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Offset easily ranks among the most dexterous rappers in the game. Naturally, his breath control and delivery were on point. But his singing (both Auto-Tuned and not) was satisfying too — when he crooned along to Don Toliver’s hook on “WORTH IT,” it felt impassioned rather than forced. Still, my favorite moments were visual rather than auditory, like when he broke into full choreography during the choruses of “FAN” and “BIG DAWG.” It was a little absurd, sure, but he was synced up and committed, and the moves felt organic rather than TikTok disposable. Unlike “WAP” or a K-pop group, these dances aren’t aiming to wow the audience on their own merits but to pump up already-hype songs. In that, they more than succeeded — it was hard not to grin watching Offset hit a subdued shimmy in the middle of “Rap Saved Me.” He relaxed a little at other points, focusing on rapping and letting his backup dancers do more of the movement as he bounced in place.
All of this was exactly what you hope for when you pay good money to see a successful rapper. According to an interview with The Chicago Tribune, Offset put some of his own money behind the production, and that investment shows. “I’m trying to take myself out of that box of just a ‘trap artist,’” he said. “I want people to respect me as an artist.”
But he doesn’t need any of these popstar accouterments to deliver a gripping performance. “ZEZE” rang off as he led us in an Auto-Tune singalong, standing alone near the top of the stairs; with more room to breathe in-person than on-wax, Set It Off deep cut “DON’T LIE” transfixed the crowd from start to finish, even if few of us knew the words. Of course, it was a thrill to scream along to “Patek Water” and “Fight Night,” but it was the lesser-known tracks — “SKYAMI” with Mango Foo, “Monday,” the aforementioned “DON’T LIE” — that stuck with me, the way the energy in the room stayed up even for the songs only a few people knew. At the close of the show, the fog machines erupted as lasers strobed, a thundercloud hovering over the stage. By the time it cleared, Offset was already backstage, out of sight. But the electricity still lingered in the air.