I have a historical aversion to rap shows; although I primarily listen to hip hop, I tend to avoid going to concerts. Unlike in other genres, there is no room for mediocrity in a rap show. Simply put, when the performance consists of a DJ and a guy with a microphone, if the rapper lacks a good stage presence or stumbles over the lyrics, one’s ability to enjoy the artist again, even on record, is compromised.

For these reasons, when I attended South by Southwest (SXSW) last spring, I went almost exclusively to indie rock shows. Although they were fun, I left the shows disappointed with myself for betraying my own musical tastes.

This year, our approach was a departure from what I did in 2009 — namely, we made an effort this time only to go to the concerts of artists we actually listen to. I have had a growing suspicion that I was missing out on fun shows and wanted to see if my hypothesis was valid. Also, a large music festival is always a better testing ground than a year’s worth of random shows.

There were three artists in particular that we were most excited about: Odd Future, Danny Brown and Lil B, all of whom delivered strong stage shows, albeit in different ways.

Danny Brown, who just prior to the festival had signed with Fool’s Gold Records, turned out a classic virtuosic rap performance, relying less on a hype man to carry his act and more on his charisma, stage presence and lyrical ability to win over the crowd.

The Odd Future show was somewhat confounding — the group members were obviously inexperienced performers since they relied on a backing vocal track throughout their set. That said, their collective stage presence was undeniable, and they drove the crowd into a frenzy in a way normally reserved for teeny boppers and hardcore bands. Regardless of what you think of their controversial lyrical content, it is impossible to leave one of their shows without feeling that something important just happened.

Lil B, both on record and on stage, is something of an enigma. Having put out somewhere in the range of 3,000 songs in the last three years, he manages to conduct his art in the theater of the absurd whilst simultaneously managing not to alienate the core hip-hop audience. On stage, much is the same — lacking a hype man, it was his enthusiasm and unparalleled joy that won the crowd over as much as his actual rapping. At one point, he broke out in a fit of hysterical laughter, seemingly communicating the awe that overwhelmed him.

What occurred to me was that these emerging rappers, along with a handful of slightly more established acts, were more comfortable on stage than artists with their level of experience usually are. It would be easy to reduce this to the current industry dynamics. In an environment where rappers are having great difficulty securing release dates, let alone selling records, the only way to make rap an economically viable profession is through touring revenue. This explains why artists like Yelawolf or Killer Mike put so much effort into their stage performances, but it fails to account for this new wave of artists who are barely in their 20s, yet have such refined stage personas.

The theory I developed is that new media such as Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube, allow artists greater experience in shaping and refining their artistic personas than they ever could have been afforded 10 years ago. While it may seem that they are newcomers to the scene, in reality they have all been toiling away on the Internet refining their image and message for years before we ever heard of them. Thus, by the time they begin to hit the stage, they have far more experience performing than one would ever think to credit them for. Engaging one’s fan base, be it on stage or on Twitter, helps a young artist better understand what works and what doesn’t. Hence, by the time someone like Odd Future or Lil B appears at large festival such as SXSW, he has a level of comfort with his artistic identity that was once only seen in veterans of the industry who had been touring for years.

And so, my prior aversion to hearing rap artists live has been quelled.

— Alex Lessinger