Live Review: Joey Bada$$, Run The Jewels

Let’s do this backwards. Fresh from his Falls arrest, Joey Bada$$ strolls into the Forum in the headline slot, arms swinging and pumping. His debut album release is still weeks away, but the crowd treat him like a superstar, rabid for every call-and-response request by the Pro Era rapper. His nasty, aggro flow bounces out over monotonous breakbeat provided by StatikSelektah, the pinnacle of everything dull in contemporary hip hop. In between tunes such as 95 Til Infinity and World Domination, Bada$$ offers self-congratulation (“Word on the grapevine, 2015 is mine”), snide dismissal of his audience (“There’s a lot of shit you have to look up”) and a long-winded command for people to go out and buy his upcoming studio record. He hits a sweet spot with the sheer ferocity of audience participation in No. 99, but it’s too little too late. As one observer notes, “If you loved his mixtape, this would be a great show,” but we don’t, so it isn’t.

Playing support to Joey Bada$$ for some God unknown reason, Run The Jewels (aka El-P and Killer Mike) bring the noise, the joy and a slick twin flow in a monstrous Run The Jewels performance. Traversing the first Run The Jewels record and their beast sequel of 2014, their set is a perfect storm of agile rap and mind-bending production, with beats courtesy of DJ Trackstar. Their genre-bending sound embraces dubstep, dancehall and experimental electro – an hour of bounce-heavy sonic booms that has the crowd heaving.

El-P and Killer Mike’s bromance makes for some incredible onstage chemistry, with Trackstar hitting the mic to bulk up the big party anthems. The boys work the shit out of their audience, grinning ear-to-ear, full of gratitude and amazement to be playing such a big room Down Under. Killer Mike wiggles and grooves with awesome style while El-P plays sexy preacher, counselling us to appreciate the moment. Run The Jewels are playful and wicked, totally infectious. They decry immoral capitalists and child molesters, shout out dead friends and pay brief tribute to Michael Brown and Eric Garner. It’s all serious, but lightly done, and it leaves us feeling good. But ultimately it’s the tunes. Run The Jewels slay the crowd with unexpectedly huge renditions of All Due Respect and Lie, Cheat, Steal. And Blockbuster Night Part 1 drops like a bomb on the Forum Theatre faithful. It’s about 400 degrees and the room is steaming, but these guys have us bouncing right out of our skin.