ABOVE: The final performer, Raz Simone, wows the crowd.
A review by Josh Hughes
It was 6:30 p.m. and the line outside the Viking Union Multipurpose Room was shockingly long. Kids decked out in Sam Lachow tank tops and backwards snapbacks talked to their dates and their friends as everyone slowly paraded in the building. Inside the lobby hung a poster for the show, putting equal emphasis on all five performers, merely listing them in order of appearance. Past the entryway, students frantically ran between the merch table, the restrooms, and the increasingly crowded pit by the stage. With half an hour left before Bellingham’s own Mostafa took the stage, the crowd started getting their energy up for the five hour long concert.
Mostafa came on stage with a relaxed sense of bravado, instantly magnetizing the crowd to his presence. With a female singer alongside him, the Egyptian-born rapper delivered an articulate set of lyrical mazes, backed by minimal, vaguely old school beats. The next artist on the roster, Landon Wordswell, DJ-ed for Mostafa, cutting back on the beats occasionally for him to rap a cappella his constantly shifting flow. The vocalist took front and center every now and then, delivering haunting choruses somewhere between Sia and Dido with her “dum-de-dum” melodies.
Above: Mostafa was the first one to perform.
Mixed fairly well, the sound quality made most of the vocals quite articulate and audible, something fairly rare in average hip hop shows. The focus was on delivery and performance much more than hype, though by this point in the night the crowd started getting their energy level up.
Next up was Landon Wordswell, who swapped out his DJ spot with Mostafa to take the mic. Hailing from Eugene, Oregon but drawing influences from New York hip-hop, Wordswell balanced Mostafa’s lower register with a higher, nasally voice. Opening his set with a beatless verse, he immediately amped the intensity of the crowd with a spitfire combination of hard-edged rhythms and the vocabulary of a literature major. Taking some cues from the equally lyrical Denzel Curry, Wordswell made his way into the crowd at one point, rapping around the increasingly energized mass of students.
ABOVE: Landon Wordswell performed his set and was also a DJ for Mostafa.
Having just released his debut album “Prayer & Whiskey,” he tried some new tracks out on the crowd, dripping sweat down his beard before leaving the stage on a high note.
Producer Sango came on stage next after a brief DJ set that kept the energy going from Wordswell’s set. A girl in the front row danced proudly with coconut water in hand, and the crowd grew tighter and pushier in anticipation for Sam Lachow and Raz Simone. Sango took the stage quietly, repping a Seattle SuperSonics hat and silently preparing his production setup.
ABOVE: Sango’s set was slightly calmer, helping the overall pace of the concert.
A combination of the muted trap and dancehall that has pervaded the corners of pop music over the last few years filled up Sango’s set, eloquently mixing from song to song without any awkward cuts. Remixing Drake, Future, Watch The Throne, and Partynextdoor along the way, Sango gave the crowd a much needed breather before the bigger-name acts of the night. After an hour long set, he slowed down the last track to give way to Sam Lachow’s DJ Wilson Luxuriou$, who got the crowd in a state of frenzy unlike anything before it.
After everyone tested their waning vocal cords over remixes of “Trap Queen,” “m.A.A.d. city,” and “Ms. Jackson,” Sam Lachow rushed on stage for what nearly everyone in the crowd was looking forward to all night. The Seattle rapper has made a name for himself over the last few years, getting attention over his “80 Bars” videos on YouTube and co-headlining sold out shows across the country.
By this point the crowd had condensed to nearly uncomfortable levels as the audience gave their all to fist bump Lachow, or at least get as close as possible to him. Coming on stage with singer and frequent collaborator Ariana DeBoo and an excellent violin player, Lachow instantly came off as the charismatic figurehead of Northwest rap that he is.
“I’m in the best mood ever tonight, geez, holy-moly,” he proclaimed before breaking into a fast-paced set of eclectic rap.
ABOVE: Sam Lachow invited ample audience participation during his set.
Over beats that encompassed everything from acoustic guitar to stereotypical 808s, Lachow flexed his lyrical and vocal skills for a solid hour, offering the crowd plenty of call and response opportunities in the choruses. The violin exponentially added to the overall vibe, with haunting flourishes complementing Lachow’s soft spoken yet confident delivery.
At one point students took lighters out for an especially slow jam, only to be shut down immediately by security. All in all, Sam Lachow rapped fast and for a very long time, and everybody in the room was enthralled with it.
Finally, out came Raz Simone, the star of Seattle’s own Black Umbrella records and last performer of the night. Originally coming on stage in a camouflage hoodie with the hood on, Simone eventually eased into his open, charming persona with a set of melodic and energetic tracks. His muted presence slowly opened up as the last hour of the concert went on, diving from one song into the next and alternating between rapping and rap/singing.
While part of the crowd had dissipated after Sam Lachow, the remaining pit gave it their all until Simone left the stage around 11 p.m, giving his gratitude to the crowd. Students quickly made their way to the exit, filling campus with a crowd of exhausted rap enthusiasts with ringing ears.
All photos by Jon Pendleton // AS Review
