2 Chainz only wore one chain last night, and Action Bronson wished he could “light some weed up” with fans.
The two rappers performed to a half-empty Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Thursday night, but fans’ hype filled the gaps.
Floor seats sold out in the first week, event organizers said, but tickets for stadium seating were still available up until the show started. About 2,900 people vibed to the rappers.
People were still filing into their seats as Action Bronson busted onto the stage, starting out leisurely strolling and rapping “Action Silverado” from his mixtape “Blue Chips 2.” He doused himself with a water bottle and proceeded to cycle through songs until he hopped off stage and into the crowd.
Bronson was full of action that night.
He traveled through the floor seats and rapped his way up to the center bleachers and then to the bleachers to stage right, all as fans snapped selfies.
The O’Connell Center security was prepared, though, and followed him through to stage left — all while keeping their lights trained on the acrobatic Bronson, who hurtled himself over the blue barriers and white barricades into the crowd stage left.
“That was a pretty impressive display of athleticism by me right there,” he said after hopping out of the barricaded area back on stage.
Bronson brought fans back to the ‘80s, “my period of growth,” he said, before he freestyled over popular ‘80s pop hits, including “Sussudio” by Phil Collins, and belting out, “Is there any more room for me in those jeans,” in his rendition of “In Those Jeans” by Ginuwine.
Fans of the athletic Action Bronson hailed from around the state.
Nate Robbins, a 22-year-old business management senior at the University of South Florida, and Khadijah Ogutu, a 24-year-old speech pathology USF junior, drove the two hours to UF for Action Bronson, one of their favorite artists.
“Last year, I told him ‘You have to hear this song,’” said Ogutu. “It was from a band from my hometown called The Ground Up. He was like, ‘Dude, that’s Action Bronson!’”
Bronson was encircled by fans who were able to rap alongside him.
Will Cox was in his bleacher seat stage right when Bronson stopped next to him to rap.
“I didn’t even know he was allowed to go off stage,” he said, “but it added to the hype, it made him more real.”
The 21-year-old UF advertising junior has been listening to Bronson since he played basketball for Edgewater High School in Orlando. His teammates introduced him to the New York-based rapper, and he’s been a fan since.
Action Bronson’s antics would have been hard to follow for lesser rappers, but 2 Chainz brought people to their feet, crowding in front of the stage, shouting enthusiastic “SKRT SKRT”s along to his opening song, “Fork.”
Malcolm Perez-Rios was one of the fans shouting along.
“I went more for Action Bronson,” the 18-year-old UF telecommunication freshman said. “But 2 Chainz had really good energy.”
Chainz’ energy bounced off the crowd and reverberated through the stands as fans filled in intentional gaps in the lyrics of his rendition of “All Me,” usually featuring Drake and Big Sean.
“He performed so well,” Perez-Rios said.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 11/13/2014]
Rapper 2 Chainz performs on stage at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Thursday night. 2 Chainz, along with rapper Action Bronson, were brought to UF by Student Government Productions.
