RedBull Sound Select hosts Fake Shore Drive as a part of 30 Days in LA which is a month of 70+ artists in venues throughout Los Angeles. The Mayan is the location that Joey Purp, Warhol.SS, someguynamedty and Jeremih will converge showcasing what Chicago has to contribute to hip hop. DJ Oreo narrates the night with some nods to popular classics from Jay-Z, Mystikal and Eazy-E and keeping the crowd moving with some more recent songs from Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper. DJ Oreo is on stage in between sets, and if this weren’t a concert, one might be led to believe this is just a night venue with really great music.
A swarm similar to Wu Tang’s entourage spilled onto the stage. Over 15 bodies found their place on stage after DJ Oreo’s wonderfully curated DJ set. Sight of Warhol is periodically obstructed by his weaving through his crew who are dancing, singing adlibs, hyping the crowd or just watching; at times it is hard to tell which of these people on stage is the artist and who isn’t. Countless open water bottles were sprayed onto the crowd like well pressurized super soakers. Dreads fling to and fro across the stage. Though Warhol and his crew seem to be having the time of their lives, there are countless attempts for the crowd to do the same. Petitions for the audience to come closer and participate were unmet. Warhol’s entourage seems to be very familiar with Warhol’s lyrics however, the crowd just watches as if a theater play were being performed rather than a high energy performance. More water splashes the crowd. After about the fourth song Warhol questions the crowd, kneeling down and asking, “Really? We came all the way from Chicago, and this is y’all’s energy? We got ‘people’ all the way in the back like they scared of something.” Warhol cues the DJ and“Bank roll” begins, commencing the festivities. Those on stage turn up the intensity and literally transplant their energy into the crowd by, you guessed it, jumping into the crowd. Those with locs start dread banging (that’s head banging with dreads), dancing and moshing. Finally, Warhol gets the participation he has been asking for as the crowd raves respectively.
The size of the crowd swells in the minutes right before Joey Purps’ set. He’s a one-man show taking full control of his crowd. He conducts the crowd with ease, hands waving with Joey as he performs “Morning Sex”, a track off of his latest release iiiDrops. The repetitive and distorted sample of “Photobooth” introduces the first 808 drop on the track which sends the crowd rocking to its aftershock. Peace signs raise in the air as Joey asks the crowd to put their twos in the air for Tupac, as he is wearing a Tupac shirt.
Joey jumps with exuberance to his music, his hair mimicking the crowd as it bounces to the beat to “Money and Bitches.” Joey pauses to get a little more personal with the crowd: “Y’all think y’all can get to know me?” he gives a little dialogue before going into “Corner Store” narrating his experiences in the streets of Chicago: “I used to dream I was from somewhere else / ‘Cause I didn’t wanna go home / Found myself at the corner store, cornered in, all alone.”
“Where the girls at?” Joey asks before dropping lyrics to “Girls” which is also on iiiDrops and features Chance the Rapper, a perfect combination and an authentic representation of the contemporary Chicago music scene. “We Don’t Know How to Stop,” a track from a collab project with KAMi, ends the set as Joey orders all the lights in the venue to be turned off. Darkness falls on the crowd.
Given that most of the artists performing tonight are from Chicago, it’s only fitting that drill music’s very own, Chief Keef delivers a surprise performance. It’s officially “lit” as shirts come off and more water splashes onto the crowd. Warhol is in between two subwoofers with two other friends rocking out to Keef’s “Don’t like”, “Faneto” and “Send It Up”. The energy on stage is too much to be contained; consequently Warhol S.S. and his crew jump off stage and into the crowd to rock out to the chief.
The Chicago lineup continues as Jeremih comes out holding a red “double cup”. There is a band providing the live instrumentation to “Down on Me”. He asks if it is anyone’s birthday. Security plucks a lucky woman from the crowd and brings her onstage. Jeremih positions himself behind a keyboard as a he plays and sings “Birthday Sex” in her dedication, the whole crowd joins in on “Girl you know i-i-i”. He continues to show off his musical prowess while he plays with his band and sings the chorus to Lil Jon’s “Lovers and Friends”. As Natalie La Roses’ newly release single “Somebody” begins to play, Natalie emerges from behind the band to pair up with Jeremih on their duo. The crowd has now flooded the stage as women in the front row sing along to a call and response on “Hold you Down.” The crowd roars with excitement as the beat drops on “Oui”, “There’s no we without you and I!” the crowd passionately sings. But perhaps the most participation all night comes from “Oiu’s” lyrics, “ah yeah, ah yeah, ay ay yeah”, the most notable part of the song. Right after “Planez”, the Chicago artist pays tribute to LA with his track “All Eyez” which features a verse from LA’s very own The Game who also expectantly drifts from backstage, doing his verse and finishing out the rest of the song before parting ways. The party continues with “Pass Dat” which is performed with invites from women watching the show to dance and enjoy themselves on stage during the performance. The night begins to come to a close with “Impatient” a single from his most recent release “Late Nights”. Jeremih gives a few words addressing the recent elections, “But I got a homie who can say it better than I can.” The first few notes from “FDT”, a single from Still Brazy plays as YG explodes onstage. If you follow politics at all, it can be easily deciphered what “FDT” stands for and at this very moment, despite political differences it seems as if the whole venue was unified under a commonality, a disdain for Donald Trump. YG officially ends the night as a feature on “Don’t Tell ‘Em”, a song the two recorded, and also a single from “Late Nights”.
Fake Shore Drive has definitely brought the Chicago experience to Los Angeles and with appearances from YG and The Game, Jeremih’s set is a sure representation between two completely different regions and styles of music.
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