360 show at Hifi Bar Melbourne

I have been on a hip hop hiatus since falling pregnant with Marley (4 years ago!!!) so am seriously out of the loop with new music... I have only recently started to pursue my love of the genre again in the past few months, but that is another post entirely...

I know there is much debate as to whether 360 is hip hop, and that's not an argument I care to get into... I heard one of his tracks, got the album and really, really enjoyed it... I get shit for this, but I am not a hip hop purist and have eclectic taste... So once I loved the album I saw there was a tour, tried to get tickets to the Friday show the day they sold out, the other dates didn't suit for childcare... We were super lucky that 360 put us on the list and we were able to go!

We arrived early, I wasn't a fan of Bam Bam, and was really surprised that there was no DJ keeping the crowd going between sets! Hermitude was an interesting choice, I have always been a fan of live beats, but was surprised that they held the crowd... The crowd was mostly 18-20 year olds, who didn't look anything like your usual hip hop crowd, this was one of my first clues that it wasn't actually a hip hop show! And there were LOADS of women there, another clue! The vibe was electric regardless, and in any case, Hermitude took the crowd on a journey, and soon enough it was time for 360...

I had seen him when he did shows with Pez, they were just little (age, not size) lads, and back then they would be supporting whoever I was there to see, so I never paid much attention... The build up to him coming on stage was brilliant... The lighting was awesome, his arrival on stage was clearly highly anticipated by the crowd! And his arrival did not disappoint!

Dude has star quality, charisma, he is likeable... What I enjoy about his album is its honesty... I like the same about his twitter account... He doesn't claim to be perfect, he embraces his flaws, and that makes me like him, and his subject matter when he rhymes... He isn't the most clever lyrically perfect emcee, but his rhymes touch me, and I love the timbre of his voice... I really like the production on his tracks too... Obviously everyone there had reasons to like him because they were all in deep... Rocking the very best of the album, with a little old stuff, it was a really good show... Not just because I haven't been on a night out since Mace was in my tummy (A Tribe Called Quest, a year and a half ago!), it was genuinely awesome, I am glad I went, and appreciative of being put on the list...



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