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The energy was high on Thursday night at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The influential Tokyo clothing brand A Bathing Ape (a.k.a. BAPE) celebrated their 25th anniversary with the BAPE HEADS SHOW starring Kid Cudi, Wiz KhalifaBig Sean and more.

BAPE has a lengthy history of combining fashion and music with their very first BAPE HEADS SHOW going down in 1997. The brand created the concert series as a way to show love to their fans and the artists who support them. Over the years, everyone from Kanye West to N.E.R.D. has hit the BAPE stage.

The show on Thursday, December 6 was the first show to be held in New York City and it was produced by LTB Entertainment Inc. and CM Media.

Lil Yachty opened up the show and he definitely set the tone right with his high energy songs. Fans across the Hulu Theater were out of their seats, rocking to bops like “NBAYOUNGBOAT” and his infectious hit with DRAM “Broccoli.”

 

Pusha T was next in line and he easily pushed through the seven track off his brief, yet undeniable album Daytona. Rap album of the year,” he repeated throughout his set. With a recent Best Rap Album Grammy nomination, you can’t call Push a liar.

Once Push’s set was done, it was only right that he transitioned by bringing fellow GOOD Music artist Big Sean on the stage for the tracks “Mercy” and the “I Don’t Like” remix.

From there, Pusha T left the stage and Big Sean breezed through hits like “Blessings” and “I Don’t Fu** With You.” In between songs, Sean talked about how BAPE helped jump-start his career by booking him for performances and he encouraged people to follow their dreams.

After Sean’s inspirational words, it was all about the buzz and the party when Wiz Khalifa came out. Naturally, he encouraged his fans to light up throughout the show as he performed party tracks like “Gin & Drugs.” Then when it came to inspirational songs like “See You Again,” he encouraged his fans to sing along. “Ya sound good,” he said to the crowd as they swayed back and forth.

The highlight of the night probably came from the show’s closer Kid Cudi. The 34-year-old hasn’t had an easy time in the spotlight, especially after revealing he suffered from depression back in 2016. But now, after finding joy through the sadness, Cudi was all smiles as he performed to adoring fans at MSG.

This was evident when he closed out with the song “Reborn” from his collaborative album with Kanye West Kids See Ghosts. Cudi seemed to be a new man as he jumped into the crowd to sign posters and to show his fans love.

All of this was the perfect way to celebrate BAPE’s 25th anniversary and the brand isn’t done celebrating. BAPE released a limited edition BAPE HEADS SHOW t-shirt that’s available at their New York and L.A. store, as well as US.BAPE.COM.

A second limited-edition t-shirt is set to drop on Saturday, December 8 at the BAPE store in New York, located at 91 Greene Street.