21 Savage Brings His Atlanta Wave to Brooklyn for Headlining Show – Exclusive

Outside AVIV in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Wednesday night (March 30), the street is quiet, calm and unsuspecting. The vibe is definitely not the usual scene near a venue before a hip-hop show, let alone the debut show of a buzzed-about out-of-town rapper. But as soon as the Uber pulls off and the nondescript white door is open, the muffled chorus of Young Thug's "Digits" and heavy weed smoke tell a very different story.

This is where Electric Circus arranged a show for Atlanta's 21 Savage, marking his New York City headlining debut. After having the show relocated days prior from Webster Hall in Manhattan due to police pressure, organizers made it happen in true Brooklyn fashion.

Whether fans showed up out of curiosity or genuine Slaughter Gang fandom, the congregating crowd was a healthy mix of mosh-ready teenagers, social media celebs, fellow rappers and the occasional record label rep in the cut. As bartenders in the back thought up drink prices on the fly and photographers slinked through the crowd to find girls of Instagram fame, the enthusiasm in the room was damn near infectious by 10:30 p.m.

Following DJ Venus X's set, Sav appeared onstage in a white leather jacket and got right into his bangers. His Slaughter Gang affiliates, many sporting the same face tattoo as the rapper, filled out the stage and rallied around their leader. Though his set was short (between five and six songs), Savage ran through the strongest tracks from his 2015 mixtape, Slaughter King, and built up the energy with every new verse.

Fans at center stage got especially lit to "Dirty K," "Wow" and his breakout single, "Red Opps." At some point during the show, people were pushing so hard in the mosh pit that they broke the wooden stage barriers and jostled the stage speakers from their positions.

The Decatur, Ga. native is certainly thriving in his career thus far, being a poster guy for ATL's "real street rappers" in a time when the South's landscape is getting increasingly crowded.

"If it weren’t for my voice, n----s wouldn’t even know n----s shoot in Atlanta," said the 22-year-old when he chopped it up with XXL for The Break. "N----s would think everybody wears Giuseppes and buy Versace. N-----s would think everybody got money in Atlanta. There’s n-----s fucked up in Atlanta. It’s a lot of poverty, it’s n----s struggling, it’s n----s hustling, it’s n----s robbing and n----s killing in Atlanta. It ain’t all money and drugs like the picture is painted. It’s a lot of gangsta shit going on in Atlanta. We’re going to bring that back, every aspect of everything."

Thanks to last night's show, Slaughter Gang's movement has definitely made its way North. Check out the social media moments from the show below.

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