Smooth grooves, sharp tongue: Joey Bada$$ live in London

Many a hip hop head would argue that his first mixtape, 1999, was something of an instant classic, successfully balancing the golden age Nineties sound with sharp lyrics and an equally pointed delivery. Although tonight’s (16TH November) show at the Roundhouse was a popular one, the long queue was mainly due to increased security measures taken at some UK concerts after last Friday’s Paris attacks.

THE GIG was Joey’s first in the UK since the release of his debut album, B4.Da.$$ (pronounced ‘before the money’). “Do I have any day one fans out there tonight?” he asked the crowd before going through some of his early work off 1999, including the soulful "Waves" and the vintage-sounding “FROMDA TOMB”.

Celebrating label mate Kirk Knight’s 20th birthday in style, he brought out a cake before bringing on 25 women from the audience onto the stage. “Put your hands up if you want to see Joey dance with your girl,” he smiled, before rapping on the jazz-inspired “Teach Me”, produced by his partner in crime Chuck Strangers.

Not only did Bada$$ play a string of party tracks, he made time to pay his tributes too. During “Like Water”, a song dedicated to his late friend and fellow MC Capital Steez, Joey urged the crowd to take a moment of silence to remember the victims of the Paris attacks (we’re told he was due to play at La Batlacan on 23rd November, ten days after the violence took place). After taking some time out and paying his respects with the crowd, he thanked God for "allowing him to still be around to perform" and not be in danger. “All I can say is that God is good,” he said.

He even had time to play one of his new tracks, a collaboration with Oxford-based indie band Glass Animals called “Lose Control”, which sounded great live with Joey screaming “if nobody moves, nobody gets hurt” over a minimal trap backdrop, and Stoke Newington singer Maverick Sabre accompanied him on stage for “On & On” to add some soul to the set. Following this, the gritty “Christ Conscious” caused the audience to split into five or more mosh pits, with the ringleaders dancing like they’d stepped on a wasp. Joey quickly proclaimed himself a “muthafuckin microphone eater” before closing on 1999 banger “Survival Tactics”.

It’ll be interesting to see what the next direction for Bada$$ is. Will he continue to successfully capture the golden era sound, or perform a complete about turn? Collaborations with the likes of Maverick Sabre and Glass Animals suggest a new direction, but whether rapping over some classic boom bap production or something more considered and electronic, tonight, everybody wanted a piece of the a$$.