Kanye West unleashes a storm with last nights surprise, social media announced, gig at Koko, London.
Kanye West has been spotted in London multiple times in the last week, whether it’s shopping for textiles in Whitechapel, buying books from IDEA at Dover Street Market, or sampling the nations favourite ‘cheeky’, Nandos. He was given a tour of Central St Martins yesterday morning, but his visit came to a storming end last night with a surprise show at Camden’s legendary KOKO club. Announced via Twitter, 1,500 tickets went on sale immediately, thankfully with restrictions in place to prevent touting. Only Kanye.
Doors were scheduled to be at 11, but at 12:30 the queue was still patiently waiting outside, giving plenty of time for the rumour mill to start churning Chinese whispers. Was Kanye bringing some friends along to gather some ground? When the lights finally dimmed at 1am, it was blatantly clear that the people lucky enough to be present were in for something particularly special. Kanye took to the stage with Big Sean, Skepta and the rest of the BBK crew, and a selection of artists from his G.O.O.D music collective, including CyHi tha Prynce and Vic Mensa – who features alongside Sia on his new track Wolves.
Giving the BBK crew the stage they broke out into Skepta’s outrageous hit “That’s Not Me”, before returning to the stage with Big Sean for “Mercy”, before allowing Meridian Dan to unleash “German Whip” on a wholly unsuspecting crowd. The rumours of Skepta and Kanye being in the studio together seem to be true; and with Kanye West’s backing, things can only get better for Skeppy.
However, this was a Kanye West show and although he often let Big Sean take centre stage to blitz the crowd with his recent hits “IDFWU” and “Blessings”, it was Kanye West’s tracks that really defined the night. Choosing a mighty selection from his now extensive back catalogue of undeniable quality – from “Jesus Walks” right through to “Blood on the Leaves” every selection was perfectly executed – Kanye was on fire.
With the official release yesterday morning of his new single “All Day” – with its heavy, aggressive rhythm, and solid vocals from Allan Kingdom the crowd knew there was something more to come. However, I doubt anybody expected the arrival of Wu Tang’s Raekwon onstage who delivered his verse from “C.R.E.A.M”.
There has been a lot of criticism of Kanye’s demeanour – which even I, a serious West fan, can sometimes struggle to defend – his bizarre appearance on the Johnathon Ross show being the latest in the line, but if last night’s performance was a display of how content and, of course, confident Kanye West is right now then long may it continue.
Words: Josh Williams.