Hopsin/PEZ/Miracle/Lunar C
Astor Theatre
Saturday, September 21, 2014
Fans young and old packed out Astor Theatre as the next generation of hip-hop/rap artists took the genre to new heights, immersing incredible production, meaningful themes and proactive crowd interactions, providing an unforgettable, head-bopping night.
English rapper Lunar C kicked off the night, attempting to warm up the crowd with his quick succession of abruptly ending tracks, however the delivery came across awkwardly and it wasn’t until he hilariously sang about his “big fat slag” of a sister that he was able to receive a strong response. Lunar himself lacked energy, swaying around the stage; whilst his lyrics seemed to be focused more on spewing as many curses out as he could in one go.
Soon enough the night truly kicked off as upcoming Sydney artist and Perth regular Miracle came out to a strong response. Hands rose, swaying back and forth and side to side as Miracles infectious beats, including recent single Party Of The Year, kept punters and his attending family pleased. The Aussie-born rapper is set to become a huge piece of the hip-hop scene with a fitting voice and an endless rap that doesn’t tire.
If the crowd weren’t pumped up enough, PEZ received a brilliant introduction through his DJ, who slammed through a remix of recent top hits before bringing the Melbourne rapper out. The set was highlighted by the smooth transitions between PEZ’s bopping raps and harmonic choruses as Hailey Cramer provided flawlessly clean vocals. Recent One Life and The Game were strong additions, with the latter bringing a rush of patrons into the crowd as PEZ led them through chants and hand flailing; however it was The Festival Song that had the crowd belting out lyrics and screaming their hearts out.
Chants for Hopsin started early and soon their calls were answered as the US rapper burst onto the stage with intense vocal speeds generating a battle rap atmosphere. The crowd sang along in virtually every song as Hopsin’s entertaining personality shined. He undressed, he crowd surfed and rapped, he even stood up in the crowd and rapped; there was nothing stopping him.
As the crowd flocked from the back and the upper levels into the mosh, the bass cranked up to a deafening level and 360 hit the stage. Showing off his ability to not only rap but sing an amazing vocal range, 360 owned the stage, interacting with the crowd throughout his versatile performance as stunning visuals lit up the stage. Lunar C would reappear to perform Sixavelli – surprisingly energetically compared to his prior set. Miracle and PEZ would also make appearances throughout the set to perform duel raps whilst the crowd played a vital part in helping ‘60 sing Gossling’s lyrics in Boys Like You and Price Of Fame as she was absent for the Perth leg. Crowd-favourite Killer sent the audience into a frenzy as ‘60continued to own the stage and his vocal lines. To top the show off, all of the artists came back on stage during the encore for a special rendition of Tell These Bitches to close what had been an incredible night of hip-hop.
AARON BRYANS
