LIVE REVIEW: K-TRAP TAKES OVER KOKO

The scene is set. Camden’s iconic Koko is full to the brim with Trapstar bomber’s as Kenny Allstar warms up the crowd to a track list of the UK’s finest rap heaters. Though it’s a weeknight, there’s not a tired eye to be seen across the venue, as fans hang from the balconies stacked ceiling-high chanting in anticipation; with their gun fingers at the ready.

A moment of silence ensues as a street sign emblazoned with the words “Sainsbury Road” seemingly appears on the left side of the stage, before K-Trap waltzes out nonchalantly as if taking a stroll down his own block, greeting his London crowd with braggadocious energy before the undulating basslines of “Spoilt” start shaking the floor.

It’s “The Last Whip II” tour, however that doesn’t stop K-Trap playing a setlist fashioned to appease both his day-one fans, as well as his energetic new listeners, reeling off bangers across his vast discography from “The Re-Up”, right through to his more recent offerings. Thus, from the outset of the second song the mosh pits begin to open up, and steadily, as Trappo surprises the crowd track-after-track with a star studded line-up of guests from Blade Brown, to Headie One and Youngs Teflon, the sea of bodies smashing together becomes increasingly riotous.

In the midst of the euphoric chaos, K-Trap pauses to address the crowd, asking for “a moment of silence for the fallen”, to which they oblige. It’s a sobering moment shared between an artist and his fans, and one that perfectly highlights the long-standing discourse between drill music as a form of entertainment, and its existence as a creative outlet harnessed by those who shape the sound to escape their everyday realities.

Therefore, by the time K-Trap saunters through the more affecting performances of “Intentions” and “Interlude”, which he later plays “for the ladies in the crowd”, and arrives at “Warm (Remix)”, the crowd are rapping back every word at him; united in chorus. Prior to Skepta arriving to close out the show at the final verse and chorus, K-Trap has already led fans through three wheel-ups of “Warm’s” first verse and chorus completely acapella, with increasing vim.

In the goosebump-inducing finale to an excellent show from one of the most well-loved originators of the UK drill sound, the seasoned rapper adequately creates a stunning moment for his audience to bask in. K-Trap’s takeover of Koko proves testament to the proficiencies of those rapper’s in the scene who were formerly barred from playing at such iconic venues across the city by police, and sets the precedent that there is and always will be a place for the grittiest of drill music in our cities’ musical legacy.