Ski Mask and his entourage kept the crowd alive and moving all night at Emo’s. The rage halted not once throughout his performance.

Story by Rhylee Lionberger

Ski Mask casually walked onto stage as he projected his most admired ad-lib towards the crowd, screaming “WATERRRRR.” With the crowd throwing themselves towards the barricade, Ski began the set with no introduction, setting the tone for the rest of the powerful yet personal performance.

The subjectively small venue of Emo’s was decently full for a Tuesday night performance. The stature of the location allowed for Ski to happily interact with all of his fans which consisted of a motley crew of teenagers and young adults alike. The mix brought forth an unmatched vigor and a large mosh pit opening for nearly every song. Beginning with “BabyWipe,” from his popular mixtape You Will Regret, Ski immediately poured out his energy for the fans.

To follow his semi-introduction, the beat dropped for “Unbothered,” a track off of his recent album Stokely that went gold the day prior. Clearly proud of his accomplishment, Ski performed each song from the project with ease and enthusiasm. Ski went through nearly all of his discography, playing a song from almost every project. The recognizable lyrics, “shout-out my mucus/cause you know that be slime” echoed to the back of the venue to begin another fan-favorite, “Catch Me Outside.” Cutting beats off mid-song, Ski would often complete lines a capella, leaving me to realize the substantialness of his bars.

The crowd was especially entertained during Ski’s “Faucet Failure.” With a strong beat, the song’s entertaining lyrics like, “n***** not fucking with you coleslaw,” brought an exuberant amount of energy from Ski and the fans alike. “RIP My Soul” released a more aggressive Ski, prompting the crowd to follow in similar steps with belligerent dancing.

When things settled down, Ski stopped to recognize his fallen friend and rapper Xxxtenacion. Dedicating his performance to him, Ski carved out a portion of his set to perform songs of his and Xxxtencion’s. Songs like “SAD!” and “Jocelyn Flores” introduced a more emotional Ski; however, DJ Scheme insisted on bringing the mood back up for X. To do this, Ski flipped into the crowd during Xxxtencion’s “Look at me!,” but not without warning from his DJ about touching Ski’s jewelry. With the threat in place, the fans joyfully caught and returned Ski to the stage.

With little visuals, Ski and his DJ kept the crowd entertained and engaged by passing out water bottles around the crowd instructing them to throw the water – not when the beat dropped, but when the lyrics “wet, wet, wet” were uttered. Following the instructions the entire crowd experienced a rainfall. “Faucet Failure” was introduced as Ski’s favorite track with a reminder in the song that he is, “flyer than a fucking ostrich.” To round out the performance, “Take a Step Back” was blasted through the speakers as Ski casually performed, leaving the crowd to fill in the missing pieces.

Throughout the concert, Ski created a safe space for fans to experience rage and harshness that other hip-hop music doesn’t always allow for. The ambience of the performance felt natural and seemed like a breeze for Ski. Ski even removed his vest to hand to a fan. After the show, Ski visited the crowd outside of his bus. These little details and actions made the concert feel personable and lively.