Hayley Williams Brings Out KIRBY & Big K.R.I.T. At Mississippi Tour Closer

For most of the year, Paramore leader Hayley Williams has been crossing North America on two massive tours, her first and second as a solo artist. At many of her shows, she has brought out special guests, most recently her old collaborator Zedd in Hollywood. On Monday night, Williams played the final American date of her "Hayley Williams Show" tour, and it was back in her home state. Though Williams has been based in Nashville for her entire career, she was born in Meridian, Mississippi. Last night, she played Southaven's BankPlus Amphitheatre At Snowden Grove, and she brought out two other prominent Mississippi musicians, KIRBY and Big K.R.I.T.

The KIRBY in question here is the Southaven-born singer-songwriter and Childish Gambino collaborator Kirby Lauryen, not the pink Nintendo blob. KIRBY has co-written a lot of big songs for other artists, but she often saves her most poignant material for herself. Last year, KIRBY teamed up with Big K.R.I.T., the veteran rapper and producer from Meridian, on "Miss Black America," an extremely cool song about Southern Black pride. Hayley Williams is obviously not Black, but the themes of Southern identity and resistance are all over her recent music, too. Last night, she brought out KIRBY and Big K.R.I.T. to perform "Miss Black America," joining in on back-up vocals and ad-libs.

All three of those artists are just so happy to be onstage together. That's my favorite thing about the videos. The song is great, and all three performers know what they're doing. More than that, though, all three of them just beam. Below, check out some fan footage, as well as the "Miss Black America" video.