Medhane, MIKE, Voldy Moyo, Jadasea & Slauson Malone: five artists at the forefront of innovation in hip-hop performing in Peckham.
The day of the concert. The moment you wake the air is tinged with electricity powered by the magnetism of masses of people coiled around a stage, yet heading down to London to see New York-based artists Medhane and MIKE felt more like a journey to reunite with old friends. The meditative and soulful nature of their music advocates for an aura of warmth to surround everything they’re associated with. I expected that comfort to reside in Peckham this particular evening.
The show’s opener, Slauson Malone, set up one of the night’s themes early when I had the opportunity to speak with him briefly before the set. He described MIKE as someone who performs with power. Those words were to stay at the forefront of my mind throughout the night.
Further conversations with queuing fans brought to light the inexplicable nature of this “power,” its effect audible in the tone of everyone I spoke to. Whether found in the depths of Reddit or through a namedrop in an Earl Sweatshirt song, the specific brand of music created by artists like MIKE and Medhane had clicked with these people on a fundamental level, in a way that is never explained but is wholly understood.
The opening acts efficiently established the show’s tone. Malone’s introduction to the show served off-kilter but beautiful music for the room to enjoy, flirting with our attention, letting it slip through its fingers before commanding the tone of the venue. Eyes were closed and heads bopped as drums cracked in front of us. If Malone had left us humming, Jadasea came out to have us yelling. His direct, forceful approach to performance demanded a quantum leap in energy. Before long the entire room was either dancing, throwing their bodies at each other or wearing out their neck with head nods. Voldy Moyo took advantage of the mania with his set. Voldy and Jadasea’s performances held such weight that they conjured the same reaction from lowkey tracks as other artists would with certified bangers. I never thought I would see stage dives and mosh pits to looped soul samples.
Through these last two performances, both MIKE and Medhane had been on stage, rapping every word in the background. At times the lighting only allowed you to see MIKE’s luminous orange hat, its glow getting ever brighter as he took the spotlight. MIKE and everyone in front of him prepared their voice boxes. The outpour of energy in past sets was going to be minimal in comparison.
I’ve never seen a performance like MIKE’s. The show felt like a looking glass into his self-expression. We were around 100 people in a room watching this man recite words he wrote, eyes closed, as if he was reliving the emotion that inspired them. The same words that gave MIKE power to be on this stage seemed to hold power over him.
Songs like “Goin’ Truuu” and “Grabba” looked like they put a battery on MIKE’s back and allowed for freedom in his performance; while the first note of “Hunger” made him retract, taking care of each syllable that left his mouth. MIKE’s music serves as a self-study. The performance of these tracks could rehash past angst but MIKE employs the face of a man retreating to a darker place in order to spark a light at the heart of these memories with the help of the people in front of him who stood at his side through all phases of emotion.
We basked in the joy of “Never Knocked,” I, myself, shedding a tear due to the significance this music has held in my personal life. The glitchy vocal sample of “It’s Like Basketball” again incited sections of the crowd to lose all sense, it was a beautiful thing to see people lose their minds to this style of music. The emotion it evokes presents itself differently in different people, this idea exemplified in this small room. In front of the stage lay the epicentre of excitement, it radially falling off and morphing into quasi-meditation.
Through the mysterious force that exists in all live shows, I found myself leaning on the stage in time for Medhane’s set. After playing DJ for a while he stepped to the spotlight, meeting the faces who are already so familiar with his. Medhane had been bouncing off the walls the entire night and as beats dropped and he performed with the same energy, I came to wonder how he managed to maintain the excitement. He was ready for this moment hours in advance and cut the figure of a man relishing his time on stage. Medhane absolutely adores the music of his friends but also has a profound love of his kindred creations. This was affirmed by his mannerisms on stage (and the fact that I could barely get a steady picture of him). Right at the front, I found my head turning towards each side of the stage continually as he never stuck to a spot, covering every square millimetre of the stage and extending his territory into the pit, too.
Medhane’s fuel was his music. Slower tracks like “On Me” were provided with the same boastful performance as high-tempo ballads like “Whispers.” The versions of these tracks you can find on streaming services maintain power in his lyricism, for this show, Medhane came to compound that poetry, to exert power through his delivery on the mic and to periodically remind us that they were selling t-shirts in the back. His setlist was faithful to every fan with inclusions of cult classic tracks, his most well known, and a couple from his latest release, Full Circle, which dropped just two days before the show. Ending the show on the peaceful “4evafaded” left us feeling 10kg lighter.
My vocal cords completely fell apart was near the end of Medhane’s performance of “Affirmations #1,” an exorcism of past pain and a testament to the strength we all possess to move forward. Providing an environment to self-affirm at the top of my lungs during one of the most testing moments of my life is something I will always be grateful to Medhane for. Through the passionate performances of “Grapefruit” and “Trauma & Grace,” I found myself galaxies away from my troubles back home, lost compared to the pressures I face outside this room, free from the shackles of my past and having gained the power to move forward at my own pace. Isn’t that what concerts are meant to do?
Imma nap but I wanted to post this for @Animist_ pic.twitter.com/ju2emQy3aX
— rían (@ryangaur) February 21, 2020
MIKE Live:
Lil thread of videos for the MIKE and Med fans pic.twitter.com/vStg8xMqVr
— rían (@ryangaur) February 21, 2020
— rían (@ryangaur) February 21, 2020
Medhane Live:
I be simping but my heart cold – Medhane pic.twitter.com/D4caeDso84
— rían (@ryangaur) February 21, 2020
4eva pic.twitter.com/shRWVkIoUF
— rían (@ryangaur) February 21, 2020
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