A$AP Rocky at Brixton Academy

“It’s about to get a little hardcore in here!” Rocky cautions his crowd. Ignoring the warnings plastered all over the venue, he demands mosh pits and crowd surfing, with the promise that if his fans do it, by the end of the night he will too. The question is, will he actually be brave enough to jump into a swarming mass of braying, adoring fans?

There is a reason behind Rocky’s worldwide adoration. The boy from Harlem released his first full-length album Long. Live. ASAP in January this year and it hurtled to the number one spot in the US. The list of acts he has collaborated with is extensive, including Rihanna, Drake, Skrillex, Kendrick Lamar, too many to mention, and he has also created his own record label and clothing line ASAP Worldwide.

Drapes and a giant chandelier hang overhead. Rocky and his cronies are dressed in pure white, with flashing violet lights projected onto them. This fits in with his dedication that his music is for one generation: “No matter white, brown, yellow – we are all purple people.” Purple Swag continues this theme with shout outs to “all the pot smokers out there”. There is no denying that Rocky focuses a lot of his energy on singing about narcotics, women and gold, and the crowd goes wild for it.

Absolute carnage reigns during Rocky’s biggest hit Wild For The Night featuring Skrillex. This song has opened him up to a new dubstep audience and the result has worked with great success. Fuckin’ Problems and Goldie are also hits that see members of the audience rushed out of the mosh pit in states of disarray and quite possibly with injuries. Yet these ailments gain praise from the rapper: “Shout out to that kid crowd surfing over there!”

A$AP Rocky has the potential to become a rap legend and surpass his contemporaries. His dedication and raw enthusiasm when interacting with the crowd proves he is an unstoppable showman (one willing to leap into a tempestuous mosh pit) and a genuinely humble performer. With boyish exuberance and charm, he constantly thanks his fans, grinning with the sheer ecstasy of being on stage. Dedicating the final song to “all the bad bitches in the house,” Rocky and crew appear unable to tear themselves away. Dancing and beaming with delight, he eventually bounds off the stage to almost certainly continue the party elsewhere.

Verdict: ★★★★★

Anne Higgins

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Watch the video for Wild For The Night here: