Colour Factory, Hackney
"Is London cool?"
Deep in the bowels of Hackney Wick, past the warehouses-turned-art-spaces and darkened side streets, underground hip-hop's latest, LustSickPuppy, brought their anarchic chaos to Colour Factory.
A self-described “freak on a leash,” the NYC-based rapper, has spent the last year carving out a space in the underground with their genre-melting pot oif digital hardcore and unfiltered, anxiety-ridden lyricism. Their debut LP, Carousel from Hell, dropped earlier this year to whispered acclaim, confirming LSP as a force to be reckoned with. But in the cavernous, sweat-soaked haze of a DIY London venue, could such chaos truly be harnessed?
There was no easing in. 'Empathy Reserved' detonated the set into motion with a blitz of distorted breakbeats and visceral, barked vocals imminently akin to MC Ride of Death Grips. “I can barely function,” LSP snarled repeatedly, and the crowd took that as a challenge, throwing themselves into a frenzied state of mania. It was immediate, visceral, and deeply cathartic—like being grappled into the deep end of a mosh pit with no respite in sight.
That frenetic energy refused to dissipate. 'American Healthcare' was a distorted, nightmarish sprint through guilt and self-destruction—“Guilty conscience leaves you rotting / This is what you fucking wanted,” LSP screamed over ever-mutating breakbeats, the track shifting beneath their feet as if it, too, was struggling to stay upright. 'Ketchup Mustard' took a more playful but no less feral turn, its spat-out hooks and seething, no-holds-barred flow evoking the unhinged energy of Death Grips’ seminal 'Get Got'. “Cute little bitch with a bite like venom / Pretty little kitty and it’s tight like denim” rang out like a threat, the crowd devouring every uttered syllable.
There were no lulls, no space to catch breath. 'Lothario' ratcheted up the tension further, with hammering beats drilling into the skull as LSP repeated “Cut me open” like a corrupted mantra. If Trent Reznor and Jonathan Davis ever reimagined breakcore, it might sound something like this—raw, unrelenting, and gleefully self-destructive.
By the time 'As Hard As You Can' rolled around, the atmosphere was at a teetering ignition. “I wish I didn’t know there’s way too much shit,” LSP admitted, pacing the stage like a caged animal. The crowd fed off their energy, pushing one another to their limit. And then, in one final act of filth and fury, 'Horniest Song Ever' brought the night to its climax (literally). A track drowning in its own sex-fueled lyricism, it saw LSP throwing themselves into their performance with reckless abandon, the audience whooping and hollering in raucous approval with each reenacted play.
Tonight, LustSickPuppy didn't just put on a show; they orchestrated a full-bodied assault. From start to finish, Colour Factory was their playground, their confessional, their warzone. Whilst some moments bled into each other, and the relentless intensity left little room for nuance, the set's lightning-in-a-bottle tenacity rendered many of these drawbacks. LSP evidently thrives amidst chaos, and for their show in the capital, they dragged us down with them—kicking, screaming, consumed by every second of it.
7.5/10
LustSickPuppy's debut LP, Carousel from Hell, is out now and can be found below.
Photo is courtesy of Jenn Ruff whose work can be found here.
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