I got to the show towards the tail end of Bas' set so I missed J.I.D. and Ari Lennox but I'll see them at Made in America so I wasn't too upset. If we're being honest, the reason I pressed my way to Baltimore was to see Anderson .Paak. Malibu was my favorite album of 2016 and I missed him 3 times already. I was not about to make it a fourth. Anderson stuck to Malibu for the most part but being able to see him do his thing on the drums was dope.

After Anderson came the man of the hour, J. Cole. His stage was located in the center of the arena, which was significant because of the way he came out. Police escorted him like an inmate headed to his cell with the instrumental of For Whom the Bell Tolls playing in the background. It was a intriguing sight that words couldn't really do justice. Once he started performing all i could do is sit back and say was damn. The atmosphere was overwhelming but in a good way. You felt all the pain J. Cole went through in these records and it was honestly a great feeling. This was highlighted when he did Ville Mentality. He had the video of his hometown, Fayetteville, NC, rolling in the background while performing, which added another level of emotional connection to the song. Couple that with him stopping and explaining the thought process behind it and it was another one of them damn moments. Although Cole performed all his hits from Lights Please, Can't Get Enough, and Tale of Two Cities, it was the more intimate moments that resonated with me. He touched various topics; social injustices, some things we did wrong as a black community, and Colin Kaepernick. Seeing somebody of that stature talk about those topics in the way that he did made me look at things differently. That's why I say this was the best concert I have ever experienced.