Nipsey Hussle @ The TLA.

Text and image by Christopher Malo.

With a long list of Philadelphia acts like Ape Gang and Gillie Da Kid opening up for L.A. native Nipsey Hussle this past Saturday night, the house was likely to be packed. And it was.

By the time Nipsey took the stage at midnight, one might imagine the crowd would be fatigued. Far from it. With little fanfare, he strolled out to “U See Us” and tore through several tracks off his latest mixtape, Crenshaw. (You know, the one Jay Z dropped 10 racks on?) Checc Me Out, All Get Right, H-Town, Don’t Take Days Off, Drop Coupes…

The crowd was hype. From up top, all the way in the back, you could witness the sea of camera phones shining in the air looking as if it Jay himself coming out. Not only did they rap along with the tracks off Crenshaw, but even tracks like “Fly Crippin” off The Marathon Continues. As he took requests from the crowd and slid into his catalog of mixtapes, it seemed as if everyone knew every word. He managed to give the crowd an energy that it had not come close to displaying at any other point the whole night.

There was the obligatory Freeway appearance, coming out to do, well, you know… It’s amazing how many times, at how many shows, over however many years at rap shows in Philly this occurs. Yet never seems to disappoint the crowd. Ever. Free mentioned linking up with Nipsey when he is out in Cali, and with videos on YouTube of Nipsey chopping it up with Gillie out in L.A. and in Philly with Peanut Live, hopefully Nipsey returns to the city when he drops his upcoming album, Victory Lap.