Peso & Purple Swag might not ring a bell at first for many, but they’re tracks by A$AP Rocky, a sensation who spread throughout the rap interwebs in a split second. Besides that you might have read about this Harlem native on the blogs as the BBC included Rocky in their ‘Sound of 2012’ chart amongst their 2012 favorites along names as Michael Kiwanuka, Frank Ocean, Niki & The Dove, Azealia Banks and Skrillex.
A$AP on stage.
Yesterday saw A$AP bring his nasal flow & languid beats to the Ancienne Belgique in BXL. A good crowd turned up at the AB (always an uncertainty for a gig with developing rap artists), but this came as no surprise as the 23-year-old rapper had already won the hearts of many hip-hop-heads through the inter-webs, a tool which this A$AP Mob (a collective of rappers, producers, and music video directors) member has mastered.
Its that digital toolbox by the way which made it possible for Asap to sign with Sony’s RCA label last year after having dropped his ‘LiveLoveA$AP’ mix-tape, a mix-tape that received massive critical acclaim on blogs across the musical web.
Star Slinger at AB.
Back to the AB, after having battled traffic to get there and grabbing a quick bite we made way to the venue. Extra support-acts for the evening were the female rap-duo THEESatisfaction & Star Slinger. We regret we missed THEESatisfaction as this hip hop duo has been described as the feelgood sensation of this year’s SXSW festival. If that is the case, we do not know.
We did make it for Star Slinger set and he deserves a mention!!! Picked into his set half way and this Mancunian hip hop producer got our heads nodding right off the start. Check out his productions, we reckon there are some gems amongst them.
The Asap Rocky slot of the evening itself was short but filled with an energetic vibe we digged. Reckon Asap might still have a long way to go when it comes to bringing it live on stage (reactions after the gig are mixed to say the least) but its rather harsh to judge this so early and the sound was not optimal. A matter of fact he described it himself at this year’s SXSW in a sense: “Honestly, we’ve only been in this game for 4 months… and we’re doing things that have exceeded a lot of people that have been doing this thing for years. We still have a long way to go, we’re just trying to make a legacy.”
Tagged: A$AP, AB, AB concerts, ABConcerts, acts, Ancienne Belgique, Asap Mob, asap rocky, BBC, Harlem, LongLiveA$AP, Peso, Purple Swag, Star Slinger, support, support act, support acts, swek, sxsw, THEESatisfaction
