D.C. Brings T-Pain His Largest Sold-Out Show Since Becoming Independent

Escape From Wiscansin: The Invasion

Date: July 8th, 2023

Venue: The Anthem

Washington, DC

What’s up, everyone? Derek here, a.k.a. The Photographic Ginger and I’m back again with another incredible night of music in our nation’s capital. 

Tallahassee, Florida, native Faheem Rashad Najm, best known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and audio engineer. He is known for his use of Auto-Tune, which he popularized in the early 2000s. While you most certainly know some of his many hits, such as “Buy U a Drank” or “Bartender”, or even the viral moment of him being revealed as Monster on The Masked Singer, what you may not know is T-Pain’s recent shift to become an independent artist. This is often a significant shift for artists of T-Pain’s caliber but ultimately with the intent to be able to create music and be the artist they want to be without the pressure of a label’s vision. This also means on a tour such as this one, he can choose to highlight the artist he personally wants to which is the reason all of the artists that set foot on the stage were a part of the Nappy Boy Entertainment label. 

T-Pain

When you buy tickets to a T-Pain show, you know it’s about to be a party. He’s become a music icon as he’s created hit after hit and was a part of almost every chart-topping hit from 2006 – 2011, most notably his Grammy award-winning album Epiphany. Since then he’s gone on to continue to make his own hits and even begin his own Nappy Boy Radio Podcast and Nappy Boy Gaming channel. 

As he made his entrance to the stage to “Take Your Shirt Off” he appeared on an elevated platform dressed in a full neon green outfit, bringing the style. It wasn’t long into the set before he took a moment to thank the fans for showing up and showing out and making this show in D.C. the largest to date since becoming an independent artist. The Anthem is a 6,000-capacity venue and he sold it completely out!

As the evening continued it was filled with all-around fun moments as he performed a set full of non-stop beats and hits including “Got Money,” “Booty Wurk (One Cheek at a Time),” “Cyclone,” “Bartender,” and so much more. 

He even treated us to his recent covers featured on his album On Top of The Covers which includes songs such as Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me.” But perhaps the most iconic cover of the show is the one that closes out the night as it becomes a karaoke session with the crowd to Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” 

Celebrating his success as an artist and now an independent one, it was only fitting that he and his fellow artists on the tour took a moment to celebrate their success with the hit song he features on with DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.”  

Tobi Lou

With his newest album Decent releasing shortly before this show, it was a great time for Chicago-bred Nigerian Tobi Lou to bring the music to life on stage. As an artist, he blended visual elements with his music creating a memorable performance. Literally bringing the heat as he walked on stage in a large puffy vest in his sunglasses and immediately began performing and engaging with the crowd. 

While Lou’s career as a rapper was ultimately prompted by an injury that detoured his baseball career, it’s clear his focus on music and art has proven strong as he’s been well-received by music fans around the world. Including his 2019 EP ‘Live on Ice’ and 2022’s ‘Non-Perishable’.

NandoSTL

Next, we welcomed to the stage Nappy Boy Entertainment’s newest member with a “hey cousin” as St. Louis’ own NandoSTL began his set. Celebrating his album “Year of the Ape” which was released in May of 2023 his set was filled with some of his newest hits. Including the title track “Y.O.T.A” which reminds “God gave me breath today” and features T-Pain and Young Cash as well. 

Young Cash

Getting the show started was artist Young Cash. Immediately proving his ability to spit bars as well as draw inspiration and sample some of music’s biggest hits and allow them to influence his own music. Songs such as one that focuses on the theme and pulls audio snippets from George Michael’s “Faith”. A few moments later songs encouraged fans to “throw that ass in a circle”, while others had us travel to “bourbon street” or “dance with the devil”. Be sure to check out his latest single “Florida Heat” available now on all your favorite streaming services. 

See the full gallery of the night here!

If you happened to capture any shots of the night, feel free to tag us on social media at Shutter 16 Magazine and throw in #Shutter16 and #TwitFromThePit for the world to see.