Kritically Acclaimed Tour Should Probably Be Critically Acclaimed
By “Chris P: Local Celebrity” Panayiotou

Presented By: Scoremore Shows
Location: The Bomb Factory

November 27, Big K.R.I.T.’s “Kritically Acclaimed Tour” made the 26th stop of what is a 39 city run, in Dallas at The Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum. The show featured local acts Curtis Mayz and Que P, and H-Town’s Delorean, Atlanta’s Scotty ATL, Chicago’s BJ The Chicago Kid, and of course Big K.R.I.T. himself.

The cold and rain wasn’t enough to keep crowds from coming out for the show.  I walked in on the tail end of Delorean’s set, and while he admitted on stage that most of the crowd didn’t know who he was, he instantly became familiar to them by performing his guest verse from “Got Me Thru” from K.R.I.T.’s most recent mixtape “Things Are Better This Way.” Plus, it was a Texas crowd, so some of that Houston sound connected with people. This being his first tour, he had the benefit of performing in front of quite the crowd, as the room was damn near full well before the headliners came out.

Scotty ATL’s set followed DeLorean’s, and after the intro to his latest project, he jumped right into two of his last three singles, “Nun But A Party” and “Bust It Open.” The highlight was probably was “Cloud IX (Go Up!)” which also may be his most well-known song, as some of the other concert goers knew the lyrics. Scotty brought DeLorean back out for their collabo “Lately,” and the longer he performed the more the crowd became vested in the show. Full disclosure: I have Scotty’s latest mixtape in my deck right now and have been following him for some time, so perhaps I enjoyed the show more than most, as I was familiar with every song he performed. I’m sure he earned some new fans in the process though.

BJ The Chicago Kid’s set began with the thunderous beating of kettledrums as he took the stage. I was thinking beforehand that it was an odd set up to have an R&B singer in the middle of a hip-hop show, but I was wrong, as the crowd remained engaged throughout, not to mention that I didn’t realize how many songs he’s been a part of that I’d recognize. (And for the record, he sounds just as good live as he does on his projects.) BJ began with his records, switched gears and sang the hooks from songs in which he was featured, and went back to full songs. He ended his set as Scotty did and as K.R.I.T. would, by taking a pic with the crowd, but also got a hold of the kettledrums himself on his way out, ending his time with the same sound that began it.

And then for the main event. It seemed like all of the remaining blunts and joints were all fired up simultaneously (wait, did I say that? My bad, K.R.I.T. fans would never smoke out a non-smoking venue) as DJ DiBiase introduced K.R.I.T. Backed up by a drummer, a bass/keyboard player and his DJ spinning from behind the front end of a Cadillac, and amongst flashing lights, smoke and a backdrop of his signature crown logo, K.R.I.T. jumped right into cuts from “Cadillactica” and his most recent “It’s Better This Way.” It was the high energy type of set we’ve come accustomed to from K.R.I.T., but six songs in he slowed it down with “Pay Attention” and “Third Eye.” This lasted briefly as he picked it right back up with his unapologetic “King of the South.”

There appeared to have been some mic issues throughout the first part of his set, which had him using a corded mic at one point and back to cordless. I suspect this was the reason that there was actually an intermission in the show (I could be wrong, maybe it was by design), as K.R.I.T. went backstage for roughly 15 minutes. DJ DiBiase filled the time by spinning K.R.I.T.’s catalog and ramped up the energy song by song until his return.

K.R.I.T. returned and pick up where he left off, and showed off his abilities at the tail end of “Cadillactica” by going a cappella on the spelling of the song title, proving (and pointing out) that that wasn’t ever punched in. He brought BJ back out for “Can’t Be Still” and then a brief snippet of the “Mt. Olympus” hook followed by shouting out to all of the acts and “Party Tonight” to end his set. He went around the stage introducing and thanking the musicians and DJ, and while they had a mini jam session, K.R.I.T. jumped down to lower area on either side of the stage and shook hands with the fans before walking out.

Chants of “Encore!” brought K.R.I.T. back out for one more cut, “Mt. Olympus,” and after a cappella-ing the last verse, asked everyone to put up four fingers (for the 4Eva themes of his projects) as he and the crowd exchanged calls and responses of “Big” and “K.R.I.T.” He wished everyone a safe trip home and went backstage for the final time.

This was my fifth K.R.I.T. show, and they never get old. If you weren’t there, you missed out. With great music and amazing live performances, K.R.I.T. is solidifying his place as the new King of the South.

Scotty ATL Performance List:
Welcome To The Cooligan – “The Cooligan”
Nun But A Party – “Spaghetti Junction”
Bust It Open – “The Cooligan”
Lately (w/ DeLorean) – DeLorean, “Lately”
On The Road 2 Spaghetti Junction – “OTR2SJ”
Cloud IX (Go Up!) – “Spaghetti Junction”/”Traffic Jamz”
Neva Switch Up – “The Cooligan”
N***a Concentrate – “The Cooligan”
Five In The Mornin’ – “Spaghetti Junction”/”Traffic Jamz”

BJ The Chicago Kid Performance List:
Sex X Money X Sneakers  – “Pineapple Now-Laters”
Good Luv’n – “Pineapple Now-Laters”
I Want You Back / Lady Lady – “Pineapple Now-Laters”
His Pain II – “Pineapple Now-Laters”
Everybody’s Something – Chance The Rapper, “Acid Rap”
Shame – Freddie Gibbs, “Pinata”
It’s All On Me – Dr. Dre, “Compton”
Studio – ScHoolboy Q, “Oxymoron”
Church
Studio
Life Is A Gamble – Big K.R.I.T., “King Remembered In Time”

Big K.R.I.T. Performance List:
Life – “Cadillactica”
Kreation (Intro) – “Cadillactica”
86 – “It’s Better This Way”
Mind Control – “Cadillactica”
My Sub Pt. 3 (Big Bang) – “Cadillactica”
Shakem Off – “It’s Better This Way”
Pay Attention – “Cadillactica”
Third Eye – “Cadillactica”
King Of The South – “Cadillactica”
*DJ DiBiase – DJ Intermission*
Time Machine – “Return Of 4Eva”
Jet Life (Remix) – Curren$y, “The Stoned Immaculate”
Me And My Old School
Rotation – “Return Of 4Eva”
Temptation – “4Eva N A Day”
I Got This – “Live From The Underground”
4EvaNaDay – “4Eva N a Day”
Just Touched Down – “K.R.I.T. Wuz Here”
My Sub – “Return Of 4Eva”
R4 Theme Song – “Return Of 4Eva”
What u Mean – “Live From The Underground”
Glass House – “K.R.I.T. Wuz Here”
Return of 4Eva – “K.R.I.T. Wuz Here”
Post Intermission Return:
Cadillactica – “Cadillactica”
Country Shit (Remix) – “Return Of 4Eva”
Soul Food – “Cadillactica”
Can’t Be Still (w/ BJ The Chicago Kid) – “It’s Better this Way”
Mt. Olympus (hook) – “Cadillactica”
Party Tonight – “It’s Better this Way”
Encore:
Mt. Olympus – “Cadillactica”