Live @ The Village Underground (10/06/13)
One day I will get a camera good enough to take
photos at gigs. For now, a Mykki Blanco video. Enjoy!
So there’s much talk in the
alternative press about a surge in queer rappers coming out of NYC at the
moment, artists such as Mykki Blanco, Le1f, Cakes da Killa, Zebra Katz and Azealia
Banks to name but a few, but maybe it’s just that the predominantly white
hipster (social) media has recently caught on and started fawning over such
artists bringing them to the attention of those who don’t know much about hip
hop, like me. Whilst representation is undoubtedly important in a white hetero
dominated world, most of the above-named artists have stated they don’t want to
all be lumped together and put in a box, some eschewing the ‘queer hip hop’
label. Mykki Blanco repeatedly says in interviews that her musical lineage is influenced
as much by glam rock as by hip hop. Whatever the case I’m glad I get to see
Mykki Blanco in London for a second time, particularly as perhaps owing to the
venue, perhaps owing to who she brought along on tour with her this show is way
more enjoyable than when I went to see her at Birthdays earlier this year.
Unlike at Birthdays, there is room to dance at The Village Underground and the
sound is better. In fact the sound is so good it’s deafening. If you go to this
venue wear earplugs people. Fortunately they had some at the bar, along with
the FOUR POUND mini cans of beer. OK, old man rant over.
I enter the venue and my ears are
blasted with the beats of London-based DJ/Producer The Visionist. Grime-y
genre-blurring and all round super fun. You can’t help but dance or shuffle-bounce
very occasionally in time.
Another local artist Blue Daisy is
up next, he’s all about the balaclava (which he comes on wearing but very
sensibly removes later – I mean he must be so hot!) His show is a slightly
mixed bag, but overall an energetic, enjoyable performance from the rapper,
complete with a good old jump into the crowd at the end, something that’s a
staple of tonight’s performers.
Next up is another DJ who I sadly
can’t find the name of, he accompanies Mykki and friends’ set but first plays
one of his own which is hella awesome, blending hip hop, pop, r n b,
electronica and other genres. Spliced up snatches of Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’, Shanks
and Bigfoot’s ‘Sweet Like Chocolate’ and Madonna’s ‘Vogue’ can be heard and
it’s all awesomely danceable.
Mykki Blanco comes out and
everyone goes nuts which you can tell she is fully anticipating. She’s wearing
bright red lipstick, some very flammable-looking long silver stretchy hot pants
and a wig, she looks predictably wonderful. She makes a thinly veiled statement
about how London can fuck you over which she mentions later in the show too so
I deduce she may have fallen out with a promoter/venue person…She tells us she
still has to do her hair and introduces Psycho Egyptian, another arch hottie
and pretty great performer from NYC. He comes on repeating the refrain ‘Black
guys in leather jackets’ getting louder as the track builds and goes on to do
songs about welfare and personal demons. He’s uber bouncy which is a plus. Generally
I’m anti-flag but the tight Italian-flag hot pants with a big cock drawing adorning
the front which he tells us he bought in Rome last night do look pretty
fetching on him.
Next up is Boy Child, a
performance artist who stands before us shaven-headed, face and body painted
ghostly white. She comes on in a white sheet which she then rips off to stand
topless. She resembles a twisted gothic one of those ‘moving statue’ people you
get on the Southbank/Monte Martre/Las Ramblas but unlike them I could watch her
for hours. I don’t know how she does it but as she twists to the sound of Rihanna’s
‘Rude Boy’ electrical lights flash from her mouth and hands like she’s on fire
and the effect is entrancing. Whoa.
So Mykki B swans on for proper
now, glass of wine in hand. ‘Y’all got me feeling like Beyonce!’ she announces quite
a few times, alright Mykki, on with the show. Her set is a mixture of more conventional
–for her- singles like Kingpinning and the infinitely addictive Wavvy and
lyrical poetry/spoken word, sometimes without any musical/beat accompaniment.
The set is pretty short, but I'm often a fan of short sets. I do wish she’d play ‘Join My Militia’ because it’s so messy and dark
and distorted and raw, a bit acid rap Marilyn Manson but better. Sadly she doesn’t, or
she plays what sounds like the start of it. Still this is a small loss in a
great show. For the finale she invites the audience onstage which is glorious
and leaves health and safety scratching their heads.
A pretty spectacular night of
sweat and underwear and trash and style and bragging and explicit twisted rap
and explicit everything else, if this is the hell Mykki is talking about in Wavvy then I'm glad I'm such a dirty sinner.
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