said he reminded him of Sad Boy before laying down some rules, all of which were to avoid hitting him with the sticks. And it was on! Slim 400, YG and the two guests went to work. Paper mache limbs flew and the hat flew. YG had to duck from being hit struck by the angry bashers. It was something like a scene in Street Fighter with a 1000+ looking on and cheering for the carnage. As soon as the carcass was unrecognizable, that rolling bass dropped and a jolt shot through the venue. FUCK DONALD TRUMP!
To get a sense of what the scene looked like last night, peep this video from YG's first show at Observatory North Park in San Diego
