6LACK
18th October 2018
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Kate Taylor. Feature Artwork by Leon Taylor. Photography by Jordan M Vickers.
It’s probably not the word people would use to describe a Hip-Hop show but 6LACK, THEY. and Boogie’s show at Auckland’s Powerstation was so nice! The atmosphere was structured with love and encouragement with a heart-swelling representation of the East Coast and the West Coast coming together to celebrate the music that feeds these artists’ souls.
Compton son and recent Shady Records sign-up Boogie came to start the bill bringing through his achingly good 90s West Coast jams. Boogie’s set is warmed by his DJ coming front and centre and whipping us into excitement with some cheeky dance moves and some flows from West Coast legend Snoop with beats by Compton icon Dr. Dre. Boogie took some time to bring it to the real, dedicating a song to the new breed of Hip Hop figures that we’ve lost recently in Mac Miller and Lil Peep among others with a heartfelt message of encouraging us to look after each other, to check in on the ones we love; especially if they seem strong and like they don’t need it, with Boogie saying that this is usually the people that need it most. Boogie brought three people up on stage, including Jessie and her “lit ass” and two rad looking dudes who spend a portion of Boogie’s set vibing and acting as back up hype dancers for Boogie. As Boogie vibed with his new backup crew it came time to farewell them from the stage, as one of his new buddies suggested he have a puff onstage, Boogie was conscientious and kind in his decline of the treat, instead being passed a little something something for later, welcome to Auckland my man! Boogie created an inclusive and warm vibe hugging it out with his new on-stage crew as they departed, with Boogie promising our little stage vixen that he’d catch up with her later nod-nod, wink-wink and encouraged the crowd to turn to the person next to them and even if you don’t know them, give them a big ol’ hug declaring that we’re now family. Boogie is adorable, so clear in his flow and his perspective and so unaffected, Boogie brings that 90s Compton vibe through with his relaxed personality and razor sharp sense of humour, letting us know in one song that “he be whipping Ubers” on the side and with his down-to-earth sense of fashion; he’s not all flash, he’s here to party with us and get this done…but when he took his shirt off ooowwee did the crowd go wild. In fact, Boogie was owning the crowd with everyone rapturous with what he’s presenting, leaving us with some new cuts from his forthcoming first “proper album” on Shady Records causing this crowd to hype up for more from Boogie in future for sure.
In their first ever visit to New Zealand, THEY. rushed the stage next; comprised of Drew Love “the trap Bobby Brown” and astonishingly accomplished keys man Dante Jones, these L.A. natives embraced the assembled; especially those that were crying out for jams from their 2015 release Nü Religion and last year’s Nü Religion: Hyena. Friendly battling each other in their opening salvos as their stage banner emblazoned with their tattoo styled wolf head backlit their fiercely nuanced and accomplished jams. Bringing everyone into fine voice on their performance of Deep End, it was a chorus of voices coming in on the “Oh nana, oh na-nana” rising into the hazy air. As Drew’s nickname suggests, he’s the man with the golden pipes delivering a deliciously good R&B clean style on his singing and a Kendrick adjacent husk on his spitting. Crowd participation and inclusion is big on the agenda for THEY. Getting us onside with teaching us the “Wolfpac” salute, which some of the metal kids in the crowd know as throwing up the goats. Drew and Dante wanted to give the troop the official n-word pass card for the night, so we could sing along in full voice to our accompaniment to their tracks, with Motley Crew getting a big response. Also looking to release new tunes, THEY. treated the Auckland crowd to some of these new edits, testing them out on this compliant crowd and feeding us the lyrics acapella so we’d now what was what. While Drew has the throat of an angel, Dante has the fingers of a surgeon, stroking the keys and adding so much magic to their set picking out the melodies. Unleashing another forthcoming track for us. THEY. presented us with “When I Go Down” which will have a Wiz Khalifa feature…so aka a huge fuggin’ deal! Taking a small break to catch their breath THEY. let us know that on their first ever visit to NZ they were extremely impressed “…this is the most beautiful place on earth, it definitely has the most beautiful girls on earth” cue pleased scream from the room. Taking it down a little, THEY. shared their song “Pops” with us, dedicated to their father and stinging with poignancy as Drew took a stool front and centre to really get in touch with the emosh vibe on this tribute with strings and keys. THEY. definitely know how to do their job, connect and have a mountain of fun bringing so much variety to their set in variance of hype tracks, sensitive R&B crossovers and a massively warm vibe which they are certain to be invited to come back to NZ and share with us again, reaaal soon as they made a stack of new fans last night, myself included.
Emerging for the main event of the night, DJ Tonee came forth and stirred us up, warming us for 6LACK and pheewoof did he do just that giving us some Kendrick, some Dre, Three Six Mafia and A$AP Ferg. Then, it was time. We were going to have East Atlanta’s own 6LACK come and soothe and charm us for his around 80 minute, incredibly strong set. Kicking it off Loaded Gun, honestly it was kinda hard to hear his verses not due to anything with the sound desk but all to do with the room screaming at the top of their lungs that their boy was here to vibe with them tonight. Moving into Ex Calling, we were all settling in to the warm and smoky room and it was about this time I had to tell myself that the mezzanine level of Powerstation is structurally sound cause oh my gosh was it jumping and bouncing with everyone getting well hyped for this unique and underrated lyricist accompanied by of course DJ Tonee but also a man giving new life to the keys with a razor sharp live drummer to punctuate the beats with a delicious crunch. Reaching out to the crowd to excite us, even though we didn’t need it, 6LACK cried out “If you’re here to get turnt the fuck up give me a hell yeah!” then moving into That Far. “In 2016 I dropped a project called Free Black and not too long ago I dropped a new album called East Atlanta Love Letter so welcome to my tour to Australia and New Zealand…how many of ya’ll feel like you know the new album word for word?” asked 6LACK; as he launched into Nonchalant, 6LACK asked DJ Tonee and band to cut their backing so that 6LACK could deliver us his striking flows acapella, battling with the crowd to be heard as we enthusiastically drowned him out…almost in this track where he asks “Damn, do I even have the fans for this shit?” – clearly 6LACK you do as we were all there checking for you last night. To solidify this and dedicating it to all his “day one” fans 6LACK delivered a blistering version of Never Know. 6LACK reached out to us letting us know that “…as long as I see energy coming from everybody for the whole entire show, I’ll be back every fucking year OK?…but real quick can I take ya’ll to where I’m from…you all know where I’m from? Let’s go to East Atlanta, put your E’s up” and we followed suit immediately as he launched into East Atlanta Love Letter and melded into Luving You. “You all probably know but I wrote the East Atlanta Love Letter album about communication, love and all that heartfelt shit…but if you’re a fan of my music you know the only thing I really talk about IS love, right. You do realise that’s the only thing I talk about, right?! I didn’t just write these songs to help me through my situations, I wrote them to help you through your situations too.” Massive hit Switch lifted the roof clean off; as did OTW 6LACK’s feat with Khalid and Ty Dolla $ign, Balenciaga Challenge and Pretty Little Fears also made it into the set for the night creating a set list to scorch into our minds forever.
6LACK was clearly enraptured with how much the Auckland crowd was here for him on this return visit to our shores, astonished by how we could spit right along with him and gave him the love he needs to see so he’ll come back to us once more. Taking leave of the stage for a moment, the real ones knew that something was missing…cue an absolutely monster rendition of PRBLMS and so much love flowing back and forward between artist and crowd. An extraordinary bill of Hip Hop’s most exciting new breed was appreciated and lauded last night with a crowd that was there to care for each other and create a night to remember…leave us wanting more.
Were you there at the Powerstation for this superb hip hop show? Or have you seen 6lack perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this content, please consider donating towards the running of Ambient Light, covering expenses and allowing us to expand the coverage you love by clicking the red button below (Desktop) or visiting our PressPatron page (Mobile).