Bhad Bhabie / Danielle Bregoli
15th December 2018
The Studio, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Doug Peters.
She is the teen sensation that has blown up across the globe, coined a catch phrase as well as countless memes and last night Auckland fans had their first chance to check out Bhad Bhabie for themselves. The Studio opened its doors to a long line of early arrivals at 6:30pm, the bouncers blinking against the glint of the late afternoon sun, the usually unheard of early opening time catching many off guard.
Once inside the party got started quickly thanks to The Katayanagi Twins, the sisters China and Rain feeding the young audience with just the right cocktail of tracks that included everything from Sheck Wes ‘Mo Bamba’ through to ‘Nightcrawler’ by Travis Scott; more mainstream tunes such as ‘Gucci Gang’ by Lil Pump and ‘Walk It Out’ by Unk seeing the crowd bounce as one, cell phones held high in the air. There was no denying the fans sheer exhilaration of being in a venue that would normally be off limits to them, confidence levels and Insta posts at an all-time high. Well versed in an immense range of music The Katayanagi Twins – who are not only fashion icons but walking definitions of the word humility – played to their audience’s level without ever compromising on style; their new year sets at Northern Bass and Rhythm & Vines (as well as the upcoming FOMO Festival) promising to be absolute fire.
A quick changeover and Bhad Bhabie’s DJ and back up dancer soon arrived to hype up the crowd til they were almost frothing at the mouth, chants of Bhad Bhabie initiated and carried out with purpose.
Finally arriving on stage, the high-pitched screams from the front rows were in danger of shattering the crystal glasses at the local restaurant just down the road, hunger for an artist rarely seen to such an extreme. Instead of the iconic lengthy red ponytail, Bhabie went for a tidy bun atop her head, a simple white singlet style crop top and grey joggers completing her look. Immediately the nails that look like they could slice steak with a single swipe were carving out patterns in the air, the opening lines of ‘Yung and Bhad’ echoed by dozens of voices.
Her rise to fame has been rapid, a Dr. Phil episode first seeing her utter the words ‘cash me outside, how bout dat’ which would soon land her with viral infamy and a record deal. Bhad Bhabie (pronounced ‘bad baby’ for those of you not in the know) has already worked with some reputable artists including Ty Dolla $ign and Charli XCX, her next album promising even bigger profile names who are seemingly lining up to work with the girl that is not even of legal age to visit most of the clubs that she is currently performing in. The singles have amassed millions of views, her followers learning each line of every track, but the question on most people’s lips is can she pull it off live?
And the answer would have to be yes. Bhabie has an assured confidence in front of an audience, while not yet able to completely hold it down – her back-up rapper/dancer in serious danger of stealing the limelight every time she bounced across the stage or rapped a few lines. Someone get that girl a contract stat! She showed some supreme vocal dexterity that was wrapped in hardcore bad girl attitude, and her energy was at 11 for the entirety of the show.
From the rather catchy ‘These Heaux’ with its intriguing spelling through to ‘Trust Me’ which verified that underneath it all Bhabie can not only sing but has a voice that isn’t half bad, she whipped her fans into a frenzy. Cash cannons that spat out hundred-dollar Bhad Bhabie bills, twerk offs with her back up and a lot of ranting in between songs that covered every topic from her latest collaboration to being the youngest female rapper to ever appear on the Billboard Hot 100 filled the thirty-five minute set. Hell, she even threw in a cover of XXXtentacion’s ‘Look at Me’ in dedication to the now deceased SoundCloud rapper.
Her flows are a little stilted, and some of the lyricism on certain tracks nonsensical, and without question her sets definitely need to be a little longer, but as polarising as she is, her star is set to shine bright, many comparing her style and attitude to that of Cardi B. ‘Gucci Flip Flops’ was lapped up, ‘Hi Bich’ probably garnering the biggest reaction of the night as Bhabie walked along the edge of the stage repeating “Hi Bich” while simultaneously waving into the sea of phones pointed directly at her. Her set ended rather abruptly, calls for an encore seeing ‘Gucci Flip Flops’ once again taken for a run before Bhabie left the stage for good, her fans clutching fistfuls of bills quickly ushered out the door.
Only time will tell where Bhad Bhabie takes us all next, but one thing is for sure we are all going to know about it, like it or not.
Were you there at The Studio for this expeditious hip hop and trap gig? Or have you seen Bhad Bhabie perform live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Yung And Bhad
- These Heaux
- Count It
- Bout That
- Trust Me
- Roll In Peace
- Look At Me [XXXtentacion cover]
- Gucci Flip Flops
- Whachu Know
- I Got It
- Famous
- Both Of Em
- Geek’d
- Playboy Style [Clean Bandit – featured artist]
- Hi Bich
- Gucci Flip Flops [encore]
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how long was the concert??