Mixtape's Top 10 Tours of the Last Decade

Graphic by Michael Loya

By: Mixtape’s Digital Team

What makes a good tour? Is it an elaborate stage design and props? The setlist? The guest lineup? The performer’s stage presence? After a long debate, Mixtape’s digital team decided on our top ten hip-hop tours of the last ten years. In no particular order, read why each one made the list below.

Tyler, the Creator’s “Call Me If You Get Lost Tour” (2022)

The “Call Me If You Get Lost Tour” was a 35-stop tour that promoted Tyler’s sixth studio album and featured Teezo Touchdown, Vince Staples, and Kali Uchis as openers. Tyler has always been known for his tours, from doing shows with OF (Odd Future) in LA during the 2010s to doing shows in Europe. Tyler's rising popularity has allowed him to venture into bigger venues/areas for an experience you’ll never forget. I attended his Miami stop during spring break, and it was money well spent. The star-studded lineup of openers prepared fans for a show that saw Tyler travel between two stages on a boat while performing hit songs from CMIYGL. This tour was highly received by the public, even being live-streamed on Amazon for fans who could not make the tour. -Jamison

Travis Scott’s “Wish You Were Here Tour” (2018-2019)

Travis Scott took the world by storm with ASTROWORLD in 2018 and did the same with his “Wish You Were Here Tour” following his release of the now four-times platinum album. Upon ASTROWORLD’s release, rap music was dominating pop-culture and Travis Scott capitalized on the wave with the massive tour for the project. Travis brought four guest artists on the road with him (Gunna, Trippie Redd, Sheck Wes & Don Toliver), all of who were red-hot rappers in their own right.

This entire lineup on the same tour together added up to be the hottest rap tour of that year and possibly ever. But none of that would be possible without Travis, who got a chance to showcase the catalog of hits and fan favorites he had built up over the past 4 years, with a 90 minute action-packed set, complemented by trippy visuals and performed on two separate stages and a rollercoaster. The “Wish You Were Here Tour” was sold out every night, which came to nobody’s surprise given that Travis gave his huge fanbase exactly what they wanted and more. -Emmett

A$AP Rocky’s “Injured Generation Tour” (2019)

Just after my 15th birthday, I was lucky enough to attend A$AP Rocky’s “Injured Generation Tour.” At the time, Testing was not the most well received album, but I had always been a fan. I remember the friends that I went with being more excited to see Comethazine than Rocky (which really dates the time in which this took place). However, Rocky was the main event for a reason: his visuals completely captured his vision for that LP. The crash dummies and warning signs constantly making appearances made for a lively show that encapsulated the energy Rocky puts into his music. As he jumped on top of cars suspended in the air and women threw all types of articles of clothing at him, how couldn’t a teenage boy aspire to be like Rocky in that moment? A$AP Rocky gave a gem of a tour to our Injured Generation. -Kai

Kendrick Lamar’s “Kunta Groove Sessions” (2015)

“Kunta Groove Sessions” was the eight-venue victory lap for one of the greatest rappers not only in the past decade, but of all time, after releasing his acclaimed LP To Pimp a Butterfly. Kendrick celebrated this landmark project by touring through small venues and putting on some of the best live performances we have seen from a rapper in this modern era. He did so with his album-inspired band, “The Wesley Theory,” and TDE label-mate Jay Rock. Performing at such small venues with a band curated by Kendrick himself set the tone of how he wanted his album to be presented: intimately and meaningfully. Watching this groovy, jazzy, Miles Davis inspired set come to life in live performance, while Kendrick raps nearly every single word on each track, is incomparable to any rapper, 2015 rapper, or even one today. -Jack H

Playboi Carti’s “King Vamp Tour” (2021)

The “King Vamp Tour” was Carti’s triumphant return to touring post-covid. After releasing Whole Lotta Red at the end of 2020, many were left wondering how Carti would tour this album. The answer? With UNBELIEVABLE energy every night. The set design was minimal, as the only real structure on stage was a pyramid that Carti climbs to perform for most of the show. Atop that pyramid is where he opened each show with “Stop Breathing,” which immediately set the mood for nights full of mosh pits and chaos. For most of the show, Carti could be seen jumping all over the stage, screaming almost unintelligibly. This created an atmosphere that is not easily replicated. Across the shows, fans would scream, they would pack together, and they would even fight. The “King Vamp Tour” was a true rage concert on the biggest stage. -Ant

Kanye West’s “Saint Pablo Tour” (2016)

The “Saint Pablo Tour” was the culmination of everything Kanye West was as an artist, a musician, and a human being- the ensuing grandiosity of which reflected that. The Life Of Pablo, the album that the tour derives from, represents the unpredictable, flashy, influential creative that we knew up to the point of its release, and it made for a great show. Every concert on the tour featured Kanye suspended above the crowd on a “floating” stage, casting gleaming light onto his fans moshing below. This "mayhem versus order" motif is the same juxtaposition heard throughout the tracklist. The spectacle made stadiums roar with screams and got fans to try climbing on stage to stand above all with Kanye, creating an incomparable energy emanating from the crowds. Kanye went so hard that he was hospitalized and had to cancel the back half of the tour due to health complications. -Thomas

Tyler, the Creator’s “IGOR Tour” (2019)

In 2019, Tyler, the Creator took a massive step in his evolution as an artist after the release of Igor. As Tyler’s art was taken to the next level, so was his tour. The “IGOR Tour” opened with Goldlink, Jaden Smith, and Blood Orange, artists with similar fanbases as Tyler. Once Tyler’s set started, the menacing synths of “Igor’s Theme” played. Tyler came out at each show dawning his iconic “EARFQUAKE” outfit: a blonde wig and a solid-colored suit with sunglasses. Not only did Tyler take inspiration for his outfit from ‘EARFQUAKE,” but also for his stage setup as well. Tyler strutted around the stage in front of a giant blue curtain while a piano was off to the side only used for the song. For each song, Tyler aggressively danced around the stage in a way that only describes him as an artist: unique. -Jacob

Drake and Future’s “Summer Sixteen Tour” (2016)

The “Summer Sixteen Tour,” which had Drake and Future as headliners, can be seen as the pinnacle of Drake and Future’s grasp over the music industry during this time. For Drake, this was his first tour after the album Views and their collab mixtape, What A Time To Be Alive, and this was Future’s first headlining tour. Looking at the set list, there are few, if any, filler songs with 40 straight heaters like “Headlines,” “Jumpman,” and a majority of the songs off their collab project. This tour had surprise guests like Kanye West, Rihanna, 2 Chainz, and Young Thug. This was the highest-grossing hip-hop tour ever up to this point and showed the true power the two of them had in the late 2010s. -James

Kendrick Lamar’s “The Big Steppers Tour” (2022)

In support of Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar’s first concert tour since 2017-2018 not only brought out the family ties with Baby Keem, but also ensured fans knew “a mask won’t hide who you are on the inside.” 

Arrows poking into his back on the big screen, background dancers with jaw-dropping synchronicity, flawless pyrotechnics, and an iconic diamond-studded crown of thorns serve as highlights outside of the music itself. A three-level stage extended out into the audience, establishing a connection with the concert-goers throughout the pit, while those at the upper bowl level can still see every moment. Combining tracks from DAMN., good kid, m.A.A.d city, and To Pimp A Butterfly as well, the setlist serves as one large Kendrick project that could go diamond. 

Putting this in the top 10 tours of the decade may even be an understatement, as “The Big Steppers Tour” claimed the title of the highest-grossing tour by a headliner in hip-hop history, passing Travis Scott’s “Wish You Were Here Tour” and Future and Drake’s “Summer Sixteen Tour,” both additionally on this list. -Josh

Kanye West’s “The Yeezus Tour” (2013-2014)

While the “Saint Pablo Tour” was the most grandeur of Kanye West’s concerts, “The Yeezus Tour” is a close second. Having Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Pusha T, and A Tribe Called Quest as guests is remarkable in its own right. West made a statement with Yeezus, so it was only right that the tour was, too. He combined theatrics and music to create a modern spectacle that was very much ahead of its time. Everything from the iconic Maison Margiela masks that West donned throughout the performance to the 50-foot volcano and gigantic LED display demonstrated how ambitious West was for this Yeezus era. He delved into a religiously oriented story of redemption broken into five categories: Fighting, Rising, Falling, Searching, and Finding. His emotional, auto-tuned belting of “Runaway” turns into one of his notorious rants where he confides in the audience about the many demons he wages wars against. The show was provoking at times, but the rollercoaster journey through West’s intricate mind and ego was a significant moment for the evolution of hip-hop tours. -Noah C