Kota The Friend @ XOYO - Review

Kota The Friend performing 'Philly Jawn'

For those who might be unfamiliar, Kota The Friend is a Brooklyn MC who, despite being two albums deep, is still fairly new to the music scene and to hip-hop globally. His happy rappy style is infectiously wholesome and sets him apart from many of his contemporaries. The positive façade of his songs, however, does not always match its content as Kota is able to present emotional and mature stories of loss and the trauma of modern life against a backdrop of feel good beats and hooks. This could have the effect of feeling like naivety or an attempt to capitalise on the feel-good music made popular by artists like Kyle, Lil Yachty, and DRAM; yet Kota instead shows range in his musicality, creating a unique sound that feels closer to traditional boombap with heavy jazz inspirations.

The rise of hits like ‘Brooklyn Bodega’ and ‘Chicago Diner’ placed him on what I had expected to be only the peripheral radar of a UK XOYO crowd, but the vibe of the evening evidenced a much greater cult following than I had presumed - the room was sold out and packed. Most people knew every word he spat or sung and there was a sense of unity between artist and audience that is easy to lose at rap shows. The unique wholesomeness of his music was personified in the most passionate moments of call and response from the crowd shouting ‘we could get together get some coffee and some bagels’ and ‘COOKIES IN THE OVEN ON A SUNDAY.’ reminiscent of 2015 Giggs getting chants of ‘Cinnamon tea’ although with a far different atmosphere in the room. The atmosphere was completely orchestrated by Kota’s crowd work and attention to detail, as he was able to point out fans who had been at his London show the year before when he had played to a crowd of about 100 people, and he even accepted an album from an aspiring rapper in the front row, promising him that he would listen to it later. It felt as though all involved in the show were lifelong friends of Kota as he pointed out his manager crying with joy and pride, suggesting this to be his biggest show yet. This touching moment turned funny pretty quickly as he referred to selling out ‘zo yo’ to his London crowd.

Kota’s energy was contagious; my friend, who didn’t know his music previously, was converted into a fan within 3 songs. He was playful and confident the whole time, filling the stage by himself until he invited all women from the crowd onto the stage for ‘Philly Jawn.’ a move that at other rap shows can easily come off as creepy, but this was not the case as he nicknamed them the new Wu-Tang and passed the mic around to the more enthusiastic members. He kept his composure when the stage was then invaded by 3 more people wanting their moment of stardom; rather than headlock and suplex them off stage like Action Bronson or attack them like countless others, he simply danced along with them and incorporated them into songs where possible.

Anyone considering going out to see Kota on the remainder of his European tour - I highly recommend it. For what I expected to be a low-key show on a very rainy London night, he far surpassed my expectations and made anybody reluctant to brave the weather extremely grateful that they had.