Last Night: Wale at House of Blues

By Altamese Osborne Thu., Jan. 31 2013 at 9:00 AM

Categories: Live Shots

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The night would provide more treats. Ever the spontaneous showman, Wale jumped down into the crowd during a song, prompting his beefy security guard into the depths with him. He unabashedly pulled a funny-looking cigarette out in full view of the audience during "Money Changes," huffing out a puff of smoke, despite his claims to wait to smoke with key audience members (read: groupies) later.

"I'm smoking ganja tonight!"

His best surprise came as assistance by crooner Tiara Thomas, who blended her voice and acoustic guitar into a live performance of the pair's duet, "Bad."

There have been media claims that Wale's skittishness in interviews of late is due to increased drug usage, but the rapper showed no signs of a problem Wednesday. Instead, by performing crowd-pleasers like "The One Eye Kitten Song" and "H20" with a shot of equal parts lyrical accuracy and surefire chauvinism, he assured that MMG's late cancellation last year was made up for -- in full.

Lord Ross would've been pleased.

Personal Bias: I was first introduced to Mr. Folarin when he performed at my college's Homecoming concert. Back then, he was an introspective and funny lyricist. I (and my peers) lost interest as he got more mainstream, but Folarin proves that you can go home again. Welcome back, old friend.

The Crowd Older people like Wale, too! But mostly 20- to 30-year-olds.

Seen in the Crowd: A sloppy, fall-down-drunk man, who had to be kicked out of the VIP area and escorted out of the venue.

Random Notebook Dump: House of Blues is kind to small people. I saw Wale the entire concert.

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