How 2hollis Became My New Obsession

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Pace chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

My friends have been trying to get me into the musician Hollis Parker Frazier-Herndon, formally known as 2hollis for over a year. I had admittedly thought he seemed aesthetically cool, in his style and social media presence, but never was interested solely in him or his music. That was until Oct. 9 at his second New York City show at Terminal 5. I was taken aback with how much I enjoyed the show and that afterwards I spent my entire night looking up pictures, videos, and information on the artist while listening to all of his released and unreleased music. It was at this time that my newfound obsession for 2hollis was born.

2hollis had two openers, smaller artists called Nate Sib and The Hellp, who had two totally different sounds sonically, creating an interesting range of music for the audience to react to. I particularly enjoyed Sib’s opening act, even when my friends and I only heard the last 15 minutes of his set. I was impressed by his powerful and controlled vocability and range similar to Justin Bieber’s, over intricate produced beats. His music impressed me so much that I immediately followed him on Instagram after his performance and added several of the songs he performed to my Apple Music library. On the other hand, I did not enjoy the second opener, The Hellp. I didn’t enjoy their music or their stage presence as I found it to be a little annoying with how video-game adjacent-sounding their music was. It sounded like it would be something played in a hyper-anime styled music game of some sort. I did not enjoy how the singer of the two-person group also screamed in the mic throughout the set, so much so that I felt annoyed after their performance. However, I think most 2hollis concert-goers and fans will disagree, as the pit was in a frenzy over their performance. If anything, they amped up the crowd more in preparation for 2hollis’ entrance. So while I did not enjoy the duo’s music, I can understand why they opened for an artist with as unique of music as 2hollis’.

The energy in this packed venue was so insane and simultaneously beautiful, and while this is not my typical style of concert regarding both culture and music, it was amazing to see the community it brought together. I felt more disconnected from the crowd of fans, as I was standing in the back section of the venue, away from the action in the mosh pit, but it made me want to join and participate. The fans pushing and shoving, crowd-surfing even, was completely out of my depth. Yet I am able to recognize that it was extremely amazing and unique to see. This reaction also goes hand-in-hand with the music and performance from Hollis himself.

Hollis has an impeccable way of enamouring a crowd with awe. The second he steps on stage, whether he is jumping around, matching the energy of the song, singing or rapping his heart out, or interacting with the crowd. People are completely engaged and enthralled in everything he does when on stage; they are truly excited to hear his music. His music is perfect for a concert because it’s loud, fun, and vibrant due to his production style. My favorites on the setlist were “flash,” “tell me,” “afraid,” and “Left and Right,” which both had guest performances back-to-back, featuring his first opener Nate Sib and his good friend and previous opener rommulas. These performances being consecutive allowed the audience to get more excited after each guest, bringing forward energy and concurrently allowing the artist to react with more power and energy in their performance.

Following an incredible performance, I decided to leave my place in the back of the venue and head into the pit for the latter portion of the show, which I really enjoyed. Finally, 2hollis performed one of his most popular songs and his final song on the setlist “jeans” not once, not twice, but a total of seven times. My friends and I stayed for most of it, but left early in order to see him after the show. While leaving the venue, I heard people raving about how much fun they had, how crazy the pit was, and how great of a performer he is. While he himself had great reviews, people did critique how dangerous the mosh pit culture is, talking about physical violence, rude behavior, and objects and even attendees being physically thrown. An example of this was when a man who was crowd-surfing was able to make it on to the stage, and hug Hollis’ legs. Hollis proceeded to push the man forcefully off of the stage and into the barricade, where fans were recording and singing songs. Following the incident, before the next song began, he informed his fans strictly, “to not try to come on this stage…ever.” He seemed upset, but was able to bounce back quickly.

Overall, the show was mindblowing, especially for someone who wasn’t an initial fan of the artist 2hollis nor the musicians who opened for him, to someone who left a fan. It was so fun, lively, exciting, and interactive. People are always dancing and touching strangers, not doing things that are regular in their daily lives, and being around people. It’s a rare sight to not see people moving at a 2hollis show; not enjoying themselves and engaging in the performance. It was refreshing to feel like people didn’t care about who was watching them or how they were being perceived by others; it was a freeing experience to witness. I entered the venue knowing who 2hollis was and having heard a couple of his most popular songs, to telling all of my friends how talented he is and how awesome his shows are.