Lexa Gates Was In and Out of Hell on the I Am Tour

New York rapper Lexa Gates was in and out of Hell at The Masquerade last week. The show started less than an hour after doors, and Gates wasted no time coming onto the stage after Vayda’s short-and-sweet opening set. She wrapped things up by 9:30 p.m., sprinting her way through a 16-song setlist. Her few words to the audience were to express gratitude for them and love for Atlanta. 

Maybe it sounds a little short, but it’s all in line with the no-bullshit persona Gates is known for. Not one for small talk, she instead opted to invite us into her space by taking a white rose from its vase on the stage and reaching out into the crowd to hand it to a fan. She then began her performance of “It Goes On,” the opening track from her new record, I Am, and it was clear that everyone in the room was thrilled to hear her signature Queens-inflected vocals live. Despite I Am’s newness, the audience seemed to already know every word to the songs on the record, though Gates was sure to hit some of the classics from her previous album, Elite Vessel, and a couple fan favorites from her early discography like “Rotten to the Core” and “Angel.”  

Don’t mistake Gates’ straightforwardness for thoughtlessness. The musician introduced I Am with an art performance at the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in NYC, walking on a human-sized hamster wheel silently for 10 hours leading up to the release of the record as it played on loop in the background. Her last album, Elite Vessel, had a similar marketing/performance art move attached to its release. It’s in this that you get the sense of Gates’ unconventional, strange charm. She doesn’t play around or mince words on stage or in her recordings, but it’s clear that she’s moving through the music world armed with a vision for the space she wants to occupy in it. The sweatshirts for sale at her merch table even had “I don’t have a body I’m just an idea,” written in bold text across the front.

This is also Gates' most involved tour yet production-wise. Her movements on stage, though they seem rather natural, are actually choreographed and directed through an earpiece she wears while performing. She uses a platform on stage to step closer into the spotlight during certain parts of the set, has a folding chair set off to the side for her to pull in and dance on, and even brings the mic stand in as a prop. The result was an even more engaging performance than usual that allowed the personality of her music to shine through.