On Saturday night, T-Pain electrified Syracuse University students with his lively dance moves and entertaining stage presence. He danced to his music with popular moves such as flossing, shooting and goth dancing.

He ended the night leaving fans wanting more.

T-Pain and Zaytoven took the stage in Goldstein Auditorium to perform for the National Pan-Hellenic Council’s annual Greek Freak concert. The event started at 7 p.m. when students started filling the floor of Goldstein Auditorium. DJ Zel and performer Magic were on stage hyping up the crowd.

At about 8:15 p.m., Zaytoven, a producer and DJ, took the stage and performed his first song and then proceeded to talk to the audience. He interacted with them and kept their spirits high. After most songs, he would say “one, two, three,” and then had the audience respond with “trap.”

Zaytoven covered “Mask Off” by Future, “Thought It Was a Drought,” by Future and “Plain Jane” by A$AP Ferg. He also covered “Versace,” by Migos, which Zaytoven produced in 2013. He also played some of his own songs — at the end of his performance he sang, “Mo Reala,” his song featuring Future.

Right before Zaytoven left the stage, his hype-man made an ode to Hurricane Florence and other social problems in a short speech urging the crowd to take action.

He said “make sure you do something constructive every day,” and also gave a shout-out to Zaytoven’s upcoming movie “Birds of a Feather 2,” which is about his life and is expected to be released near Halloween.

Close to 9:15 p.m., T-Pain took the stage in checkered pants. He was greeted by a roaring crowd. He opened with “Roll In Peace (Remix),” originally by Kodak Black featuring XXXTENTACION. He then performed “Booty Wurk (One Cheek At a Time).”

T-Pain (left) performed after his hypeman (right) got the crowd of Syracuse University students ready.Gavin Liddell | Staff Photographer

A few songs later the audience went crazy for two of his hits: “Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” and “Blame It,” the Jamie Foxx’s song featuring T-Pain. Because T-Pain was popular when current college students were much younger, hearing the hits resonated with them. Freshman Haniyah Philogene said she was reliving her childhood.

“I listened to T-Pain when I was like eight, and I loved it. And I also think it’s an experience. So I’m like ‘Why not?’ You know it’s something to do,” Philogene said.

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T-Pain kept the audience engaged by telling them to put their hands up and even did the popular “floss” dance.

“I’m a big fan of T-Pain and I was really happy that Syracuse was able to get him to perform here,” sophomore Sarah Schulman said. “I went to Joey BadA$$ last year and it was pretty cool, so to be able to do that again is a really cool experience.”

The crowd was hype for “Booty,” “I’m Sprung” and his most recent hit, “Dan Bilzerian,” featuring Lil Yachty. T-Pain also sang his remix of “Bartier Cardi,” by Cardi B and featuring 21 Savage.

T-Pain didn’t sing his hit “Best Love Song,” which Schulman said she was excited to hear.

At about 10 p.m. the crowd started dwindling but some fans stayed to listen to some old hits of T-Pain’s. He sang “5 O’Clock,” “Kiss Kiss,” which is Chris Brown’s song featuring T-Pain and “All I Do Is Win,” DJ Khaled’s song featuring T-Pain and various artists.

He also did a cover of “Low” by Flo Rida. But he ended off the evening with the song “All The Above” by Maino, which features T-Pain.

When T-Pain left the stage, the crowd started chanting for an encore, but he didn’t come back. The lights came on and students filed out.

Published on September 16, 2018 at 11:16 pm

Contact Sarah: srslavin@syr.edu