MYKKI BLANCO at Play, Friday, October 26. Rating: NNN
Mykki Blanco does not rest. Fresh off a slew of high-profile appearances at last week’s CMJ music festival in New York, the 25-year-old NYC-based gender-challenging rapper, made her Toronto debut at a Halloween party hosted at Play, a new club on the main floor of Wicked on Queen Street West (think the Korova Milk Bar from A Clockwork Orange meets a ballroom).
It’s not easy to stand out in a room full of people dressed as Wes Anderson characters, woodland creatures, and at least one Frida Kahlo, not to mention two female backup dancers on swings, but Blanco made it look simple. Wearing a black toque, spandex pants, and nothing else, the rapper made full use of the catwalk, crawling, dancing, and twisting her limbs like a contortionist.
The short-but-energetic thirty minute set included tracks off her upcoming mixtape, Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss, and fan favourites like Haze.Boogie.Life and Wavvy. When the sound system started acting up, Blanco commanded the DJ to cut the music, and rapped verses a cappella much to the thrill of the crowd.
In case you missed this show, the rapper will be back Nov. 15th 18th, opening for California rap group Death Grips (themselves also no strangers to controversy) at Wrongbar. If this performance was any indication, Blanco won’t be relegated to opening act status for much longer.
