SXSW 2016 came to a climax on Thursday afternoon (March 17) as VIBE and the Bud Light Factory hosted a squadron of amazing hip-hop and R&B talent at the Brazos Hall in Austin.
Headliner Yo Gotti, whose number one single “Down In The DM” is still blazing the charts and clubs worldwide, built the anticipation days in advance as his team blanketed the Texas streets with promo goods. By the time he hit the stage, downtown Austin felt like Gottiville. His first SXSW 2016 performance was filled with mixtape favorite dating back to his early mixtapes, new hits and of course his current chart toppers.
However, before the King of Memphis ripped the place to shreds, VIBE invited some of our favorite leaders of the new cool to the set. All the way from London, Little Simz set it off for the thirsty crowd with a high energy set that turned a sea of sweaty concertgoers into dancing machines.
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From there, it was back to back performances as Mike Will protege’s Earz brought the Southern flavor and Nef The Pharaoh delivered the Bay Area sounds. And we can’t forget about our guy Trackstar would held down DJ duties for the event.
Rising singer Justine Skye was also in the building to represent for the ladies as she mesmerized the fellas with her sultry vocals and tantalizing body movements. Not long after her set, BJ The Chicago Kid gave the true Soul lovers a hot dose of soothing vocals with songs from his newly released In My Mind album.
Cali hotboy Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals were on next and really brought the show to whole other stratosphere as they turned the show into on slammin’ jam session. BJ even came back out to rock “The Waters” with Anderson while the band went completely ape sh*t behind them. Alternating between the mic and the drum set, Paak proved himself to be one of hip-hop’s overlooked superstars as the Texas crowd looked on in amazement.
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[Photos by Mikey Fresh]