T-Pain’s Mansion In Wiscansin Party Landed In The Middle Of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor
What’s better than a concert by the water? A concert that’s REALLY a party by the water, and that’s exactly what T-Pain provided when he brought the “Mansion In Wiscansin Party” Tour to Pier Six Pavilion for a sold out show on June 25.
Teddy Penderazdoun has been known over the years for being the producer/artist with the party anthems, so it’s no surprise that he would bring the same vibe to a live concert setting, and bring a couple of his friends along for the ride. This particular show included independent rappers Young Ca$h, NandoSTL, and LaRussell, who happen to be a part of Nappy Boy Entertainment.
Hailing from Jacksonville, Florida, Young Ca$h hit the stage promptly at 7:30 PM and had a fifteen-minute set. He brought out a little person swinging Mardi Gras beads during “Florida Heat.” To keep the energy flowing, NandoSTL was next up and brought that St. Louis flava to Charm City. Debuting his latest single “Lookin For Me” seemed to be a good look for the indie rapper as everyone in the GA section was jumping around and vibing to the charged up tune.
Almost everyone in attendance seemed to know who LaRussell was, so I felt a bit left out at the start of his set, which encompassed an eclectic element. A male violin artist came out on stage and began playing along to some familiar hip hop songs before LaRussell ran to center stage with his own unique brand of stage presence. During his forty-minute show, he did what not a lot of artists would dare to do. When most acts perform a concert, they stick to a regimented setlist for each city, but LaRussell started taking several fan requests from the audience to help mix up his set, which I deemed admirable.
The fan interaction didn’t stop there. A young lady had the fortunate opportunity to hop on stage and sing an a capella version of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You“, which she sounded good, and this was all prior to him jumping down into the crowd and began running around the venue floor, while singing the lyrics to 50 Cent’s “Many Men.”
A female friend of his recounted the story of how she had discovered Baltimore Club Music earlier in the day, and the sound had inspired her to write a poem, which she recited live at the concert. It wouldn’t have been right for him to leave without blessing us with one of his latest singles “Ethics.”
As the stage went black, it didn’t stay dark for long as a HUGE LED wall illuminated the pavilion with the imagery of a luxurious mansion’s exterior, and then T-Pain appeared from stage right wasting no time going straight into the hook from “Maybach Music 2.” Dressed in a whimsical styled, multi-colored suit with matching hat, Pain temporarily stopped for a mandatory vibe check. It was at this exact moment that I realized what time it was…we were going to be taken on a time hop over the last 20 years, which essentially helped define my formative party years.
The next string of songs were all back-to-back bangers that kept even the most reserved person out of their seats, when hits such as “Up Down (Do This All Day),” “Cyclone,” “Freeze” and my personal favorite, the “2 Step Remix” were blasted so loud, that they could be heard on the other side of the harbor.
As we thought we were about to get a little break during a quick wardrobe change, it was evident that he wasn’t letting his foot up off of our necks performing “Good Life,” “Got Money,” and “Booty Wurk” before he asked if there were any real day one fans, segueing into the song that initially introduced me to his music, “I’m Sprung.”
For this to be my first time seeing a full-fledged T-Pain concert, one major thing stuck out to me the most, and is that his onstage persona is as energetic as the music that he’s produced. At no point was he just one of those “stand in one place and point” rappers, he was running from side to side, jumping around and dancing, outside in 90 degree plus weather, under hot stage lights and still able to captivate a crowd. This display of showmanship is pure evidence why he’s been able to sustain a long-lasting career in music, that’s spans almost twenty years.
The mid-tempo grooves “Blame It,” “Bartender,” “I’m ‘n Luv wit a Stripper” and “Chopped N Skrewed” served as slow down moment that we all needed, and that he deserved. Later on in the show, he gave a heartfelt testimony about how he went from having to cancel a tour in 2017 due to a lack of ticket sales, to now having a sold-out tour in 2024, and doing it entirely as an independent artist. That independent status allowed him to create Nappy Boy Entertainment, which is also the home of Young Ca$h and NandoSTL, who he brought out during his set to get into their collaborative singles “Y.O.T.A” and “Biggest Booty.”
Towards the end of the night, the biggest shock came to me in the form of a heartfelt rendition of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me“, that obviously was the song choice that lead to him being the season one winner of FOX’s The Masked Singer. The sound of finger snaps filled the air as the Billboard #1 hit “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” kicked into full throttle and transported me back to exactly where I was in life when that song dominated the airwaves.
For a young man who once felt like his career was possibly at jeopardy, seeing the faces of 4,600 people sing the words to all of his songs with much adoration is all the more reason to keep the party going.
