RESPECT. Recap: "The Level Up Tour" With A$AP Ferg & Tory Lanez

Once viewed as a boy wonder sidekick to A$AP Mob leader A$AP Rocky, Harlem native A$AP Ferg has more than come into his own. Think back to 2013. Now think back to your top five favorite club anthems of 2013. I’m almost willing to bet that either “Shabba” or “Work (Remix)” makes that list, if not both. Ferg captivated a market that was set up for him by Rocky’s dominance in music. Ferg’s “8 gold rings” and gold teeth took America’s youth by storm, making Ferg a household name on his own. Still, both of his aforementioned hits, featured Rocky, causing questions from people wondering what he could do. All the chitter chatter was silenced when Ferg dropped his Sophomore album, Always Strive And Prosper, and the massive hit “New Level” which features Future and Ferg going absolutely bananas over a hard hitting track from Honorable C-Note. Coupling that with an impressive album that showed improvement in Ferg’s cadences as well as subject matter, Rocky’s right hand man finally stepped out of the shadows. Building on this momentum, Ferg decided to hit the road for a action packed tour with Toronto native Tory Lanez, and Soundcloud sensation Madeintyo. RESPECT. Mag was lucky enough to be in the building during their stop in San Diego, California.

Upon walking into the venue, in which I’ve attended on numerous occasions, I automatically felt a different vibe than usual. Usually, fans don’t start showing up to the venue until around 8-8:30 to get settled in; not at this show. Arriving early at 7:30, I was immediately taken back by the already packed dance floor and venue full of fans getting ready to lose their minds. The cause for this was Atlanta native Madeintyo, who has taken the internet by storm with his Soundcloud smash, “Uber Everywhere“, an ode to cashing J’s in the back of Ubers. I walked in right as he was preparing to drop the beat to the song and it felt like a scene from a movie… the crowd completely lost their sh*t. I’m used to seeing mosh pits at concerts at this point, but this was different. Everyone danced freely and shouted out the chorus as Madeintyo carried on with the performance. Subsequently, Madeintyo decided to give fans a treat and bring out fellow Private Club Records signee Royce Rizzy to the stage to perform their wildly popular track, “Had To“, which caused the fans to go even harder. While I’ve attended many shows, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an “opener” create quite a frenzy like that. If you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought he WAS the headliner.

.@madeintyo x @roycerizzy last night in SD! pic.twitter.com/tk9IihcACU

— AshariX (@A20H) June 2, 2016

After Madeintyo’s set, DJ BAR1NE got the crowd warmed up for Tory and Ferg with an incredibly mixed set that included popular tracks of today. This 30 min delay between artists is usually a dry period for shows, but the crowd was kept nice and lit with track after track on a playlist that seemed perfectly crafted for this occasion. It felt like a concert in itself.

In what seemed like a drop of a dime out of nowhere, the lights turned off and the DJ began requesting chants for Tory and Ferg. The crowd shouted, “A$AP!” and “New Toronto” to the top of their lungs in anticipation for the stars. Then, out came Tory Lanez. Decked out in a Canada themed leather jacket, a New Toronto shirt, and plenty of jewelry, Tory came out with tremendous energy from the jump, opening up his set with crowd favorites, “Makaveli” and “Woods” which had the crowd going crazy. Though I was immediately disappointed at the fact that Tory performed over vocals instead of an instrumental track, I began to understand why. To put it plain and simple Tory Lanez is arguably the most self destructing performer you can go see. Throughout many occasions in the night, Tory neglected all safety protocols (not the first time) and started crowd walking… That’s right, not laying or “surfing”, this man was literally walking on the palms of sweaty young college kids as if he was a prophet. It was an eye popping sight. Lanez, who told the crowd, “I know y’all be pushing these celebrity motherf***ers back to the stage because they scared, well don’t EVER push me back! That’s my one rule!”, proved to be more than just a vocal act. He’s an all out rockstar.

Once Tory came out and set the stage a blaze with the previously mentioned tracks, Ferg came out of virtually no where to ignite the crowd with a cut off of his first album, Trap Lord, titled, “Let It Go“. Considering that it was a co headlining event, I was confused why Ferg was out so early after Tory only did two songs. I quickly realized that the two were doing a completive joint set, which had me sold. I had never seen a format like this where artists were essentially going song for song to see who could get the best reactions. I loved the idea just for the sport and it had me intrigued and hooked to see what was coming next.

Seeing that Ferg took the crowd a “level up” with his hood favorite, “Dump Dump“, Tory came out and attempted to flex his heralded vocal chops. As I said before, he was performing over vocals so when he performed R&B themed songs, “Juvenile Freestyle” and “N.A.M.E.“, I was a bit underwhelmed at the notion of him lip synching. Though this deterred me and others in the crowd from appreciating the two songs, Lanez decided to take it up a notch. Opting for an acapella take, Tory completely blew me away with his remix to Ginuwine‘s “Pony“. Mixing strong high notes with his rockstar personality, Tory flexed his creative chops by making the claim that he wanted to, “Fu*k every girl in San Diego”, which got the crowd back on his side. With the crowd seemingly eating out of the palm of his hand, Tory jumped into his most popular song to date, “Say It“, which made things more intimate. Mind you, this WHOLE time, Tory is still in the crowd. After giving the crowd an amazing show for what seemed like ten plus minutes of crowd walking during “Real Addresses“, in which he brought out his little sister which only made things more hyped, Lanez closed out his set with “Diego“, which brought the night to a culmination. Grateful fans recited the lyrics with precision as they felt pride in their city.

.@torylanez crowd WALKING in SD last night pic.twitter.com/mnjspAnR0Y

— AshariX (@A20H) June 2, 2016

Never to be out done, A$AP Ferg followed the Tory Lanez frenzy by coming out to perform three bangers in a row that made the crowd lose their minds. With a holy trinity of trap hits that included; “Hella Hoes“, “Work (Remix)”, and “Shabba” all one after another, Ferg solidified the night as one to remember. Though Ferg was a great performer and crowd pleaser in his own right, fellow Mob member and Harlem native Marty Baller stole the show. Coming out to perform his solo track, “Inferno“, the Ferg protege showcased an incredible performance as he engaged with the crowd like a 20-year-rock star veteran. The signature moment of the night was when Ferg came out to perform, “New Level” and was accompanied by Marty, who popped a bottle in the midst of the crowd. Following the lit performance with a moment of silence for the late A$AP Yamz, Ferg brought out Lanez to close the night out with their only collaboration, “Line Up The Flex“, which set the crowd in a frenzy and was the symbol of what the night was, a 2-hour-long mosh pit.