Water is an important symbol to Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins.
His breakthrough mixtapes, ‘The Water[s]’ and ‘Waves’, are even themed around the element. For him, water represents a lot of things: truth, healing, knowledge, the essence of life, death and the planet.
It’s also part of his catchphrase 'Drink More Water', which he and fans regularly bellowed together throughout his thirst-quenching headlining set at Brisbane’s The Triffid (25 March).
Melbourne rapper Baro opened with a set so chill he found himself lost between songs. “I don’t know the set list; I’m not gonna pretend I do,” he admitted.
But when the jazzy beats came – including one with bass that made the bar’s cash register rattle – Baro’s syrupy flow dripped with charisma beyond his years.
Joining Mick for this tour is Brooklyn duo The Underachievers. Made up of Issa Gold and AKTHESAVIOR, the pair’s energy is high from the moment they bounce on to the stage.
It wasn’t long before AK’s forehead poured sweat and Issa removed his hoodie; both catching their breath between tracks and using all of whatever energy they’ve regained to fire more rhymes.
An empty drum kit had occupied space all night, with the previous acts rapping over their respective DJ's beats. The seat was finally filled for Mick Jenkins’ set, who was also joined by a bassist, DJ and backing singer.
The live instruments fill out the sound and give the beats a lot of energy for Mick to bounce off of, with the entire room erupting together on the hook for ‘Jazz’.
Mick’s rhymes are as intricate as the jazzy instrumentals. Words rush out of him during the first knotty verse of ‘Spread Love’, the veins on his neck thickening with each bar. With a furrowed brow, he thrashed his arms around like a preacher, rhyming with more intensity than on the recordings.
The energy he burned captivated all, only being broken by Mick’s giggle after dissing Macklemore on ‘Rags’.
Towards the end, the air stunk of weed. Throughout the night, fans tried to light sneaky joints, only for security to quickly evict them. The audience was already small, but the evictions made the crowd noticeably shrink.
It’s too bad; they missed Mick going what he called 100 per cent on closer ‘Jerome’. If everything before this was less than 100 per cent, Mick must have a very different scale to regular people as it felt like 1,000 per cent.
If evicted fans had followed Mick Jenkins’ advice and drank more water instead, they wouldn’t have missed the explosive finish to a dynamite night.
