Joey Bada$$
Thursday's Beast Coast concert at Municipal Auditorium was already going well, but then Joey Bada$$ and Flatbush Zombies started flying above the stage. That's when the already hype-as-hell crowd truly lost their goddamn minds. Bada$$ and two-thirds of the Zombies, Meechy Darko and Zombie Juice, kicked off the song “Rubberband” while suspended by wires, flipping around and swinging through the air while kicking verses. (The third Zombie, Eric Arc Elliot, stayed grounded the whole night.) It wouldn’t be the last of the aerial acrobatics — though arguably the New York rappers delivered verses that were even more nimble than their high-flying stunts.
Let's rewind a bit. Beast Coast is a supergroup based in Brooklyn that brings together Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era clique, dark psychedelic rappers Flatbush Zombies, and trippy New Age-tinged duo The Underachievers. Bada$$ and the Zombies, the biggest names in the crew, effectively served as co-headliners, with the solo artist and the trio tagging in for runs of two or three songs at a time over the course of two hours. Occasionally they’d bring in other Beast Coast members to perform cuts from the supergroup’s debut album, Escape From New York, which dropped in May. (The group has been active since 2012.) The album's title was reflected in the post-apocalyptic set decor, complete with the graffiti-covered head of the Statue of Liberty and a “Who watches the Watchmen” tag and smiley face spray-painted on a stack of cinder blocks.
Powers Pleasant
The stacked bill gave the separate acts within Beast Coast time to shine. Pro Era’s CJ Fly, Nyck Caution and Kirk Knight each did a set, all carrying the torch for New York lyricism in their own ways. Each act also introduced a new layer, sonically speaking, with darker or more ambient beats entering the soundscape. The Underachievers, the last act before Bada$$ and the Zombies began trading off, combined boom-bap drums, heavy bass, weed raps and heady instrumentals.
After an energetic DJ set from Powers Pleasant, all of Beast Coast came out onstage for a performance of “Left Hand.” (“Rubberband” and the aerial performances came next.)
For their portions of the night, the Flatbush Zombies treated the crowd to their mix of dark lyrics, love of hallucinogens and high-energy deliveries. Meechy Darko set the tone, screeching “Acid, acid, change your life,” in his gravelly voice over the echoey guitar licks that drive “Bounce.” They also showed off their bars, doing a cappella verses from “M. Bison,” a song from 2018’s Vacation in Hell that was minimal in the first place, but took on a new life with the beat stopped.
Meechy Darko
The Zombies also performed two new songs, and they weren’t afraid to call out the crowd if their energy seemed low. Darko even ordered a redo of one track because the audience wasn’t hype enough. He added that he was suffering from two broken wisdom teeth and running on just three hours of sleep: “There’s no way you’re more tired than me!” he shouted, and the fans rose to his challenge.
In truth, the four-hour concert lagged a bit whenever the co-headliners were switching off, especially whenever the performers needed to get their flying rigs reattached. The crowd was also somewhat small, not quite filling in the floor in front of the stage, but it was still energetic, youthful and full of die-hard fans.
For his sets, Joey Bada$$ drew from early cuts, including joints from his mixtape 1999 — the throwback project that established him, at age 17, as a powerhouse of underground rap. He also performed “Christ Conscious” and “Paper Trail$” from his major label debut, B4.Da.$$, and an unreleased song called “Ground Zero,” which explores depression.
He also performed songs from All-Amerikkkan Badass, his mature, political 2017 album that pushed the artist beyond his usual slate of boom-bap instrumentals and toward somewhat more low-key and radio-friendly cuts. He closed his solo performance with “Devastated,” that project’s lead single.
The encore featured three songs from Escape From New York, with all the acts once again out on stage. The natural chemistry between the Brooklynites was easy to see, especially in moments in which they’d line up onstage and start dancing. (Joey in particular showed off some pretty fancy footwork.)
Beast Coast
There were also plenty of shoutouts to Joey Bada$$’ late collaborator Capital Steez, who died in 2012 at the age of 19. There was also a rendition of “Survival Tactics,” the Joey Bada$$ song to which Steez contributed a legendary guest verse.
Even with some of the darker themes in the set list — and the Zombies’ jabs at the audience — the performers all showed love for Nashville, thanking the crowd at the end of the night. Bada$$ also told the crowd that one dollar from each ticket sale will go to the charity PLUS1, with funds earmarked to support arts education in Brooklyn public schools: “You’re here for a good cause. ... Turn the fuck up!”
