“You lost. It’s a game. Life’s a game.”
In the midst of one of her interactive crossword games on stage, the rising Philadelphia rapper Tierra Whack gave this piece of heavy-handed reality. Much like the whirlwind of her career up until now, the 23-year-old sporadically invited fans onto stage during her set, only to have them spin around in circles before finding a word splayed on her crossword costume worn tonight. Having only released her 15-track, 15-minute-long debut LP last year, her soundbite-driven sound has been heavily sought after from the likes of Childish Gambino and Flying Lotus, concluding with her first UK show to date - a sold out Village Underground last week. Spurred by intrepid off-the-cuff moments between her and her sidekick DJ, the exuberant unpredictability of her live set turned out to be just as short and enticingly sweet as her debut LP.
Yet before delving into the all-important main dish of tonight’s servings from ‘Chef' Whack, we were immediately served a few alternate and more embellished recent hits. From the lower vocal melodies of ‘Wasteland’, to the mumble rap style of ‘Clones’, and nonchalant facade imbuing ‘Gloria’, Whack reached such great breadths of delivery even amongst the first handful of songs served tonight. Teetering on the fringes of R&B and Soundcloud rap, Whack truly revelled within her frenetic world encased with brooding basslines, tightly-knit synth notes, and sumptuous R&B atmospherics.
After imparting her life-affirmed wisdom on the fanfared crowd, Whack at last delved into the near-entirety of her 15-minute debut LP of last year, Whack World, chronologically excavating it track-by-track. In spite of my constant yearning to see more than just mere 1-minute vignettes into Whack’s world, her multifarious vocal delivery triumphed above all this evening. Through such tracks as ‘Bugs Life’ and ‘Flea Market’ Whack conjured such an exuberantly colourful taste for R&B, often reminiscent of the seminal likes of André 3000 or Ms. Lauryn Hill. All the while, Whack never remained vocally stagnant niether shy from exuding such humorously quirky lyrics, “A-B-C (All Boys Cry, M-T-V (Men Touch Vaginas), B-E-T (Bitches Eat Tacos)” as well as her piss-taking Southern country accent entrenched within ‘Fuck Off’.
As the perusal of her debut LP continued to delve into the darker corners of Whack’s sadistic mind, she ultimately concluded tonight with a slew of more recent hits of this year. ‘Hungry Hippo’s perfected hook and auto-tuned vocals proved so tantalising that the crowd demanded another rendition - preceding Whack's performance of one of her latest embellished singles, ‘Unemployed’. To the delight of her ravenous fans, the connoisseur of all things potato-related went to the extent of supplying us with an endless factory line of chips post-performance making this evening’s show all the more surreal.
Much like everything in life, Whack reminded us all that tonight’s gig must also have an ending, suitably telling the crowd “go the fuck home already” against the incessant chants of an encore. Whilst she obliged with her mumble rap-infused hit of ‘Mumbo Jumbo’, the crowd’s 'confidant' embraced the overwhelming rouse of applause from tonight’s sold-out show. Embarking on amusing on-stage games, as well as offering crosswords and free chips to the audience, Tierra Whack’s quirky musicalities certainly preceded her reputation. Whilst some of her tracks may have faded into the background, her reputation as a rapper proved anything but this: dynamically bolshy and almost unparalleled in today’s rap culture. Tonight proved a truly indelible lesson from one of the most eclectic rappers known - and I believe we all need this lesson bestowed upon us.
8.5/10
Tierra Whack’s latest LP, Whack World, is out now and can be found here.
Photo is courtesy of Steve Gillett / Livepix.
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