The 29 year old, East London-raised Lancey Foux is a music and fashion force representing a new vanguard of rap stars.
With a signature sound that mixes trap, grime, drill and pop with unmistakable AutoTune melodies, Lancey performed for the first time in Australia last night (11 December) at 170 Russell in Melbourne.As I descended from the light summer evening into the dark and buzzing venue, it was clear Lancey had drawn a very enthusiastic crowd. Even an hour before his appearance, the dance floor and most of the steps at the back of the venue were full.
The demographic was seemingly entirely under 25, mostly young men, and the outfit ensembles on show were a spectacle within themselves. Lancey is well known for his involvement in the fashion scene, modelling for Givenchy and other fashion houses, which clearly inspired his audience's sartorial efforts.
Support act L0NE was a great choice, blending well stylistically with Lancey's music. It's great to see Lancey and his team giving opportunities to lesser-known local talent. L0NE really brought the hype and worked the crowd with his hyperactive AutoTune trap.
In his all-black shirt, pants and ushanka combo, L0NE's presence suggested he's well prepared to have a serious career in music, and knows how to fulfil the role of a support act, hyping up the crowd for the main event.
As the hour ticked over, three Lancey songs played over an empty stage, as the crowd chanted "Lancey, Lancey," over and over. Just when we thought he'd never appear, he jumped out to sing the aptly chosen 'Enter The Dragon' to a screaming crowd.
Dressed to kill in a luxury take on the classic UK punk look, Lancey wore a white singlet with a black leather harness over his shoulders, a green tartan kilt over diamond-encrusted denim jeans, and puffy black Balenciaga boots.
The energy was up for the entire performance, which only lasted under an hour. All of Lancey's songs were under three minutes, appealing to a generation that feeds on short bursts of energy, rather than long indulgent tracks.
The tunes that really got the room hyped were '25WAGG3DOU2' from the 2021 album 'Live.Evil', 'Mmm Hmm', his song with US phenomenon Sexyy Red, and his YT collab 'Black & Tan'. Other punchy tracks were 'Spanish Guitar' and 'Ankle Lock', both off his most recent 'Conglomerate' album, a collaboration with two other UK rappers, Len and Fimiguerrero.
The hard-hitting bass of Lancey's songs really stood out through the capable speakers at 170 Russell, and the sound quality wasn't affected by the music's intensity.
For his first show in an Australian city, it seemed Lancey was impressed by the Melbourne crowd. He said he "didn't know Australia got this turnt," and commented on how stylish the fans were when he saw them lining up outside the venue.
He even changed the planned order of the songs because of the energy in the crowd, pushing his slower songs later into the show. While his onstage dialogue was fairly standard, it suited the energy of the performance, forgoing vulnerability and instead embodying the room's hype man.
The final section of the show left fans a little confused, as a strange encore sequence resulted in Lancey leaving the stage for good in a slightly unceremonious manner.
It seemed the light and sound technicians weren't sure what was happening either, because the lights remained focussed on the stage instead of house lights coming up to confirm the end of the show. As the chants of "Lancey, Lancey," rose and then finally fell one by one, it was clear we had seen the last of the enigmatic rapper.
Lancey Foux gave Melbourne a long-awaited taste of his addictive sonic world, while remaining as mysterious as ever.
- written by Olive Bowers
