Earthgang bring Ghetto Gods tour to Toronto

Earthgang made their way to Toronto last Thursday night for an energy-fueled show at HISTORY. The Atlanta hiphop duo were in town as part of their Ghetto Gods tour, along with support from Mike Dimes and Akintoye.

Up first, Toronto local Akintoye, and he made sure everyone knew about it. Getting in a full-on cardio workout for the night, Akintoye was bouncing back and forth from one side of the stage to the other. The rapper engaged with everyone who showed up regardless of if they knew who he was or not. It was great to see how much interaction the crowd gave back, with plenty of simple but effective call and response parts in the rapper’s songs.

Mike Dimes was next on stage, and brought his own melodic and moody atmosphere. The Texas rapper’s beat selections had a Travis Scott Rodeo-esque darkness to them, while incorporating catchy flows that make it easy to bob your head. Performing most tracks from his March release, “In Dimes we Trust,” he had the crowd locked in with trap bangers such as NO TRENDS and Home. Mike Dimes is one to watch, as the rapper is working with more well-known acts recently. Dimes artist released a single with JID this past week.

Things kicked off with a ton of energy, as Earthgang went right into Ghetto Gods and BILLI, two songs that immediately got the crowd going. Something that’s always refreshing to see is hiphop artists using live bands. Sometimes, it doesn’t work well- as you need to be able to feel the 808s that just don’t hit the same way when replaced by a kick drum. But, Earthgang knew how to manage that- as the live band came out for songs that could have more-musical renditions worked in and then would let the DJ do his thing for the higher tempo trap songs. One standout from this was one of the duo’s biggest hits, Stuck, which grew sonically with the addition of the band but still had the same vibe that the crowd was searching for.

Earthgang are signed to Dreamville, J. Cole’s label, who also made news in Toronto recently as Cole also just signed with the Scarborough Shooting Stars CEBL basketball team. Knowing they couldn’t leave without doing a few songs off the Dreamville collaborative album, Earthgang performed their verses from tracks such as Down Bad, Sacrifices, and 1993. Ending the night with one of their best, Finally, Earthgang left the crowd with UP, a song that truly encompasses the rapping, singing, and energy that the group brings every night.