Live Review: Tkay Maidza, Kwame, Arno Faraji

Tkay Maidza is one of South Australia's hottest talents and it was great to see her back on stage in her home state, given how much her fans love her and the popularity she has built up for herself in recent years. 

Fat Controller, as a large club, really is the perfect venue for her, given how huge modern R&B is right now. However, it would have been good to see just a few more punters in the space to really pack it out and also it would have been nice if more people came earlier to suss out the supports. However, this seems to be a common issue .

Triple J Unearthed High winner Arno Faraji has been somewhat of a revelation given his young age. However, the live performance falls short of the recorded product. While he had good stage energy and reasonable confidence, his articulation needs more work. There were positives, though. The backing tracks were quite sweet sounding and the crowd was reasonably enthusiastic, despite the small number. Perhaps the small, early crowd was a slight buzzkill and could have put him off the performance a little. These types of shows at his age will bode well for his future though.

Kwame, clearly one of the most promising prospects in Australian hip hop, was much more professional and seasoned than Faraji. With his slick delivery, there is little separating him from a lot of quality US rappers. His R&B singing with Auto-Tune was flawless without being overblown, although by the end of the show the use was starting to develop into a bit of a novelty. The synth backing with the pulsing high range chords sounded beautiful and the thick rumbling bass in the backing was great, particularly with the syncopation. What really made the mix sing, literally and figuratively, was the pre-recorded, warm male vocal harmonies. When another MC got on stage with him the energy was off the hook and the crowd lapped it up.

A very relaxed and self-assured, Tkay Maidza came on stage to the backing of some pre-recorded speech. Her band comprised of Adelaide local Annabel Hartlett, aka Godlands, on production and the very lively Tim Commandeur on drums, also known to fans of PNAU, and many years ago, Operator Please. The difference the latter made to the live experience was really evident, with the fresh rhythms livening up the mix considerably. Maidza was more than confident and towards the end of the show, her on stage twerking and dancing drew a lot of cheers, particularly from the females in the audience.

Some of her newer tunes lack the bounce of her earlier work, with either more pop hooks or grimey tracks with less of a punch in the rhythm. Regardless, her profile seems to grow, and the blend of songs she has in her arsenal now gives her plenty to play with without bringing back the comparatively average Brontosaurus. MOB sounded great and was a high energy song for Commandeur to play to with his high cardio energetic style. Martin Solveig collaboration Do It Right was solid with its easy, housey chorus hook, and Switch Lanes was fantastic as always with super catchy singing and slick rapping in equal measure. Kwame and Faraji came on surprisingly at the end, with great cameos on this year’s big single Flexin' to wrap up a great night. The only criticism is I’m sure a lot of fans would have been dying to hear U-Huh, which still remains one of her very best songs.