Review: Tkay Maidza Gig 16.04.15
Singer/rapper/champ Tkay Maidza is everywhere at the moment. Literally. She has a million shows coming up including spots at festivals Groovin The Moo and Splendour In The Grass and if you don’t want to risk being labelled as silly, you should grab some tickets to a show near you before they sell out. Her latest single M.O.B. is on high rotation on triple j, much to the delight of ears everywhere. We caught her at Goodgod Small Club in Sydney on Thursday 16th April.
Upon entrance to the Goodgod Small Club I walked through a restaurant area with a very nightclubby feel/lighting scheme. I’ll have to keep it in mind if I ever look like shit and have to dine with people.
I notice the ‘Danceteria’ at the back and think to myself “I wonder if this is similar to the ‘Dancery’ within which Mary J Blige was hoping to get crunk”.
I walk in and they have triple j’s ‘Mix Up’ playing and it is freezing. And to think I nearly substituted my bag for my jacket as I hate carrying bags. Stupid trendy housemate saying it didn’t go with my outfit.
I checked Twitter and noticed that Tkay had tweeted about how she would be signing phones via an app after the show and I quietly hoped that she’d just be in a pic with me. While I was busy contemplating how out of the technological loop I am, an amazing voice resemblant of Lisa Mitchell and Kate Miller-Heidke grabbed my attention. Wow. I was instantly a fan of Joy. Her voice was amazing.
Joy wore tracky dacks with a midriff top and sneakers and looked way cooler than you ever could wearing that. Think Ciara circa 2004, not your dowdy neighbour mowing the lawn.
The bass was a little too strong though, the reverberations could be felt through my chest (yay) but it sounded distorted, similar to when you try to pump ‘Seven Nation Army’ up loud in your Corolla (nay).
She did a great job warming up the crowd though, I no longer required the aforementioned jacket.
UV boi brought some really decent bass with his set and throughout most of it I was thinking “How dope are the drops?”.
At one point the sound effect of typing on an iPhone blasts out of the speakers and I couldn’t decide whether UV boi had incorporated it into a beat or if he was actually scrolling. It soon became evident that he wasn’t in fact, trolling through ‘Lolcats’ mid set, but that he obviously manages to source music from a plethora of sounds and combines them perfectly. I then remember that ‘Everyone’s a DJ With a MacBook Pro’ but they’re probably not as good as UV boi.
Midway through his set were some really intense builds that would be perfect in a movie soundtrack. I could literally visualise a Vin Diesel type character walking away from a helicopter explosion and the film ending at that point – like really badass. I thought film score composers should really get a hold of this guy.
He then sampled Schoolboy Q’s track ‘Man of The Year’ throughout one of his final songs and the crowd loved it. He definitely left the audience on a high.
Just as Tkay was about to come out, a beat commenced that prompted the crowd to begin a slow progressive clap which ended in applause. This was the perfect way to build the intensity back up before launching straight into ‘Brontosaurus’. Seeing Tkay in such an intimate setting allowed for the realisation as to how tiny she really is. She was even wearing platforms – full on, Spice Girl platform shoes. They didn’t hold her back though, she next played ‘Arm Up’ and shit, can this girl move!
Several times throughout her performance the crowd would erupt with cheers and despite being in the middle of a verse, she couldn’t help but let out a grin. She was so interactive with the crowd. It was just so intimate.
Her latest single M.O.B. set the crowd right off, especially one enthusiastic punter who’d memorised every word, despite the song only being officially released in February.
The crowd lifted again at the introduction to what is arguably her most well known track ‘U-Huh’. They repeatedly used the familiar Brenda Lee sample “U-Huh Honey” made famous recently by Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Seth Rogen and James Franco, however for the intro they had cut the ‘Honey’ part out – revealing the name of Tkay’s track – I see what you did there. She then had the entire crowd chanting the lyrics back to her and at one point she even pointed the mic at members of the audience so they could deliver the ‘chitty bang bang’ lines. Despite being so young, she really knows how to work a crowd.
Next came a slightly odd break before the encore where she kind of ducked down behind the sound booth and had a drink before reappearing for her final 2 songs.
She blasted into her dub step infused collaboration with Bad Cop ‘Handle My Ego’ which resulted in herself and the crowd simultaneously losing their shit with the odd sighting of some headbanging/whipping of the hair. Tkay then announced she was to play her favourite song and triple j Hottest 100 inclusion ‘Switch Lanes’. It was so great to hear the crowd rap along with her and she really shook her arse throughout this track, much to the delight of the front row. She maintained a great balance of perceived approachability and attitude that kept us guessing and her stage presence was comparable to that of superstar Rihanna.
Basically: she killed it.
• kate • carnell • 