AJ Tracey
22nd September 2017
Neck of the Woods, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review and Photography by Sarah Kidd.
He is the rising star of the Grime world and last night a capacity Neck of The Woods crowd had the opportunity to not only get up close and personal with the one and only AJ Tracey but with South London rapper Dave who features on Traceys latest collaboration ‘Thiago Silva’. Described by Stormzy himself – who just recently visited our shores, you can check out that review here – as “proper sick”, AJ Tracey has quickly risen through the ranks thanks to his ability to produce multiple flows, inlaid with skippy choruses. Born in 1994, AJ Tracey’s Trinidad born father was once a rapper himself, his mother, a former drum and bass DJ; so unsurprisingly music is second nature to this beast of hype talk.
The predominantly male and testosterone-hyped crowd were ready and waiting when Traceys DJ took up his place behind the small mixing desk, hoodie pulled down and around his face. Spinning a few beats, the audience bounced along until impatience got the better of them and they began to chant “Where is Tracey, Where is Tracey?” After dropping the mad Stormzy track ‘Big For Your Boots’ a nod to the South London grime artist and influencer; Tracey and Dave arrived on stage to the opening bars of ‘Spirt Bomb’, the heavy bass beats sending the first few rows into a clambering frenzy as they desperately struggled to get a few inches closer to the stage.
Dressed in a black puffer jacket, the tall and lean Tracey soon stripped down to reveal a faded Metallica t-shirt, Dave also ditching his jacket, exposing the words ‘Get Fast’ emblazoned across crisp white cotton. Without missing a beat, the two rappers continued to take turns spitting rhymes, at times rapping together to provide surround sound verses. As Tracey has proved – most recently in his BBC Radio ‘Fire In the Booth’ sessions – he is well adept at creating gritty lyrics that perfectly capture the London street vibe; Dave – at just 19 – no stranger to this style either.
‘Buster Cannon’ and ‘False 9’ had the crowd hanging on every word, phones held high as they frantically tried to capture any viable image of the sick duo on stage. To be fair, how often do you get the chance to be this close to grime super stars? Fans cheered and called out the rappers names as Dave leaned forward and slapped a few lucky upturned palms; Tracey phone in hand filming the front row.
Despite this being the fourth of a five night consecutive run of shows, neither artist showed any signs of slowing down; instead they built the audience up by asking if they wanted to hear another track, cajoling them into screaming louder with ease.
Rounding out their set with ‘Blacked Out’ and the banging ‘LA4AWEEK’, Tracey, Dave and crew sauntered off stage leaving the crowd bruised, battered and drenched in sweat; an excellent night out in any grime fans books.
Were you there at Neck of the Woods for this rowdy grime gig? Or have you seen AJ Tracey perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!