There are always a few artists that, for one reason or another, I never get the opportunity to see – I’m usually out of town and kicking myself in the ass for it. After years of missing Yahtzel’s performances, I was pretty stoked to see he’d be rolling through the Black Box this past week. I showed up just before 11 to get some Lounge listening in and scope the scene for the usual bass purveyors. I came in to Yahtzel just as he was mashing Mura Masa’s ‘Lovesick’ with Bobby Shmurda’s ‘Hot Nigga’, two sexy heaters that were right on time for my ass shakin’ urges to shine. The Black Box’s sound system is perfectly equipped to handle the delicious rhythms that Yahtzel pumped out, and the ear plugs on deck at the bar were much appreciated as well.
He’d show his affection for lush melodies in tracks like Faith Evans ‘Love Like This Before’ but would then shy away and reload from the ‘rattle the dance floor’ arsenal. The performance as a whole felt almost like a tease. Unsuspecting buildups were his forte, and dropping a 90’s hip hop fave like Black Sheep’s ‘The Choice Is Yours’ into a heavy glitch break had everyone losing their minds.
Playing a cheese ball track like ‘679’ by Fetty Wap and then following up with a hip-hop throwback shows a confident but safe producer, and maybe it is easier to ‘play it by the crowd’. A chunk of me wishes he’d played more original productions, but I’m not one to complain on an otherwise super solid show. Just for future reference Yahtzel: We love your sound and wanna hear more of it. I’ll see you next weekend at Forest and I’m still looking forward to seeing what ya got up those sleeves ;)
