Ephney Tsai Based in Seoul, Korean American rapper pH-1 has been on the scene since 2017 and has finally made his way back to the U.S. for his first ever tour this year. With a 1,200 person capacity, the show at the Fonda Theatre was completely sold out and packed to the brim, despite the show taking place on a Wednesday night. Thankful for the turnout, pH-1 shouted to the crowd, “I don’t usually like to flex, but what other K-Hip Hop artist can sell out venues like this?!”
The show opened with a quick 20-minute performance by Ted Park, whose set was DJed by none other than Cha Cha Malone. His mix of high energy and slow songs was the perfect lead-in to the main act’s set, as pH-1’s setlist also offered a variety of genres. Just a mere seconds after the opener left the stage, pH-1 came running to the beginning beats of “Sideway.” The rapper started things off slow, with more chill, laidback-style songs such as “Zombies” and “Homebody,” before increasing the tempo a bit with songs like “Groupie” and “Mr. Bad.” Having already hinted at a surprise special guest on his Instagram earlier in the day, fans were enthralled as the rapper welcomed UMI onstage to perform a duet of their song, “JULIETTE!” UMI stayed to perform a few of her own songs, including “Love Affair” and “Remember Me,” dancing around with a smile on her face before passing the baton back to pH-1 with a final thank you to him for inviting her.
Slowing things down again after UMI’s appearance, pH-1 moved straight into songs such as “Shrink Told Me” and “DVD,” sitting on a stool with a single spotlight on him to match the atmosphere of these songs. Picking up the tempo, he performed upbeat tracks like “Nerdy Love” and “Telefono.” As the concert neared the end, pH-1 brought the energy level all the way up, spraying water into the crowd and getting off the stage to stand right in front of the audience as everyone jumped and cheered to a medley of the rapper’s faster songs such as “Achoo,” “Orange,” and “The Purge.”
Although each song was met with endless love from the audience, the final performance before the encore was without a doubt the most loved. Being one of his most popular songs released to date, “Iffy” had the audience singing along to the lyrics, that pH-1 even pointed his microphone to the crowd. Fans had the words memorized, down to the rap parts, and the soloist himself couldn’t keep a smile off his face as he listened to his fans perform the song back to him.
Not only captivating the audience with how easy he made being onstage look, pH-1 just had a natural charm to him. The rapper offered fan service throughout the night, joking with fans, complimenting them on their energy, straight out telling individual fans he loved them, taking phones and disposable cameras to take photos, and more. What stood out most, however, was the level of respect the artist had for his fans, which was kindly reciprocated. Even when he jumped down from the stage to approach fans, everyone stayed respectful, not grabbing the rapper or trying to touch him inappropriately. And though it’s expected to have water sprayed into the audience during a hip hop show, pH-1 still made sure to ask permission to all the fans towards the front of the crowd before doing so, wanting to make sure everyone was comfortable.
Having waited nearly six years to see him perform his own show live, it was easy to see that fans were not left disappointed. Despite the cold weather outside and the late weeknight show, pH-1’s supporters still made the trek to the heart of Hollywood to see their favorite artist, leaving the show void of any regrets and filled only with hopes of the rapper coming again soon.
Click on the photo below to see all our photos from the concert on Facebook!
