O2 Kentish Town Forum, London
“This gon’ be my favourite night on the tour.”
Rapper-singer extraordinaire served up a delectable concoction for those love-yearning romantics, eager to learn from Smino’s teachings in the heart of Louphoria aka Kentish Town.
At the centrepoint between two larger-than-life mushrooms on-stage, Smino’s affection for the sold-out crowd was orated within the fulcrum of North London. In return, the crowd quickly grew comfortable into Smino’s fungi-founded world as the Chicagoan initiated energetically-spiced tracks from his earlier catalogue through ‘Rice & Gravy’, ‘Summer Salt’ and ‘Z4L’. A reciprocated adoration grew bountiful with the rapper’s impressive vocal chops as a dreamy oscillation between the two seamlessly played out.
Yet this earlier catalogue proved premature, underbaked if you will, compared to Smino’s 3rd and latest LP, Luv 4 Rent. Segueing into tracks such as ‘Ole Ass Kendrick’ and ‘90 Proof’, the variation on sampling proved enticing, the vocal experimentation impressive - notably in the high-pitched motifs screamed back from voracious fans: “She bad!”. For the latter, the earwormy vocal inflections proved just as infectious as those on any Ravyn Lenae or Teyana Taylor record, albeit tinged with a slight raspiness from Smino’s waning vocals this evening.
Whilst Smino proved his worthy evolution of late, the set’s midsection featuring much of his earlier work was weighed down by a heady conviction - notably in his infamous track ‘Wild Irish Roses’. Reverting to a slower-paced, more intimate R&B aura, the rapper eventually succumbed to inaudible, mumbling vocal deliveries which faded into brief obscurity. A number of years ago, such fellow Chicagoan contemporaries as Noname and Ravyn Lenae also grew their sound from similar tropes, flexing a lo-fi, R&B-tinged intimacy pasted against their respective vocal licks and spits - but ultimately evolved to greener musical pastures from such obsolete repertoires.
Fortunately, the same can be said for Smino whose conviction and experimentalism on Luv 4 Rent propelled him to a room of tonight’s proportions - vocally supported and screamed to by heartfelt fans littered amongst Kentish Town’s audience. Sumptuous basslines encasing ‘Pro Freak’ gave way to Smino’s confident chops a-la J. Cole and J.I.D on ‘Curtains’, concluding with an audible reminiscence to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Money Trees’ on ‘No L’s’ - all offered from the very apex of his career to date.
As the rapper confided on the emotional powers of winning and losing love, it’s hard to know if tonight’s environment was precisely Smino’s favourite thus far on his Louphoria tour. But basking in the 2nd consecutively sold-out performance across the pond, tonight proved an important occasion for the 31 year-old exuding his prowess as a resolute rapper and singer, keen on pushing the boundaries of his repertoire. Whilst many of the aforementioned collaborators invariably went amiss tonight, a reassuring consolation on modern love’s convolutions played out tonight - spoken from the heart of an equally modern, convoluted artist.
7/10
Smino's latest LP, Luv 4 Rent, is out now via Zero Fatigue and can be found below.
Photos are courtesy of Dave Burke whose work can be found here.
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