Bathed in flickering strobe lights, fingers raised in the air, Waka Flocka Flame cuts an imposing figure on stage – ironic, given that Juaquin Malphurs' stage name derives from a Spanish childhood nickname based on his skinny stature, "Juaquin flaco". It's a fitting match for his music. Most cuts are heralded by pealing sirens and end with explosions; in between they are packed with gun sounds, cascades of rattling, staccato beats and producer Lex Luger's muscular, brutalist fanfares. Waka Flocka Flame deals in raw energy, and he conducts the chaos of his sound like a natural, whether leading chants ("Bow! Bow! Bow!") or surrendering to the overwhelming force of his own music, whipping his dreadlocks back and forth in a frenzy of headbanging.
- Waka Flocka Flame
- At Manchester Academy
- 6 December
- Box office:
- Then touring
It's now more than two years after the release of Flockaveli, a hand-grenade of a debut album, but this is the Atlanta rapper's debut UK show. The lukewarm response to his second album, this year's patchy Triple F Life, has arguably slowed Waka's momentum – underscored by a last-minute, unexplained venue switch from the much larger Indigo2. Nonetheless, he does enough to remind the crowd why Flockaveli was so electrifying, if possibly unrepeatable. Bustin' at 'Em is explosive, with fragmented beats and expletives flung in the air like detritus. The show's energy builds as it progresses, culminating in the gigantic, stomping crunk beast Hard in da Paint: few songs elicit such an instant physical reaction in an audience.
Despite his relentless aggression, and the harshness of the lives he depicts, there's something fundamentally good-natured about the show: Rooster in My Rari, Grove St Party and repeated references to ecstasy underline Waka's party side. Meanwhile, despite the common, slightly defensive warning that no one goes to Waka expecting traditional hip-hop lyricism, there's enough subtext and emotion that to label his music as meaningless would be a mischaracterisation.
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