Leave it to none other than T-Pain to rhyme Wisconsin (“Wiscansin”) with mansion on a hit single, then turn that fan-favorite lyric into a music festival 14 years later in a state the Tallahassee rapper/singer otherwise has no ties. Yet somehow that’s exactly what went down last night in Milwaukee.
Dubbed Wiscansin Fest, named after the lyric from T-Pain’s 2008 collaboration “Can’t Believe It” with Lil Wayne, yesterday’s festivities at The Rave were also beyond belief. Not only did the “Buy U a Drank” singer dedicate an entire tour and merch line to his favorite Midwestern state, but he brought a stacked lineup of performers for the one-of-a-kind festival.
From T-Pain and Lil Jon’s headlining performances full of massive nostalgic hits, to entertaining can’t-miss sets from names like Juvenile and Eshu Tune (Hannibal Buress) blessing fans early in the evening, Wisconsin was certainly spoiled by T-Pain and friends on Saturday night.
Here are our eight favorite performances from T-Pain’s Wiscansin Fest:
1. T-Pain
None of the above would have been possible without the man of the night, T-Pain himself. T-Pain has always shown love for Wisconsin and Milwaukee, even before his new festival. But the rapper/singer certainly showed a new amount of appreciation with Wiscansin Fest. Milwaukee loved his performance – and the city showed their love back as June 11 is now officially T-Pain Day in the city of Milwaukee.
2. Lil Jon
If you thought about turning down during Wiscansin Fest, rapper Lil Jon posed the very simple question: “Turn down for what?” Lil Jon got crunk with Milwaukee with massive hits like “Shots," “Snap Yo Fingers," "Outta Your Mind," “Yeah!” and several more.
3. Eshu Tune (Hannibal Buress)
Hannibal Buress showed off his new career as a rapper with his Eshu Tune moniker. If you were expecting a 100% serious Donald Glover-to-Childish Gambino transition from the stand-up comedian/actor, you’d be mistaken. Buress still showed off his sense of humor through his tracks and on-stage performance. The highlight of his set came as he constantly stopped the tracks to call out his video guy for playing the wrong visuals during the show – something that we still aren’t sure if it was a bit or not.
4. Juvenile
Juvenile brought back late '90s rap to The Rave’s basement stage with his classics like “Slow Motion” and "Back That Azz Up." The Cash Money rapper brought a huge crowd to the basement for a packed performance early in the evening.
5. K Camp
K Camp is one of many big emerging hip-hop artists out of Atlanta, but the Milwaukee-born Interscope artist will always represent Wisconsin. The “Lottery (Renegade)” rapper/singer brought a bit of hometown love for the special festival themed after the dairy state.
6. O.T. Genasis
O.T. Genasis is known for being “in love with the coco” following his breakout 2014 single, but he was in love with Wisconsin on Saturday night after his Milwaukee fans came out to party with the ATL native.
7. Bleu
Bleu, formerly Yung Bleu, has worked with everyone from Drake and Chris Brown to 2 Chainz and Kevin Gates. With such big co-signs and a number of great tracks so early on into his career, it’s no surprise that T-Pain recruited Bleu for his curated festival.
8. Kid Ink
Kid Ink was also one of the top performers from the stacked lineup of 18 artists at Wiscansin Fest. The 36-year-old Los Angeles rapper/singer performed a number of his hit singles including "Money and the Power," “Show Me” and several more.
