Juvenile, Mystikal Arena Theatre March 6, 2015

Mystikal is rap's James Brown.

Even if Friday night's Arena Theatre show was billed as one where both Juvenile & Mystikal brought their own brand of New Orleans funk and hip-hop to the city, by night's end it was Mystikal's affair while Juvenile made sure the atmosphere stayed firm.

Even at 44, Mystikal can command a room with the same physical nature of a stampeding elephant. He's warned people in freestyles and other tracks that if he and a bear are ever grappling in a forest, you'd better send assistance for the bear. He's a rap typhoon, a contorting, fire-breathing rap monster who has literally created his own drum and has kept people entertained with it for more than two decades now.

"Oh shit, the stage spinnin'," he joked in between songs, a set which touched on not only his No Limit heyday but his time spent as one of rap's greater voices post No Limit with his Let's Get Ready and Tarantula albums. "I used to do this all night long when I was in my twenties. Can't do that shit no mo! Y'all gotta know I'm not as young as I used to be."

The body may not be able to do what the mind wants it to sometimes but Mystikal knew what keys to hit with the ladies and men, most of them right along his age range and most clad in camo and gold grills. You see, both Mysitkal and Juvenile shaped my childhood. 1998 was the year for a brief moment where Mystikal became my absolute favorite rapper on No Limit with his "Make Em Say Uhhh" verse. Later that year, Juvenile delivered the greatest booty state of address that has ever existed by mouthing the preamble to the twerk constitution, "Cash Money takin' over for the '99 and the 2000."

See, that was 1998. The same adults (and grandmothers) who partook in Friday night's New Orleans rap revival knew it, and didn't care. Nor should they. They wanted to be rowdy, yell out lyrics to "The Man Right Chea" or "Here I Go" or even the neat twist where Mystikal turned to his DJ, KLC, to spin some of the No Limit tracks he produced - which in reality was damn near all of them as Beats By the Pound.

When he flipped on C-Murder's "Down 4 My Niggas," the crowd lost it. An even sweeter touch? Mystikal rapped Magic's verse, the man who's gruff voice sort of replaced the energy Mystikal had when he departed from No Limit.

From the time Mystikal closed with "Shake Ya Ass" (and at least ten grown-ass mothers started twerking on him) to the moment Juvenile kicked off his 11-track set with "Set It Off," something seemed off. Fine, so New Orleans essentially told the world they have better dance songs than Houston and women were twerking on chairs and stairs and tables and spinning stages to prove that point. It's fine; Houston people have far more memorable freestyles and body-rocking classics, as proved by DJ Rob G the General.

That off feeling? That there weren't enough rappers and hangers-on onstage, something it took all of ten minutes of Juve's set to prove me wrong. Thank God rap shows never cease to amaze me.

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