RATED ROUNDUP: KOJEY RADICAL
As part of a weekly roundup for Nation Of Billions, I wrote simmering summary of Kojey Radical's breathtaking headline show. Take it all in.
Kojey’s KOKO show was the tour-ending delight London deserved!
If ever there were a musical journey worth watching, Kojey Radical’s would be right up there. Trust me on that. I mean, he’s something else isn’t he? From having interwoven spoken word into his musical approach when grime was all the rage, to jumping into grime’s very, very deep end to demonstrate his range — he’s been a locus of pure, unadulterated talent every single step of the way. Quite frankly, his hasn’t been your ‘typical ascent.’
Yet here he is, having toured internationally with a sound uniquely his own, whilst demonstrating gifts beyond his preferred poetry. So it’s safe to say all dues have been paid. And from the looks of things? He’s fully focused on having fun now, quite rightly having decided, in his own words, he has “Nothing left to prove…’
For many, last Tuesday night was the culmination of all our hopes for the Hoxton born poet-turned-rapper with a flair for theatrics. Fans, both new and old, watched him captivate the crowd, blowing the roof off Camden’s prestigious KOKO with varied renditions of his best work. So I doubt a single soul could’ve stepped away claiming it wasn’t absolutely nuts.
And while the room might’ve bristled quietly to begin with, ears perked as Kojey wove his way through early works like ‘Bambu’, and things livened up fairly fast. In fact, it’d have been tougher to name the tracks that didn’t go off than those that did. Though, if pressed? I’d say his performances of ‘Windows’, ‘No Photos’, ‘Pure’ and the many, many runs of ’97’ did the damn job. Indeed, I dare anyone to say differently.
Proving once and for all his ‘Ye’ is just different, Kojey kept a slew of surprises tucked, evidenced clearly by the beautiful Shola Ama joining him for ‘Icarus’, Etta Bond jumping onstage for a brief medley of both ‘Forgiveness’ and ‘Preacher Preacher’, and of course, Ghett’s ‘No Photo’s’ verse, which was a total circus.
As if we weren’t riled up enough, Kojey took moments throughout the show to address the crowd. Once in memory of the dearly departed Harry Uzoka, before a heartfelt rendering of ‘Afraid Of.’ A few more times whist lining up the next singalong – one of which being the exceptionally delicious ‘Water’, though sadly without Mahalia. And just once more, to remind us that all of his features ‘till now have been flames, at which point Wretch 32 rocked up to perform ‘Colour Purple.’ To think a good third of the brilliance performed were singles… songs on which the East Londoner had only featured, yet the crowd knew the words.
All now, whilst Kojey has been known to take the road less travelled, it’d be difficult to attribute his success to anything other than his own particular pedigree. Easy as it would’ve been to have ended things when ‘Bambu’ had been rejected by the many popular blogs at the time, here he is, coming off the back of a sold out tour and a triumphant close to his ‘Can I Speak?’ tour. Where will he go next? Well, there’s no telling, both style-wise or in literal terms. Though one thing is for sure. “Kojey goes where Kojey wants.” And Now? Now he goes with our blessing.
