To be accused of being an industry plant is to many an offensive slur in the music world, undermining the skill and effort it takes to achieve stardom. Finessekid carries these allegations as a trophy. These are a sign that his snippets and popouts are working. His rise to the upper echelons of UK rap has been meteoric, with industry co-signs such as Skepta and Lancey Foux within the first year of his career. His first headline show at the Institute of Contemporary Arts comes almost exactly a year after his first release, ‘Badderz Got Talent’ which had instant traction online and helped build his following.
Fans were treated to a stream of snippets and singles over the winter and spring with a strong focus on videos and the surrounding visuals, creating a world for each release which helped boost hype for songs such as ‘Like Sosa’ and ‘Coucoo’. A short scroll on his Instagram allows you to see the real motion on show, comment sections filled with both fans begging for songs to be dropped and big names showing love - rappers, footballers, artists, CEOs alike. This past summer was a busy one for Finessekid. In July he released his eponymous debut EP to great reception and celebrated it by popping out with Skepta at his Big Smoke Festival, performing two of his own songs and his then-unreleased collab track with Skepta, ‘Sirens (From Ireland)’, never missing an opportunity to spark excitement for the next release.
Following a host of up-and-coming rappers who had all taken their turns on the mic to gee up the crowd, Finessekid’s DJ whipped out his phone, showing a facetime call with the headline act. Thanks in part to the huge reaction this elicited, a hooded Finessekid appeared finally, to the tune of ‘I Don’t Sell Drugs’ from his debut EP. With many in the crowd wearing shirts emblazoned with this same statement, this was an instant hit and immediately every phone was up recording his entrance. The young rapper was quick to shout out his origins, although his love of Lambeth was already apparent. The stage had minimal design but did hold two oversized signs in the style of London road signage, specifically the Welcome to Lambeth which meets you as you enter the south London borough. Putting the audience right onto the road placed us into Finessekid’s world in a very simple way but it proved effective paired with his rap delivery.
Every song transition was rapid yet the crowd was happy to keep up with every breathless jump from track to track. Finessekid went from hit to hit lapping up the audience’s attention and once he realised the extent to which he had us wrapped around his finger, his delivery relaxed and it was clear he began to enjoy the night. When he had teased special guests at the start, it was just a throwaway statement. But after he asked the room if we were “ready to go brazy”, the crowd pushed forward, suddenly catching on that we were about to see fellow South Londoner and rapper turned producer TR GoBrazy. Boasting a similar rise to Finessekid, TR GoBrazy first cracked into the scene as a producer, landing heavy credits on tracks like Central Cee and Dave's now-seminal summer hit ‘Sprinter’. The reaction to his pop-out at this concert cements him a rapper ready for stardom in his own right, showing the weight of a Finessekid co-sign in the scene.
Not long after the first unexpected appearance, the crowd were treated to another, perhaps even more blindsiding. Not one member of the audience was expecting established icon of the UK rap scene AJ Tracey to be the next name on stage, called to action to perform an unreleased collab. Fresh off his own album last summer, Tracey seemed recharged by the new generation, delivering a performance that was both energetic and effortlessly cool. His style was as effortless as his flow, wearing a clean light brown outfit. Against the all-black “uniform” of Finessekid and his crew, he became the natural focal point, like he’d walked straight out of a magazine spread to remind everyone that confidence isn’t something you can fake.
Barrelling on from the momentum of that feature, Finessekid continued the hits yet it wasn’t long until – on his own admission – he ran out of tracks. His short career does come with the reality of a limited catalogue to pull from but the crowd quickly came up with a solution. Probably the most memorable moment of the concert was the exchange of Finessekid and a fan near the front which really showed the love he was receiving.
“Reload it!!”
“What, reload that song?”
“Reload the whole show!!”
Laughing to himself, Finessekid checked the time on his phone, thinking for a second about the possibility of running it back in its entirety. In lieu of this unfortunately impossible reload, he chose to replay the hit ‘Sirens (from Ireland)’, commanding the crowd to fill in for Skepta, who was notably missing.
As first headline shows go, Finessekid left little to be desired. From rattling off his hits to bringing out guests to teasing some new unreleased work, he had the crowd locked in from start to finish. The future looks bright for the young Lambeth star, already demanding such strong attention from the entire scene. Had any fan not been completely captivated, a simple turn would have revealed a Who’s Who of London’s creative zeitgeist with Clint419 and Gabriel Moses taking it all in like any other general admission attendee. Every moment on stage reinforced that pull and if this is the beginning, the scene might want to brace itself for what comes next.
All Images by Adam Brocklesby
