Featured image and gallery: Kaitlyn Brockley
It’s a cold winter’s night, but not in Club Academy. A crowd huddles in the dingy basement venue, warmth radiating from the throng gathered underneath the hue of fluorescent lighting. Opening the night is Miso Extra: an exciting upcoming rapper, producer and vocalist, inspired by everything from UKG and R&B to traditional pop.
Her smooth breathy vocals melt into ambient swelling synths, reminiscent of early bedroom-pop Clairo and Billie Eilish, providing a perfect tonic to a blistering Thursday night. Miso Extra is clearly destined for The Warehouse Project with her mellow, hip-hop drum patterns and trancey rhythms that run in circles like a daydream. Miso twirls on the stage, dancing under the fluorescent lights, while the crowd dances with each other.
Rejjie Snow soon follows to a screaming crowd, smoke shrouding him like a shield. It cannot hide his cheeky grin as he surveys the Manchester crowd, and the front row that beams and clamour his name.
There is a sense of vulnerability of him standing on the stage alone, just him and a backing track. But this doesn’t seem to affect him – he immediately launches into ‘Obrigado’, before following with fan-favourite ‘Egyptian Luvr’. Surface level, his music is smooth, mellow, laidback, but dig deeper and the lyrics tell us more: the post-chorus of ‘Karen’ calls out “blonde hair, blue eyes… Privilege in denial” whereas ‘Bye Polar’ detail his mental turmoil, contrasting with chirpy major chords.
‘Peace to the World’ is the shining moment of the set, a treat from his latest album, reminiscent of Childish Gambino and featuring what appears to be an elevator music sample. ‘Poofy Leaves’ echoes early Kanye, whereas ‘Rio de Janeiro’ pairs a bossa nova beat with warm, ambient synths. The night finishes with the encore tracks ‘Acid Trip’, a quintessential lo-fi hip-hop hit with a rolling bassline, and ‘Sunny California’, closing the set with a sliding guitar solo and waves of applause.
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