Ludacris at NXNE

After Big Boi cancelled the North By North East (NXNE) headlining gig due to an injury, it was announced that Ludacris would take his place as the final performer at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square on hip-hop day to close out the festival. For hip-hop heads, it would be hard to beat last year’s rap finale with Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, which brought an estimated 25,000 people to the square, but this year, Luda most definitely did.

Hitting the stage at approximately 9:15 p.m., Luda came out sporting an orange tee, ready to rock with the city, which had spilled over into the side streets and reached all the way back to the Eaton Centre for the free show. One by one, Luda delivered hit after hit, reminding the crowd (in case fans forgot) of the endless discography of records he has under his belt. Luda spit “Area Codes”, “Southern Hospitality”, “What’s Your Fantasy”, “Blueberry Yum Yum”, “Act A Fool” and his Grammy winning verse of “Yeah”.

After dabbling in some new work, from his IDGAF project, it was obvious that the crowd was not feeling the same vibe, so the southern spitter made sure to bring it back to his old bangers with tracks like the forever relevant, “Move Bitch”. Toronto went in. For any doubters that thought Luda lost it, he proved them undoubtedly wrong, as he closed off this year’s NXNE festival with a vengeance.