Live Review: Jackie Onassis, B-Wise, One Day Djs

There is unquestionably a new breed of homegrown hip hop on the streets of Sydney and some of its finest purveyors descended on GoodGod on Saturday night, turning the danceteria into a sweaty rap dungeon even before Halfway Crooks took the jams late into the night.

Forget your Australian flags and un-ironic ockerisms. Jackie Onassis and the One Day crew bring a new worldliness to the game but before anything else, they know how to party.

One Day DJs, including Horrorshow’s Adit and one half of Jackie O, Raph, warmed up the room with smooth R&B, while B-Wise took the stage exuding confidence. Like You was irresistibly smooth and lyrically down-to-earth while Eyes Wide brought the energy to kick-start the crowd.

Jackie Onassis kicked off their set with a slight false start, but it was quickly forgotten as Kai Tan – the exuberant rapper to Raph’s party jams – declared “take two!” and launched into the footstomping Special Occasion. Before the end of their opening song, Kai had the room in the palm of his hand with shouts of “Jackie!”, the room roaring back “OH!”.

If anyone wasn’t already feeling it, a cover of Drunk In Love gave the room a big bear hug – never mind that none of us (including Kai, it must be said) is a patch on Beyoncé, everyone bellowed joyfully along anyway.

Tan’s masterful flow was on show nowhere more obviously than in a new track, the fast-paced Hold You Down and a tight rendition of One Thing To Me, which also happens to be catchy as hell. On Smoke Trails, meanwhile, he softly served up the poignancy of First World problems backed by an irresistible beat.

The party picked up when Spit Syndicate, aka Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice, joined in for One Day hits including Love Me Less – pretty sure Lupi made a teenager’s night by rapping to her as she stood filming at the side of the stage – before the Onassis boys took over for a grand finale with their most triumphant track yet, Crystal Balling, and the earworm NSY (Never See You). Tan assures the crowd “This song isn’t directed at you guys – in fact, the opposite.” Right back atcha, Jackie O.