$uicideBoy$ Concert

This was a dream years in the making. I’ve been a big fan of the group since freshman year, and the funny thing is that you’ve never heard about these guys through any mainstream outlets. Maybe you’ve heard about them from a friend or stumbled across one of their songs on Soundcloud. I really got into their music from there and fell in love with the style that they were putting out. The duo consists of Ruby Da Cherry and $crim from the 7th Ward in New Orleans. $uicideBoy$ falls under the genre called “shadow rap.” It consists of mostly aggressive, in-your-face lyrics and dark sounding beats.

The concert took place at the Playstation Theater in New York City. It took us about 7 hours to get down into the venue, especially on a Friday evening. I jumped out of Shawn’s car onto the streets of New York, and it’s true that they really do smell like piss and hot garbage. I waited in line for about an hour and witnessed the mass of other fans piling into the line. I didn’t really know many people who even knew about the band, let alone actually think the music is good, so it was crazy to hear a whole crowd of people in line blasting $uicideBoy$ and singing along or chanting “G*59,” the name of their record label.

As soon as the security check line started up for the concert, my friend, Owen, and I made our way through the crowded lines and into the venue. The theater itself was pretty big, but the actual stage, in contrast, was rather small. Most people during the concert were either concentrated on the floor in the moshpit or up a small set of stairs about as high as the stage. I was located by one of the exit doors with a side view of the concert. I couldn’t see the entire stage, but I was rather close to it. I must have waited an entire hour in the venue before someone came out to begin the show. The DJ (a good friend of the duo) was the first one to appear on the stage and played, most notably, songs from deceased Florida-rapper XXXTentacion, Sheck Wes, and other artists to hype up the crowd. The moment Ruby and $crim entered on stage was the moment the dream was being fulfilled.  I heard “Play Me Some of That $uicide Pimpin’, Man” and saw Ruby and $crim enter the stage for the first time live. People were slamming into each other, doing backflips, and jamming out like nothing I’d ever seen. I saw people pass out, get trampled, and just go crazy.

Later in the show, Germ walked onto the stage. He’s done a couple EPs with them. They performed “DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?”; “2ND HAND”; “MEET MR. NICE GUY”; “HERE WE GO AGAIN”; “I HUNG MYSELF FOR A PERSONA” and many others.  Then, SESHOLLOWATERBOYZ, made up of Bones, Chris Travis, Eddy Baker, and Xavier Wulf, also made an appearance. They performed “Water $uicide” from ETERNAL GREY with Chris Travis, and they handed over the mic to Bones for his own song, “ReturnOfThePimp”.

$crim stage dived, and it had to be some of the craziest stuff to go down. The rest of the concert was just as wild. After all was said and done, the crowd repeatedly chanted, “One more song, one more song!” They came back onto stage to do “MOUNT SINAI,” and Ruby took a knee to sing his verse. Overall, I came out of that theater dehydrated and sweaty from the fever dream that was that concert. The exit of the theater was hectic because it empties right onto Times Square.

All in all, it was worth the 12 hours spent in a car, and I’d like to say to anyone that is reading this: if you see an opportunity like this for a concert or some type of event that may seem out of the way, I assure you, it’s absolutely worth it because it may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Because when life gives you lemons, you make Arnold Palmer.