Vince Staples brings FM! to Montreal

Vince Staples made his way to MTELUS in Montreal on Thursday night along with Buddy and Armani White as part of the Smile, You’re On Camera tour. While a busy night in music in Montreal, Vince still managed to pull in a decent crowd of fans that were energised and ready to be a part of the show.

Kicking things off was Philadelphia’s Armani White, who after his video ‘Stick Up’ released in 2015 was noticed by many in the music industry. After taking some time off pre-2018 due to his father’s passing, White released the song ‘Onederful’ in November which was a catchy groove that once again caught listeners ears. Armani was excited to be on stage, bounding from end to end engaging with every audience member. Even after the set had finished, he hopped into the crowd to meet and take photos with his new fans.

Up next from one of hip hop’s legendary areas of Compton was Buddy. Getting his start as a teenager, Buddy was noticed by Pharrell Williams in 2009, who then signed him to his record label. Since his signing, Buddy has had the chance to work with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, ASAP Rocky and Khalid. After releasing ‘Harlan & Alondra’ in July of last year, Buddy has gone on tour with some of current hip hop’s best, with Joey Badass and now Vince Staples. Playing songs such as ‘That Much’ and ‘Trippin’,’ Buddy had the crowd in the palm of his hand for the entire set.

The auditorium then went dark, as a camera was turned to the audience with the words ‘Smile, You’re On Camera’ displayed. Vince made his way out to the beginnings of ‘Feels Like Summer’ off his latest album ‘FM!’ Following up with crowd-pleasers such as ‘Lift Me Up’ and ‘Tweakin,’ Staples didn’t rely on any fancy props or instrumentation to back him up. It’s always a breath of fresh air to see rappers perform all the lyrics to their songs without backing, and Vince used his distinct clean flows and deliveries all the way through. Finishing up Staples’ set, the video screen showed recently-passed Mac Miller’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert. A touching moment that had fans tearing up throughout the crowd.

The show was one of true ability and emotion, Vince Staples put on a show that had every member of the audience smiling for the camera.