If you want to know the sound of underground hip-hop, look no further than rage music. Popularized by artists like Ken Car$on and Autumn, rage music usually places an emphasis on punchy beats and moshing. An artist that is leading the underground is Yeat, a California rapper who blew up last year through TikTok. His sound is similar to artists like Playboi Carti where the lyrics take a back seat to the production and vibes of the songs.
Photo by Matt Ty
The Venue
To promote his newest album AftërLyfe, Yeat is on a nationwide tour and one of his stops was the Knockdown Center in Queens, New York. Right away, I found the Knockdown Center to be an interesting venue. On top of being a concert venue, it is also an art gallery which seems odd given the industrial exterior of the venue. Walking inside the 100 plus year-old venue felt surreal with the wide floor leading up to the relatively small stage. Seeing colored lights beam down on the floor added a colorful flair to the venue while a mix of 90’s rap was playing in the background.
Knockdown Center in Queens
SeptembersRich
Opening up for Yeat was longtime collaborator SeptembersRich, a rapper who follows in the style of rage rappers and was he able to deliver. He had the crowd form mosh pits throughout the floor and people were dancing nonstop. My only gripe with SeptembersRich was his reliance on his backing track. It is understandable that rappers can get tired and want to preserve their voice, but not rapping for the majority of your performance feels cheap. But despite this setback, the set was a success.
Yeat’s Performance
As sweat was dripping from my forehead anxiously waiting for Yeat’s arrival, I heard chants of the rapper’s name echo throughout the crowd. When Yeat did arrive on stage, the party began. One song that stood out was “Bëttr 0ff”, a track from his latest record. It was his best song from AftërLyfe and hearing it live was special. My two favorite performances from Yeat came later in the show when he did “Money Twërk”, and “Monëy So Big”. The viral hits also brought literal hits in the mosh pits that I was in, as to be expected. Those songs are the definition of rage rap, braggadocios, loud and energetic, all characteristics that described the crowd during those performances.
As good as the show was, there were some noticeable downsides. First, the show felt short, especially for a rapper with as many songs as Yeat. Second, just like with SeptembersRich, Yeat barely rapped any of his own verses. The times he did rap, the crowd went nuts and the show was fire, but a majority of the short performance was Yeat relying on his backing track.
Verdict
Seeing Yeat live is like going to a rave where the theme is to be as aggressive as possible. It’s an enjoyable time, but don’t expect a century defining performance by whoever is on stage. If you are a diehard Yeat fan who is a hardcore rager, definitely go check out one of his shows, for anyone else, I would recommend going but stay away from the the moshpits if you don’t want your money to be big.
