Feel the wrath of the ‘EA Monster’

Young Nudy sells out his first headline show in San Antonio

Cesar Soto, Staff Writer

Stopping in San Antonio as part of his “EA Monster Tour,” Atlanta-based rapper Young Nudy sold out the Aztec Theatre on Friday, April 7. While it was not the longest-running set, the venue was packed with fans ready to party at another Alamo City rap show.

After the three opening acts took the stage, the sold-out crowd was ready for Young Nudy, chanting “Nudy” many times. However, the DJ sensed the crowd was not quite ready for him and spun tracks by 21 Savage and Playboi Carti to get their energy going. Nudy then went out at about 9:05 p.m. to the song “Project X” off his album “EA Monster,” released last August.

From the beginning of the show, there was a noticeable lack of stage production. There were no backdrops or props, no smoke effects and the only lighting featured was the most basic use of it, where the colors would change at every song. Knowing what Aztec Theatre is capable of with its larger space and technological capabilities, it would have been great to see more creativity added to the show’s visual aspects by Young Nudy’s team.

However, the sound mixing of the show was great. It was a visceral response to feel the thump of the beats and the pierce of the gunshot effects through the large speakers on songs like “EA.”

His stage presence was not anything memorable, but he did make an effort to move around to each part of the stage to make sure every fan in the pit would get a closer look at him. He also interacted with them all extremely well, happy to give them high fives, take selfies and rap his lyrics along with them.

However, the best energy he received was from the fans up at the top level of the venue. Every time the house lights turned on for Young Nudy to see the crowd, it made the energy in the balcony that much more visible. Pointing to the excited fans up there, he shouted, “Damn, man, I think I need to be up there with y’all.”

Young Nudy would only play 30 to 45 seconds of each track before transitioning to the next. While this made sure no song would overstay its welcome, it also meant that it would be an extremely short set, with the headliner only performing for 30 minutes. With many projects in his discography, the rapper could have easily played more tracks that fans would have wanted to hear.

Some of the songs that he did play that got the fans excited were “Yeah Yeah,” “Hell Shell,” “Extendo” and “Loaded Baked Potato.” He wrapped up his performance with the unreleased track “Pissy Pamper,” featuring a viral verse from Playboi Carti, and “Okra,” one of many food-named tracks off his latest project, “GUMBO,” that dropped this February.

While Young Nudy’s set lacked creativity and a headline-worthy set length, he did play plenty of songs that fans loved and rapped along to. His interaction with them throughout the night felt very genuine, which at the end of the day, is the most important thing you can do as an artist. The fans connected with him and vice versa, which is all you need to consider it a successful night in San Antonio.