Viral rapper Riff Raff makes Lansing concert debut

TUESDAY, Dec. 17 — A walking internet meme is gearing up for his Lansing concert debut Friday at The Loft. Riff Raff, real name Horst Christian Simco, is a suitably absurd hip-hop icon for our post-everything world in which art and culture seem to exist atop a layer cake that grows denser with self-aware irony each passing year.  

The Houston native’s take on trap rap, which somehow found a way to make exaggerated braggadocio even more ridiculous and obnoxious, albeit hilariously, puts him in a distinct class of meme rappers such as Lil B or Blueface. Streams for his music videos and mixtapes have amassed a collective play count well into the tens of millions. 

As part of the promotional tour for his “Cranberry Vampire” album, Riff Raff will perform in Lansing Friday, Dec. 20, at the Loft. If you want a rap concert that oozes the sleazy panache of the internet’s favorite sweaty, spray-tanned, mullet-donning wraparound-shade-wearing rapper, you owe it to yourself to check this show out.  

This article has been updated to clarify the show will be Riff Raff's first solo concert in Lansing. He previously appeared at the 2017 Michigan Chicken Wing Festival. 

Riff Raff at the Loft

$20

9 p.m., Friday, Dec. 20

The Loft

414 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing

(517) 913-0103, Theloftlansing.com