On a cold November night, rapper Wiz Khalifa played to a sold out Mullins Center. Though Khalifa himself put on a fairly decent set, it was a struggle for him to get to a good point in the show.

Rapper Paul Markham opened with a performance which was only appealing because Markham is a University of Massachusetts student. Markham has also opened for the likes of Boston-based rapper Sam Adams, as well as Colby O’Donis. Sounding similar to the typical college-aged white rapper, Markham’s performance included songs off his first mixtape, “Beg to Differ.”

The show also featured Mississippi-based rapper Big K.R.I.T. Similar to Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T. has been a part of the underground rap scene since 2005. His performance featured multiple songs from his mixtapes, and many fans were receptive to his music. During his set, the house lights were left on, which made for a strange concert atmosphere.

After too-long of an intermission with a DJ playing current and throwback rap hits such as “Like a G6” and the classic “Baby Got Back”, came another lesser-known rapper, Yelawolf. Though, judging by his greasy hair, baggy pants and plethora of tattoos Yelawolf looked like he belonged in a metal band, he pumped the audience up significantly more than the previous acts.

Yelawolf leapt into the crowd of stoned and intoxicated college students numerous times, giving the audience an adrenaline rush and the security guards a chance to test their skills. A relatively unknown name in the rap industry today, Yelawolf has appeared on tracks with big names such as Gucci Mane, Juelz Santana, Outkast’s Big Boi and Paul Wall. Most fans in the Khalifa crowd knew the lyrics to Yelawolf’s better-known tunes such as “Pop the Trunk,” “I Just Wanna Party”  and “Mixin’ Up the Medicine,” which samples Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Dylan, ironically, took the stage at Mullins just one night prior.

After a much-anticipated intermission, Khalifa finally took to the stage around 10:30 p.m. Fans immediately went wild, pushing and crowding to the front of the arena and standing up and dancing in the seats. Khalifa and his personal Taylor Gang made sure to acknowledge that UMass had been the largest stop on his three-month “Waken Baken” tour, and then proceeded to encourage smoking during his set. Khalifa also made sure to let the audience know that he was high, and attempting to get drunk to, “get on the audience’s level.”

Khalifa launched into one of his infamous stoner songs, “Burn After Rolling,” which the audience may have sang louder than he did. Directly following that number, Khalifa jumped into another fan favorite, “The Thrill,” off of Khalifa’s 2009 mixtape of the same name, “Burn After Rolling.”

After taking a few moments to explain the meaning behind the title of his newest mixtape, “Kush and Orange Juice,” Khalifa played a few songs off of it. Khalifa shared with the audience that he hoped that they felt just as good as he did. Khalifa also played “Smoker Face,” the “stoner” remix of Lady Gaga’s infamous “Poker Face,” which was an instant crowd pleaser.

Throughout the show, numerous fans were taken out in stretchers or cornered by security because of their level of intoxication.

About 45 minutes into the set, Khalifa played a few lesser-known, slow songs, which caused some audience members to leave. The two slow songs Khalifa included seemed virtually unknown, even to the biggest fans. Fans on the floor began to leave, yet fans in the seats held out to enjoy the end of the set.

Just when the show seemed like it would never regain its energy, Khalifa revived the crowd with his 2008 single “Ink My Whole Body.” During the performance, Khalifa stripped off his shirt, much to the pleasure of the female audience members, to show off his inked chest, stomach, arms, neck and back.

Following “Ink My Whole Body,” Khalifa performed his newest single, “Black and Yellow,” much to the delight of everyone in the Mullins Center. A highlight of this tune was the intense yellow light show which lit up the song.

Khalifa closed out the set playing his single “This Plane,” off of his 2009 album “Deal or No Deal,” which received a relatively dull crowd response. By the end of the three-and-a-half-hour gig, the audience seemed tired and ready to go.

Khalifa was entertaining, energetic and had a good performing voice, yet the show was dragged out far beyond what it should have been. Between the relatively unknown performers were unexplainably long pauses, which only gave the fans with general admission tickets more of a chance to try and push to the front and, in turn, get in fights or get pulled out of the pit. Khalifa also failed to play “Say Yeah,” which is probably his most popular song. By the time fans left the arena, they were left thinking, “Say What?”

A drawn-out concert of potentially good, potentially disastrous rappers put on a confusing show at the Mullins. Though fans seemed to mesh with all of the performers, Khalifa stole the show. Khalifa will continue his “Waken Baken” tour in Boston Nov. 21 before heading down to Florida for a show on Nov. 24.

Ashley Berger can be reached at [email protected].