Lineup: Danny Brown/Maxo Kream/ZelooperZ ("The Exhibition Tour")
Venue: Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Date: September 18th, 2016
ZelooperZ: With this being the third consecutive U.S. tour in which he's secured an opening slot on, I'm now convinced that ZelooperZ is contractually obligated to hit the road with Danny Brown every time he tours in America. While I'm not really a big fan of the handful of songs I've heard from him over the years, Brown's 21-year old protege/frequent collaborator has significantly stepped up his live show since the last time I saw him in April 2014. His zany style that is undeniably influenced by Brown and near-constant high energy level made his performance very engaging. ZelooperZ did a good job of establishing a really fun tone and getting the crowd hyped up out of the gate.
Maxo Kream: Outside of looking at his genre tags on rateyourmusic.com (FYI: he was classified as trap/cloud rap), I went in completely blind to Mako Kream's set. His ambient, psychedelic production put a nice twist on the classic trap formula (808-heavy beats, lyrics about selling drugs and gang-banging, random sound effects and yelling, etc.) he utilized on most of the songs and his attention-grabbing intensity was sort of refreshing given the pop sensibilities that are often attached to the genre. His rapping chops are questionable and his habit of aborting songs after 45 seconds was annoying, but his ignorant, catchy hooks and excellent production made Maxo Kream's set worthwhile.
Danny Brown: Detroit-bred indie hip hop act Danny Brown is something special. From his gleefully strange, large-than-life personality to his absurd versatility with flows, he's the type of bold, unique artist that doesn't come along too often in the world of hip-hop. That trail-blazing, iconic status carries over to his live performances as Brown once again proved why he's one of the greatest rappers in the world with an astonishing set at Paradise Rock Club in Boston last night.
The release of his reportedly raw, chaotic new album Atrocity Exhibition-which is currently due out on September 30th-inspired Brown to dust off a number of rarely-played songs from his 2011 breakout mixtape XXX. While I love his last record Old, XXX is definitely more impressive from a pure rapping standout, which made this set a beautiful showcase for Brown's technical chops. Seeing Brown rip through incendiary tracks like "Die Like a Rockstar", "Aderrall Admiral" and "Monopoly" without getting tongue-tied or skipping lyrics was fucking jaw-dropping to behold. I feel like precise live rapping is one of the most underappreciated traits in all of music and there's very few people in the game right now that can match Brown's proficiency in that department.
Brown closed off the night by previewing four songs from Atrocity Exhibition. The frantic production and blistering verses on the four tracks that he played ("Really Doe", "When It Rain", "Pneumonia" and the previously unreleased "Dance in the Water") basically confirm the rumors that Atrocity Exhibition is going to be more in line with the raw chaos of XXX than the party-centric trap of 2013's Old. If this selection of tracks are any indicator of what's in store for the rest of the album, Atrocity Exhibition is going to be the vicious, abrasive and fun release of Brown's career so far.
This show once again validated why I believe Danny Brown is one of hip-hop's premier live acts. Each time I've been to one of his shows (this marked the fourth time I've seen him live), he's delivered a damn near flawless performance and created a raucous atmosphere that is a ton of fun to take in and be apart of. This 40-date tour just kicked off last week, so if you live anywhere outside of the Northeastern United States markets that it already hit (Philadelphia, New York City, Providence, Albany), I urge you to cop tickets so you can experience Brown's brand of abstract hip-hop mayhem for yourself.
Scores:
ZelooperZ 7/10
Maxo Kream 6.5/10
Danny Brown 9/10
Setlists:
ZelooperZ included:
BM
Paypal
Elevators
Danny Brown:
Die Like a Rockstar
Lie4
I Will
Bruiser Brigade
Monopoly
Outer Space (first verse only)
Aderall Admiral
Blunt After Blunt
Dope Song (Side B)
Smokin' & Drinkin'
Break It (Go)
Handstand
Dip
25 Bucks
Float On
Grown Up
Attak (Rustie cover)
Really Doe
When It Rain
Dance in the Water
Pneumonia
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