NOW Magazine’s Friday night showcase (June 20) at the Virgin Mobile Mod Club features some of NXNE’s strongest rappers. But what’s really interesting is how it pairs those emcees with some of the festival’s most avant-garde, sunny, genre-blurring performers.
Taking the 11 pm slot is New York City spitter Le1f, whose deft and raucous brand of electronic-infused alternative hip-hop – and casual ability to switch styles in the course of a few bars – has made him an emerging underground favourite.
On a similarly outré front, Memphis’s Cities Aviv makes innovative and soulful music that defies easy categorization. He’s equally adept at sample-heavy R&B jams, post-punk infused love songs and traditional, lyrically driven Southern rap – all of which makes him an intriguing voice in rap’s increasingly experimental age.
Aviv’s alternative jams pair well with the sun-drenched tunes of Toronto outfit Alvvays’s alternately fun and sombre garage pop – the quintet excels at heartfelt love songs that convey longing.
The night’s headliner, 33-year-old Detroit rapper Danny Brown, is fresh off the release of riveting and at times disturbingly dark album Old. The emcee’s been touring non-stop for the last three years, and those who attended his show at the Danforth Music Hall last October know that it’s turned him into a performer who’s as animated and reckless live as on record.
Finally, the Toronto-bred, L.A.-based, turntablist DJ Romeo (sporting a perma-smile and exuding a constant flow of positivity) keeps the party going until 2 am.
