King Vamp has entered the building — and he brought some friends.
Playboi Carti, one of the world’s most popular trap artists, is recognized for his dark and mysterious aesthetic, coupled with influence from the rage rap scene. Since Carti’s shift toward his now-characteristic sound with the release of “Whole Lotta Red” in 2020, he’s built himself his own Atlanta-made posse — the record collective Opium, sometimes stylized as “00pium.” Often dubbed “Carti’s offspring,” the label notably features Ken Carson and Destroy Lonely, two of the recent up-and-comers in rage rap, as well as supporting acts Homixide Gang and ASAP Nast. Carti’s entire Opium entourage was out in full force at PPG Paints Arena, roughly marking the midway point of Carti’s Antagonist Tour.
On Nov. 1, directly following Halloween, fans clad in black flocked downtown. Few wore actual costumes — Carti’s aesthetic extended to his fans, wanting to emulate the emo superstar. The red accents of the black tour T-shirts disappeared amid a sea of black denim and leather. Anticipation built as fans filtered in, the stage sitting ominously above the pit, perched high atop two blacked-out semi trucks.
Then, the chaos began. The lights dimmed, and the smoke machines began working overtime, making the air hazy through the strobing. Destroy Lonely opened the concert, his platinum blonde and black braids distinctively swinging through the air as he jumped around. The short set gained more traction toward its end, as people continued to find their seats and “Lone” moved into his better-known songs. Fans raised their phone flashlights in the pitch-black arena, illuminating the crowd and rocking out to his biggest song, “NOSTYLIST.” This was followed by a lengthy 30-40 minute break before Ken Carson made a similar entrance to his song “Lord of Chaos”, exploding onto the stage in time with the pyrotechnics. Carson had a slightly longer set, saving his biggest hits like “ss” and “Fighting My Demons” for the big finale. With eyes and ears still buzzing from the performances’ special effects, the arena waited anxiously for Carti.
Carti started his set off with a bang, playing one of his more violent-sounding tracks, “POP OUT,” twice back to back. The majority of songs from the first half of the concert came from “MUSIC,” Carti’s newest album that he released in March. Tracks like “OPM BABI,” “CRANK” and “COCAINE NOSE” in sequence did not offer concert goers much time to breathe. However, Carti was looking out for his fans the entire time — stopping the concert multiple times between songs to allow people in the pit to breathe and gather themselves, as well as tossing out water bottles from the stage in between acts.
While the majority of the setlist for the tour was from “MUSIC,” Carti started “reaching into his bag” about midway through his set. Out of all of his other albums, Carti played the most songs from “Whole Lotta Red,” starting out with hits like “Stop Breathing” and “Rockstar Made.” Right as we all thought that Carti was firmly going back to his older songs, he whipped out a euphoric remix of his song with the Weeknd, “Timeless.” Carti dove right back into the “Whole Lotta Red” phase with a personal favorite, “ILoveUIHateU,” before shocking everybody in attendance. The next track, “Place,” not only made its concert debut for the tour, but Carti performed it for the first time in four years. Carti shouted out legendary producer and longtime collaborator Pi’erre Bourne, who produced “Place,” before the song — “This one for you, Pi’erre!”
Despite the insanity behind hearing “Place” live, Carti was able to keep the energy up. He rattled off three legendary tracks without interruption — “Shoota,” “Location” and “Long Time (Intro)” — that flooded me with middle school nostalgia, reminding me of playing these songs on SoundCloud into my beaten, wired earbuds. “Location” was the only song he played from his first and self-titled album, while three songs from his sophomore album “Die Lit” made the cut. This brief switch was a pleasant change of pace from the sensory overload of the first half. It also saw a significant increase in crowd involvement, as people finally heard the songs they’ve been waiting for.
The show ended in classic Carti fashion — pure chaos. The rap star and his entourage grappled down the stage with a rope ladder as the beloved snippet, “Made It This Far,” began to fill the arena. People closest to the stage realized what was happening and began to push toward Carti, sparking a free-for-all as the rest of the floor blindly followed the mass of people. Carti moved parallel to the pit with heavy security before climbing atop the pickup truck that sat midstage. There, the Opium group basked in it all for a minute, letting the screams of adoration from their supporters mix with the fading snippet. At that moment, everyone in the arena shared the thought, mirroring the song’s chorus — “I can’t believe we made it this far.”