Thanks for tuning in to the highlights of Tuesday night's Album of the Year tour at the historic Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom. The house was absolutely packed for an exceptional performance by headliner and underground legend Freddie "Gangsta" Gibbs.

Photo by: Scott D’Amato (SharedViews Media)

Conway the Machine grabbed the mic first, lurking onto the stage looking like he was ready for an armed robbery in a snowstorm. Puffy yellow jacket (it's a Buffalo thang), black cotton ski mask, bling hangin' from his neck looking like a VIP pass to the pantheon of rap legends. Full-on Bills Mafia in the house- so many Bills jerseys they could have suited up 22 for a game. Conway, as my homie Romero put it, “is the 50 Cent of Buffalo", whom he’s even collaborated with. Hell, he's even been on Slim Shady's record label. He's got his old school influences sure, but in Buffalo, he is thee influence (especially in the Montana neighborhoods). He came out with bombs, completely raw with "no choruses or any of that bullshit". He would have been great on the Cocaine Piñata tour with Gibbs.

Conway has always been at a disadvantage in the rap game. Not only for not coming up in big city markets but for being the victim of attempted murder. Therefore, his expression leaned heavily on overcoming his struggles with a chip on his shoulder.

He pulled fans up on stage, signed autographs and took selfies. But the most touching moment of the night is when he closed the set with a song that I can't f'ing locate through the usual channels to give you the track title. My apologies to the readers but I'm on deadline. Trust me, that shit about made me cry.

This man was shot in the head and neck, had to relearn how to talk, suffered a form of palsy and developed insecurities about how his face looked. He's been through so much struggle in other areas of his life and overcame. Sharing those feelings dropped him to his knees at the end of the set, leaving him in tears. Despite the ski mask, he's an absolute sweetheart in my eyes. But if we were on the ski slopes I'd get out da way.

Next up: Cousin Stizz, hailing from Boston and touring behind his sophomore album, Trying to Find My Next Thrill, released by RCA Records. Stizz has what I detect as repping that newer Atlanta sound, most resembling Future, perhaps. I can't be too critical on this young fellow because he had the young crowd bouncing at his command and he did rap “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, which is not an easy feat.

Before Gangsta Gibbs hopped the stage, a woman front and center got her box of pizza ripped from her hands by an irritated security worker. I'm not sure how she got it in there, but hats off.

Freddie's DJ, Ralph, trolled him with that Atlanta sound during the hype up to his entrance, possibly trolling someone else. Gibbs marched the stage and shut his ass down. Proceeded to lead a chat of "f*** you Ralph" between his signature "f*** the police" chant.

Freddie grew up on the mean streets of Gary, Indiana. Despite his father being a police officer, Freddie delved into the dope game, selling “that hard” on the corner till his toes froze. He came up on the streets and turned the game up.

Freddie came out in his possibly Tupac homage coveralls, a brown cardigan with Playboy bunnies, a big-ass diamond medallion hanging from his neck, and he had a bottle of Hennessy in tow. "Man, I'm high as f***!", he said. "I ate an edible earlier... *proceeds to smoke a blunt* I love Denver!” DJ Ralph then kicked the beat in and Freddie came out swinging again, repping much of his last two albums, Bandana which was created with Madlib (2019) and Freddie (2018).

A final highlight of the night came when he threw it back old school with "Slammin'", and sent the crowd in a tizzy with a deep track off of his critically acclaimed ESGN album with "Lifestyles of the Insane". But for those yearning for “BFK” era Freddie, they had to wait for the encore when he dropped "Baby Face Killa" and we about lost our minds. He finished strong with his single "Palmolive" featuring Pusha T and Killer Mike. He couldn't have ended his tour on a better note and it was glorious to see him cheesed out showing his love for his followers.

Btw, the cops never look under the couch.

That's a wrap. On behalf of SharedViews, I'd like to shout out to the fabulous staff at Cervantes for their courtesy and stiff drinks! Cheers!

Freddie Gibbs Took Over Cervantes Ballroom w/ Cousin Stizz And Conway