BY DREW SINCOCK
The 11th stop of the Vinyl Verse Tour, co-headlined by Wiz Khalifa & Logic, in Charlotte, NC had a bit of a rough start. Weather officials sent reports of 50 MPH winds & heavy rain in the area so gates were held for roughly 30 minutes but we didn’t end up experiencing more than a light drizzle. The PNC Music Pavilion (capacity: 20,000) had a smaller audience in the covered seats than I was expecting, but the energy of the pit & lawn seemed to help carry the vibe for the night.
The official lineup for the night kicked off with an artist named C Dot Castro. I hadn’t heard a ton of him before, except a few features on tracks like “Ballin’” by Logic. The crowd seemed to really enjoy his time on stage. You can find his Instagram here.
Chevy Woods is a rapper and songwriter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who has been affiliated with Wiz Khalifa for much of his career. Woods has served as Wiz Khalifa’s hypeman, been on over 20 tours, and has released several mixtapes. He puts on a great show with an energy that stays high from start to finish. You can find his Instagram here.
Fedd The God, another artist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania came out almost immediately after to keep the crowd going. He didn’t waste any time before hopping in the pit to join the fans as he continued to perform his set. You can find him on Instagram here. You can find his music and more here.
The legendary DJ Drama had multiple mini sets in between each artist’s set for the rest of the night and the crowd loved it. DJ Drama is a DJ, record executive, and music promoter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He played classics off his Gangsta Grillz mixtape series with features from artists like Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, and more, as well as hits like XXXTENTACION’s Look At Me. The crowd was intensely excited each time he came out and it was great seeing such a legendary DJ live. You can find his music here. You can find his Instagram here.
Some would call him a rising star but after chart-topping hits such as Mood (#1 in 2020) I think that’s a limiting title, he’s already a star. 24KGoldn was the main support act of the night although I think he is capable of headlining a tour himself later this year. He came out with electrifying energy to his first track of the night, VALENTINO, jumping around the stage with enthusiasm. For his second track of the night, Coco, he split the crowd in two asking the right half of the crowd to help him out with the “COCO!” part of the chorus while asking the left half to give him a hand with the other half of the line, “CHANEL!”. It was a very engaging performance from start to finish and 24KGoldn’s crowd control was impressive. If you’re still under a rock and haven’t heard of 24KGoldn I highly recommend checking out his music, which you can find here. You can find his Instagram here.
The Vinyl Verse Tour is coheadlined by Logic & Wiz Khalifa which means they switch off the headliner each night. For the Charlotte, NC date of the tour, Logic came out first. Walking out to the intro track to his new album Vinyl Days titled “Danger” which features a voice-over from Morgan Freeman & an introduction from Funkmaster Flex. Transitioning next into his more popular hits like “Keanu Reeves”, “Like Woah” & “Everybody” before moving on to any full songs off Vinyl Days. Although his setlist was 28 songs most ended up being just short snippets as he was only on stage for a little over 60 minutes. Within that slot on stage, he still made plenty of time to preach “Peace, Love & Positivity” to the crowd. I think Logic gets written off a little quickly as “corny” but he gave off genuine energy at the show. It was impressive watching him rap live at the same level as he does on recordings. You can check out his new album Vinyl Days here. You can find him on Instagram here.
Logic’s Setlist: Danger // Keanu Reeves // Like Woah // Everybody // Homicide // Forgot About Dre // Ballin/ / Bleed It // 44 More // Orville // Metropolis // Perfect // Midnight // Fade Away // Wu Tang Forever // Indica Badu // Icy // COMMANDO // Cocaine // Mama / Show Love // Wannabe // Gang Related // Soul Food II // Under Pressure // DadBod // Upgrade // 1-800-273-8255 // Everyday
Coming out on top of a 15-foot LED video display, Wiz Khalifa appeared with a joint in his hand as his hit track “We Dem Boyz” played through the speakers. “If you came here to smoke with Wiz Khalifa light that s—t the f—k up” he bellowed into the mic as the track ended. Wiz had a little less time on stage than Logic by a few minutes but that didn’t stop him from taking the time to remind us how much he loves getting high. The fans partook too, although security was vocally displeased in the pit. Following this up was a “sensual” performance of “Or Nah” by Wiz Khalifa to say the least. I’ll leave the rest of that up to your imagination. 2010 classic “Black and Yellow” was up next with bright flashy visuals on the screens behind to match. Wiz Khalifa’s production was very impressive compared to what you usually see at live shows in the rap genre. You can check out his latest album Multiverse here. You can find his Instagram here.
Wiz Khalifa’s Setlist: We Dem Boyz // Black And Yellow // Or Nah // Remember You // You and Your Friends // The Thrill // 23 // Roll Up // Hate Bein’ Sober // Big Daddy Wiz // Memory Lane // Bad Ass Bitches // Iced Out Necklace // Keys // So High // Mezmorized // Still Blazin // Young, Wild & Free // See You Again // Taylor Gang
