Rebranding as a solo artist after being in a group can be hard, especially when your bandmates are just as popular as you. And what if your pitch for solo stardom wasn’t easily defined, or your group’s ending wasn’t formally announced? (JT and Yung Miami of the brash Miami rap duo City Girls are the latest example trying to crack the code.)
Offset, one-third of the influential rap group Migos, seems to be hyper-aware of this plight. At his Atlanta show Wednesday night, he delivered a star-studded array of hits and album cuts, glistening with impressive dance moves and pure showmanship. The concert was his last stop of his Set It Off Tour.
The rapper graced the stage of the Coca-Cola Roxy a little after 10 p.m. — an hour after his expected set time. Wearing a blue jean jacket, black glasses, black gloves and a sleeveless T-shirt plastered with the face of Takeoff (the late Migos rapper who was fatally shot in 2022), Offset opened the show with “Say My Grace.” It was an unlikely concert intro — the Travis Scott-assisted track is a deep cut from Offset’s album “Set It Off,” which dropped last fall. But as the song’s introspection came to life (”Ask God, why I didn’t get a answer?/ Why I lose my brother to bullets?/ Why I lose my grandma to cancer,” he asks throughout the track), it became more of a rallying cry for an artist who knows he deserves to be a star, but is still grappling with the ways he got to this point, proving the song to be an appropriate opener.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
The show’s stage design was a bit underwhelming: a large staircase in the center, topped by a screen portraying music videos and not much else. However, the variety of lighting, Offset’s band and background dancers, and his own dance moves made that less distracting.
Throughout the roughly hour-long show, Offset mainly performed tracks from the new album. But the best moments arrived when his dance skills took center stage. For “Fan,” he escaped into a dance break that featured him moonwalking, a nod to the rapper’s main inspiration, Michael Jackson. For “Rap Saved Me” (from his 2017 joint album with Metro Boomin and 21 Savage), he showcased dance moves so crisp that it left the crowd wanting more. In case you didn’t know, Offset was a background dancer in the music video for Whitney Houston’s 2002 song “Whatchulookinat.” Offset, a pre-teen at the time, exuded the same charm that he did on stage Wednesday night.
Offset’s dancing felt so stellar and rare in a musical terrain where rappers often do anything but that. It was a refreshing reminder of the elements of Offset’s star power: the range of his rap delivery, which can be heard in his Three 6 Mafia-esque styling on “Fan” or the more melodic rap cadence on the hit “Worth It,” and his relationships with other stars, making great feature moments.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Wednesday’s concert included guests like JID, Young Nudy, Mango Foo, Baby Drill, Key Glock and more. The latter part of his set was a fresh selection of Migos classics, much to the crowd’s delight. But before any of that, he took time to honor his late bandmate Takeoff and encouraged the audience to do the same.
Then, with the energy of an electrifying rock star, he performed Migos hits like “Fight Night,” “Call Casting” and “Motorsport.” Before the night ended, he took a very brief moment to address the crowd. I hoped he would talked to the crowd more to extend a sense of his personality, given the Atlanta stop was the final show of his tour, but it seemed like Offset only felt comfortable speaking when he really wanted to get something off his chest.
“When they count against you, you can always win,” Offset said.
For the concert’s conclusion, he performed the megahit “Bad and Boujee” and crowd surfed as if it was 2016 all over again, when Migos was on top of the world.
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Credit: Ryan Fleisher
Being in an on-again, off-again relationship with one of the world’s biggest stars (Cardi B) and a former member of a group that helped shape Atlanta rap, getting your own spotlight is not an easy feat. But on Wednesday night, Offset established his singularity. He delivered a show with enough potential to prove he has what it takes to be a lasting solo act.
