Yung Gravy – The Armory – Minneapolis MN – November 29th 2024

As a post-thanksgiving treat to Minnesota fans, Yung Gravy brought his “Grits and Gravy” tour to its final stop for a sold-out hometown show at the armory on November 29th, Along with one-night-only special Guests bbno$, Waka Flocka Flame and Freddie Dredd (plus Carter Vail, the opener for the tour). 

While on the way to the show, I felt giddy with excitement, as Yung Gravy, bbno$, and Freddie Dredd have been in my heavy rotation of favorite rappers for years, and I feel like I’ve grown up alongside their emergence as stars in the rap industry.

Kicking off the show was alternative songwriter Carter Vail, who earned up the crowd with his unique brand of elevator-esque indie pop, birthed from a viral video on TikTok. Most people in the building were eager for the rest of the special guests to perform after Vail, but surprisingly, there was a sizeable group of people close to the front of the crowd singing all of the lyrics, especially those to his viral 35-second song “Dirt Man.”

Next up was the first exclusive guest of the night Freddie Dredd, a Canadian rapper who I’ve been listening to since early high school, and watched him grow from an underground rapper to a huge online star through a few of his songs being used millions of times on TikTok During the beginning of lockdown in 2020, most notably Singles “Cha Cha” and “Opaul”. He paced back and forth on the stage, spitting the lyrics to his songs quickly, sticking the mic out occasionally towards the crowd as they rapped the words back to him.

Next to the stage was maybe the most well-known name on the bill, Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka Flame. He bounced across the stage to the booming trap bass of his songs while the crowd jumped up and down in tandem with him. He played through his arsenal of Southern trap classics such as “No Hands”, “Wild Boy”, and “Hard in Da Paint”. While watching his entire set, I had the feeling that I was watching Waka headline the show, the way he had everyone in the audience dancing and singing along to his tracks. 

The last opener to walk the stage before Gravy was one of his best friends and frequent collaborators, bbno$. Just like Freddie, he was an artist who exploded from the early Covid days of TikTok, and I distinctly remember back when I saw him open for Yung Gravy in 2019 he taught the crowd to repeat the chorus to his song “lalala” back to him since it was two months before it’s official release date. Fast forward to tonight, I watched him perform the same song and heard an 8000-strong crowd shout that same chorus back at him almost a pillion plays on the song later. 

After four openers, it was finally time to take photos of yung gravy, something I had been wanting to do since I had first seen him 5 years ago. The Lights dimmed and a spotlight illuminated the center the the stage, and a few seconds later Gravy stepped out in a white fur coat, arms outstretched as the cheers roared from the crowd. Since it was a special home city show, Yung Gravy changed the setlist up, playing deep cuts from his first few EPs such as “Flex Season” and “Forget Me Thots” to the delight of the hometown crowd, chanted the lyrics right back at him. After performing through his early catalog, he switched up the vibe and dedicated the middle portion of his set to songs off his newest project (and his first in the country genre): “Serving Country”. Entering into the back half of his set, Gravy Brought bbno$ on stage to perform songs from their collaborative side project: BABY GRAVY. He ended the night with A few more songs off of the new LP, and two of his biggest hits off his last rap record, “Betty (Get Money)” &  “C’est La Vie (with bbno$ and Rich Brian)”. It was a treat to be able to hear Yung Gravy perform so many songs from every part of his discography, and it made for an incredibly memorable night of music.