As soon as the smoke cleared, the lights came up and Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa stepped on stage, it was clear that the main event had started.

Hundreds of fans went wild in the packed Oncenter War Memorial Arena on Thursday night with hands clapping and heads rocking.

“The mighty Wiz Khalifa did in fact exceeded my expectations with his energy and stage presence,” said sophomore international relations major Amanda Al-Sayah as she remembered screaming at the top of her lungs when a leather-clad, fedora-wearing Wiz Khalifa stepped on stage. “I knew it was going to be something once I saw an oversized bong on stage, puffing out smoke everywhere.”

Bong and all, Khalifa made quite an impression on Syracuse during his third stop on the rapper’s 2050 Tour, featuring himself alongside Taylor Gang members Tuki Carter, Berner, Lola Monroe, Chevy Woods and Juicy J. And with each performance, the crowd got more wild and rowdy.

Even before the concert started, Juicy J said that seeing the crowd not only get excited about the music, but be fully engaged in the performance, is one of his favorite things.

“I love seeing the reactions of songs from my mixtapes,” Juicy J said in an interview. “A mixtape is something you release online, so it’s not like I really did anything to get it to the people or the air. So to see somebody really reciting the lyrics and listening is kind of cool.”

There were definitely true fans in the house, not missing a lyric when Chevy Woods sent out laid-back vibes during his performance of “Nameless” or when Tuki Carter gave a high-energy performance before jumping into the crowd.

Things got even more interesting when fans danced on stage for invisible dollars, completely disregarding all shame, to the beat of Juicy J’s hit “Bandz a Make Her Dance.”

Juicy J said he never thought the song would be so big.

“I’m still shocked every time I hear about it,” he said. “I recorded it in a two-bedroom apartment in D.C. on a $100 microphone.”

Along with his newest hit, J also performed old jams from his Three 6 Mafia days, which mimic the “straight ratchet and raw sound” that he hopes to offer fans on his upcoming album, “Stay Trippy.” The album, which will also features a collaboration with rhythm-and-blues singer The Weeknd, was not only a way for the rapper to launch a solo career, but to recapture some of the popularity that the group has lost in recent years.

“The record company wanted to do pop music and I wanted to do my music, so I set myself on a journey to do it myself,” Juicy J said. “I wasn’t even thinking of it as doing solo things because I’ve always done solo stuff, but I was just trying to get some buzz for the group. So I started throwing out mixtapes and the buzz just came back on me.”

And his energy was the perfect match for Khalifa’s, who performed songs from his recent mixtape “Taylor Allderdice” to a crowd that seemed to know every word. Fueled by their excitement and roaring applause, Khalifa bounced around the stage as if having the time of his life while performing favorites like “On My Level” and his newest single, “Remember You,” from his upcoming album, “O.N.I.F.C.”

It seemed to be a family affair as the whole gang joined Khalifa onstage for hits like “The Code” toward the end of the show. As the concert wound down, no one seemed to even mind the thick smoke clouds or apparent smell of cannabis that filled the room, which was apparently Khalifa’s whole point behind the tour. Onstage, he explained that 2050 was a chance to celebrate a new year and just have fun. As he called for everyone to put peace signs in the air, he said it was time to come together.

Khalifa closed the show with a rendition of his summer hit “Work Hard, Play Hard” as the lights shone and he wound his scarf on his microphone stand just enough to make him look like a rock star.

As fans sang, “living young and wild and free” as they held up their lighters, it was evident just what it meant to be part of the Taylor Gang.

Published on October 22, 2012 at 2:57 am

Contact Ibet: ieinyang@syr.edu