I make it no secret that I’m a masculine black gay hip hop fan, possibly the biggest fan in all of the Cypher Avenue squad. I love just about all artists from new and old, from commercial to indie, from ratchet to conscious, from sing-songy to lyrical acrobats…I just love rap music.

As laid back of a person I am, my favorite kind of rap music has always been of the turn up variety. I was the young guy in the crowd pushing & shoving and getting rowdy when the D.J. played songs by Onyx, M.O.P., Dead Prez and Pharoahe Monch’s Simon Says.

So it’s no surprise (to me at least) that I love Trap Music and hyped lyrics-heavy Street Rap from artists like Meek Mill and Ace Hood.

What I like about Ace Hood is he has rapid fire bars for days and he makes it look effortless. For those of you who forgot about him, here’s his hit record from 2013, “Bugatti” featuring Future & Rick Ross.

The other things I like about the 29 year old rapper is that while he raps tough and celebrates his “hood” persona, he’s actually never been to prison. He actually was a High School football star who had his dreams of playing in the NFL squashed after an injury in the 10th grade. So it was then that he took up rapping and started working his way up locally in Florida, eventually signing to Def Jam.

For what its worth, he was also named to XXL Magazine’s Freshmen Class of 2009 along with Wale, B.o.B, Charles Hamilton, Asher Roth, Cory Gunz, Blu, Mickey Factz, Curren$y, and Kid Cudi:

The last thing I like about Ace Hood is, well, the dude looks good…and he knows it. Those that follow his Instagram know 2 things: He’s a devoted family man and he likes showing off his ripped body, smooth dark skin and well done dreadlocks.

After releasing 4 studio albums through Def Jam and Cash Money Records via DJ Khaled’s ‘We The Best’ label, Ace Hood is now 100% independent. He releases and distributes music & merch through his own imprint, Hood Nation.  Unlike many people seen trying to destroy careers on Black Twitter, I actually support Black entrepreneurial endeavors.

Ace’s newest mixtape Trust The Process has a Gold Status (over 500,000 streams and downloads) on the number one mixtape site in the world, Datpiff.

So once I saw the opportunity to support the artist by attending his Los Angeles stop on the Trust The Process tour, I jumped on it.

It was a small, intimate venue which is the kind that I love. You know that you’re going to be surrounded by real fans and get to connect with the artist more than you would in a huge arena.

Ace jumped on stage and comfortably stepped into the role of M.C., rapping so hard and getting so hyped that he was soaking wet with sweat after just a couple songs. This is what you want from any performer, a person who will work just as hard for a small room as they would if they were in the Staples Center. These were his real fans. Not the fans who were just around for DJ Khaled or Trey Songz or Future…these fans were here to support him.

Ace didn’t disappoint. He performed tracks from the new mixtape as well as the classics from his studio albums. He even surprised us by performing “Bugatti” in the middle of his set, instead of saving it for the end.

Everyone was having a great time and Ace was feeling the love & support in the room. So he jumped up on a riser and reached out to crowd giving us all daps.

Gay feelings aside, it’s always dope when you can get that kind of physical connection with a rapper you think is dope. There’s power in daps. That’s the reason why Cypher Avenue forum “likes” are all called “daps” instead.

Then it happened.

Ace was in-between songs talking to the crowd:

That’s when we locked eyes and shared a moment:

BRUH!!!!!!

Man, I was on my hard Hip Hop shit all night until then.

Jokes aside, Ace Hood is very heterosexual (and possibly quietly homophobic given his Southern Christian upbringing).

Regardless, I can appreciate and give props to the man being a tenacious entrepreneur despite many setbacks, for taking care of his body and sharing those results with his fans and for seemingly being a great father to his children (baby mama drama aside).

While I may not buy Herbalife from many of the other Thirst Traps that I follow on IG, I def try to support financially when the opportunity presents. While not a huge investment, attending this concert was definitely money well spent.

Are there any Musicians (or Thirst Traps) that you’ve supported recently? Tell us about it.