BY CAMERON CASTALDI
As a former middle schooler with unsupervised internet access, Cupcakke is an artist that has been on my radar for several years now. Since 2012, the Chicago-based rapper has been pumping out one fun, infamously vulgar hits one after the other. In 2015, at just 18 years old, her songs “Deepthroat” and “Vagina”, which need no further explanation, were released and became instant hits due to their raunchy and easily memeable contents.
Fast forward to 2024, and Cupcakke’s career is stronger than ever following the release of her seventh studio album, Dauntless Manifesto, in June. When I learned that she would be performing at The Granada on the Dauntless Manifesto Tour, I decided that I had to make my 12-year-old self’s dreams come true and see her live.
After making it inside the venue, I could instantly feel the sheer excitement of the crowd. However, after an hour-long opening set from some great local DJs, the crowd was growing restless waiting on Cupcakke’s entrance. Slowly, the carefree dancing turned stiff as people glanced around the venue wondering when her set would begin. Five more minutes went by, then ten, then twenty, and the crowd was growing more and more irritable by the minute. At this point, the only thing on my mind was whether or not I was going to be able to wake up for my 8 AM lecture the next morning.
Randomly, Kansas Campbell, an incredible local drag queen, appeared on stage and started dancing to the DJ’s mix, inviting members of the audience to join her onstage. For the next ten minutes, the crowd’s energy was back and better than ever. This impromptu performance was so much fun I almost forgot why I was at The Granada in the first place. However, Campbell had to leave shortly after her appearance to make her actual show at the Replay Lounge. I am still not entirely sure how or why she showed up, but I can only imagine how funny the text conversations between her and the staff were when they realized that Cupcakke would not be coming onstage any time soon.
After her exit, the crowd grew mild once again. At this point, we had been listening to these DJs for the last hour and a half. Thankfully, I was standing around some incredibly funny people, and we managed to make a Pokemon Go party and collected Pokemon as we waited. Other people around us were holding up their phones playing Subway Surfers and writing messages to the DJs via Snapchat. One guy was even on Tinder swiping left or right based on the crowd’s responses. Although the wait was torturous, I can’t imagine a better crowd of people to have experienced it with. After growing bored of Pokemon Go, two of our new friends decided to call it a night and left. My sister asked me if I wanted to leave too, but I knew the moment we left would be the moment Cupcakke finally appeared.
Less than five minutes after our new friends had left, Cupcakke finally arrived. The crowd had suddenly regained all of the energy they had lost throughout the last two hours of the show. Cupcakke came onstage as energetic as ever, blaming her tardiness on a head cold. While timeliness is definitely not her speciality, she sure can rile up a crowd. In between songs, Cupcakke passed around her microphone to people in the audience and had them let out their best moans. Believe me when I tell you that was the best audience participation I have ever experienced at a concert.
After only forty five minutes her show was over. Were those the best 45 minutes of my life? Absolutely. But was it worth the painful two hour wait? …I haven’t decided. If you are looking for a show to make you laugh, scream, and moan hysterically, then I highly recommend you catch Cupcakke on her next tour. However, if you are looking for a quality show that lasts longer than the time you spent waiting for it inside the venue, then you should maybe sit this one out. Although this experience is not at all what I had been anticipating, I now have a few new friends and some very funny stories to tell because of it.