That's the question hip-hop heads have wondered for years. The Baton Rouge rapper has experienced many ups and downs in his career, from funny The Breakfast Club viral moments to straining his relationship with Boosie Badazz before getting back on good terms for a new collaborative album we’re still waiting on. Savage Life 4, 5 and 6 have been spotty since the first three, once telling XXL Magazine he’s going to do the album series “until he dies,” but he’s “never going to die.”
For anyone not checking for Webbie, you would think he’s faded into obscurity as a nostalgia act with two good songs: “Independent” and “Wipe Me Down,” the second of which people consider to be Boosie’s song, not his. But here in Dallas? Webbie hits different.
There are many artists from Louisiana who crossover to Texas, playing in both markets and being accepted as one of their own in each region. Webbie was introduced to us through Bun B and Pimp C’s Trill Entertainment, signing with the label alongside Boosie. Webbie’s biggest song at the time with Bun B was “Give Me That” off Gangsta Muzik, which laid the groundwork for his ascent in hip-hop. His video was regularly on BET's 106 & Park countdown show in the early 2000s. We could make a strong argument that Webbie is Dallas’ country cousin, welcomed by the Xennial fans who pop up and show out when he announces a show.
In the early hours of Friday, July 4, Webbie was with his people at Club Vivo, the men and women who know Boosie and Webbie deep cuts by heart. Club shows have a different energy than a regular concert, mostly because the DJs want to keep you dancing and buying drinks at the bar. The DJ sets catered to a crowd who knew their Dallas hip-hop. The city’s classics like Big Tuck’s “Southside Da Realist,” Lil Wil’s “My Dougie” and The Party Boyz’ “Flex” sound right at home with the late BeatKing’s booming cuts such as “Then Leave” and “Throw Dat Ahh.” The ass-shaking anthems by GloRilla and Sexyy Red were balanced by YTB Fatt and Lil Baby, a Southern potluck where Texas smoked the BBQ and everyone brought their own fixings.
Instead of looking back, we had a chance to see Dallas’ emerging rap talent in TTM Toolie and OC Chris, two rappers we featured on last month’s rappers to watch list. TTM Toolie performed for barely 10 minutes, but showed promise as the “real Black Migo” with trap songs that would make Jeezy proud. Toolie ended on his Sauce Walka collab “Ask Around,” leading into a Mo3 tribute with a medley of songs: “Broken Love,” “Outside,” “Everybody” and “And I.”
OC Chris, who showed up with Mo3’s former manager Rainwater and HollyHood Bay Bay, served as Bay Bay's hypeman, working the crowd until he was ready to go. OC Chris has a That Mexican OT kind of style, where he sang acapella and rapped fast. “Hey How Ya Doin (Swim or Drown)” and “Put Dat on Anything” are good additions to the Texas anthem pantheon. We’re going to continue keeping an eye on him because he has a good shot at making the XXL Freshman list next year.
HollyHood Bay Bay and OC Chris shouted out the people who were born and raised in Dallas last night.
Eric Diep
Webbie, who wore pastel yellow shorts, a light blue Nike tee and some ice on his neck and wrist, brought a sizeably large entourage on stage, with Bay Bay and Rainwater sticking around to see him. For the next 20 to 30 minutes or so, it was a blitz of Webbie hits, performed in one-minute snippets that had the crowd rapping and dancing. It was disorienting and complete chaos, where these ratchet songs are for the fight club. Security was there to keep things safe and fun.
It was messy nostalgia as people started gettin' crunk in the club. It was Webbie doing what he came to do for Dallas, which was get people loose as a Goose. He continually paid homage to hip-hop’s fallen soldiers Pimp C and Lil Phat during his set. In many ways, he owes them a lot: one for bringing him into the game and the other for being a prolific rapping partner who gave us the Trill 4 Life mixtape.
While we wished Webbie played more songs in full, the concentrated setlist contained songs from Savage Life one through three and a few other IYKYK gems. “G-Shit” is one of those songs that you won’t find on the Billboard Hot 100 or the radio, but it’s an album intro that his dedicated fans know word for word. “Six 12’s” is a song that absolutely knocks on Club Vivo's speakers. He obviously had to do “My People” because we’re in the club, getting fucked up and we got our people with us.Webbie doing G Shit in Dallas pic.twitter.com/7jqteSg8Im
— Eric Diep (@E_Diep) July 4, 2025
Then he did “Set It Off,” “Roof” and “I Got That.” Now he’s not playing fair. “I can do this shit all night,” he says. “I can do this shit to the morning.”
An older woman, whom Webbie jokingly called “Ma Dukes” because she looked like his mom, was brought up on stage. She was having the time of her life during “Baddest in Here,” hitting the splits to the surprise of many, doing the dougie and dancing next to Webbie. She made the crowd jumpin’. “We turnt up in here,” Webbie says. “I’m different.”
It was almost too turnt as Webbie kept calling to do an afterparty this late in the evening. After “Wipe Me Down,” you would think it was over. The finale should’ve been “Independent,” which had everyone in here proud that we got our own keys to the car and our own money. But in an abrupt ending, because his time was up and he really could’ve gone all night, he left on “Trilla Than a Bitch,” giving Bay Bay a hug afterward and moving his crew to the next spot.
If we recall correctly, the last time Webbie was in the Dallas area was during the No Limit Reunion Tour when he was a special guest last year. Since then, Webbie has done a show with a live band and a choir with LaRussell in San Francisco. He has an album out with his son Tre Savage, who was here to support him on stage, called Like Father Like Son. While the jury’s still out on Webbie’s new music, he has the catalog to run a whole tour built on his Savage Life songs. That alone is worth the late nights and early mornings doing trill shit.
