OnLast Friday, at his debut UK show, Young Thug, (aka Jeffrey Williams) staked his claim as a burgeoning superstar. The Atlanta rapper is both thrilling and tentative, and it serves as a reminder of just how early he is in his career – at least in mainstream terms. The crowd might not see it that way, though. They have braced a metal detector on entry to witness an artist who has been building a fanbase steadily for some time. Not since Kendrick Lamar performed his Section.80 tour has there been so much excitement for underground rap talent.
It’s the kind of show that ends with the visible imprint of a stranger’s soles on your trainers. Phones were held up, predictably, for the biggest track of the evening, Danny Glover, and there was plenty of amicable shoving going on as the crowd sang along to Check and With That.
The crowd’s mania contrasted with the 23-year-old’s hazy, weed-induced mumble (an observation that has become a rap in-joke) that can make his lyrics almost undecipherable on record.
“Where the stoners at?” he asked at one point, almost shyly. “Put your hands up if you smoke weed!” Smoke billowed from corners of the room in response. It makes sense as his 2014 hit Stoner is the record that cemented his reputation as someone to keep track of, along with the mighty, squawking Lifestyle, a catchy celebration of making it.
At points, though, Young Thug’s songs seemed to sound generic, and unless you were invested you might get bored. There’s not much of a show to keep you entertained. The DJ’s gaps of silence between tracks were too long, the bass was overly jumpy and the whole performance ended without warning.
Currently compared to A$AP Rocky, in a few years Thug won’t be able to get away with such mistakes, nor the formlessness of this show. But here, he’s only trying to make one point: that these tracks can transcend the South and inject UK fans with a dose of rap euphoria. As he leaves the stage to rapturous chants of “Thugger, Thugger!”, you have to conclude it’s a point well made.
