I woke up around 12:30 in the afternoon on Sunday, and despite the fact that I had somewhere to be in an hour, my mind told me to stay in bed, hiding under the covers with my phone screen an inch away from my nose. Juicy J was set to perform at 5 o’clock outside the Wolfe Center at BGSU, but college football highlights and Seinfeld reruns beckoned. I finally motivated myself out of bed when it became absolutely necessary. At that point, I threw on my clothes and walked through a dense fog of Axe body spray (the ultimate signifier of no effort). I raced to the campus where I retrieved my media pass and made my way inside the Wolfe Center, waiting for the man they call Juicy.
I was on assignment from the BG News to cover and give my opinion of the Juicy J concert at the university, and nothing could quite explain my feelings. Excitement, nervousness, impatience; all building in anticipation of the event.
As someone who had never attended a concert (unless you count Weird Al Yankovic and some Beatles cover bands) I had no idea what to expect. Would there be a hundred people or 3,000 people? Would there be crowd-surfing? Would my childhood dream of hologram Tupac Shakur appearing finally be realized? The answer to a lot of those questions would be a solid no.
I waited in the Eva Marie Saint Theatre as the opening acts and guest artists appeared. I met up-and-coming artist and Florida native Cade (who put on a surprisingly energetic show to warm up the crowd), and Atlanta rapper 24hrs, who was brought out as a special guest of Juicy J. Both artists have performed with the likes of Jason Derulo, Wiz Khalifa, and many more.
Finally, as we waited in line, Juicy J appeared and made his presence known immediately. A loud “what’s up?” directed everyone’s attention to the man dressed in all black, with a large gold chain hanging from his neck.
After some time, I walked over to Juicy J (real name Jordan Houston), looked him right in his designer sunglasses, dapped him up, and proceeded to take a quick picture. The concert was nearly ready to begin.
The crowd of several hundred extremely dedicated Juicy J fans cheered and hollered as he made his way to the stage. The show commenced, and it was one expletive-filled, cannabis-themed, hip-hop hour that blurred the line of decency.
More and more people joined as the show went on, and Juicy J continually asked the crowd their opinion of weed.
“Where my weed smokers at?” he asked to the audience’s resounding cheers.
Juicy J regularly borrowed phones from the crowd to record snapchat videos, much to that person’s excitement, I’m sure. At one point, he removed the massive gold chain from his neck and offered to give it to a fan. The dookie rope resided in his hands for several tracks, as Juicy J explained it was “a birthday gift last year from Wiz Khalifa.”
Alas, the golden giveaway was not to be, as he re-adorned the neckwear, signaling the end of the show.
A great entertainer in Juicy J coupled with talented new artists and an ecstatic crowd made for one incredible show that I won’t soon forget (there’s still a ringing noise in my ear). I wouldn’t mind seeing him in Bowling Green again.
