They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Try telling that to the artist formerly known as Tity Boi, who, judging by his sold-out show at Houston’s Warehouse Live last night (March 1), overwhelmingly reinvented himself into the towering, quick-witted MC persona branded and celebrated now as 2 Chainz.

The streets came out to support the Atlanta spitter in record numbers, but before the Def Jam signee took the stage, H-Town’s own Paul Wall reminded concertgoers why he’s still the People’s Champ, serving up a medley of hits such as “Sittin’ Sideways,” “What It Do?” and “Chunk Up the Deuce.”

It was a Swishahouse reunion of sorts as DJ Michael 5000 Watts manned the turntables while the newly svelte MC continued to swang and bang through his set, offering up “Busy Body,” and few cuts from his upcoming mixtape, No Sleep Til Houston, before ending it with the seminal hit that started it all for the City of Drank, “Still Tippin’.”

Wall was a hearty appetizer, but it was 2 Chainz they wanted to feast on. Known mostly as one-half of rap duo Playaz Circle, Dos stepped into the cipher with the poised calculation of a panther and immediately dove into “Got One” from his much-buzzed about mixtape, T.R.U. REALigion.

The rapper born Tauheed Epps then took a brief moment to salute the crazed throng cheering his name and the people on stage behind him, which included Marcus Manchild, Killa Kyleon, Wall, Bun B, Lil Keke, most of Rap-A-Lot and Trae Tha Truth, who recently inked a joint venture with T.I.’s Grand Hustle imprint.

Mr. Two Necklaces jumped back into the mix with “Hard in the Kitchen” before curiously pulling out his biggest hit to date, “Spend It.”  The audience recited every word as if it were a classic nursery rhyme and continued to lend a hand as the gangly MC took it back to the beginning with his half of “Duffle Bag Boy.”

Before exiting stage right while the DJ played “Fuck ‘Em” from Rick Ross’ new mixtape Rich Forever, 2 Chainz ran through “SupaFreak” and “K.O.," the latter in dedication to the late great UGK legend Pimp C. —Maurice Bobb @ReeseReport (photo by Ashlee Ivery)

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