Brooke Candy
9th December 2018
Whammy! Bar, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Doug Peters.
Rumours and excited whispers had been circulating for days. With word spreading quickly desperate pleas from fans were posted everywhere. Could she? Would she…?
And indeed, she did. With sex as her weapon, American artist Brooke Candy – vacationing in New Zealand – stormed the walls of Auckland’s Whammy Bar and proved exactly why she calls the shots. With an all-female bill, Sunday night was transformed into a Saturday night house party; Half.Queen getting it all started with a set that included everything from ‘Taste’ by Tyga & Offset to ‘Do What You Want’ by Lady Gaga, even The Pussycat Dolls made an appearance, the classic ‘Buttons’ seeing the crowd participate in some makeshift karaoke.
Half.Queen is not only a superb DJ but JessB’s hype girl, the two combining forces and pushing the levels of the thermostat to within an inch of its life. If you are not familiar with JessB then you are missing out on some serious talent; while still relatively new to the scene she has already supported international heavyweights such as Stormzy and has recently released her killa EP entitled Bloom. With huge hits such as ‘Set it Off’ and ‘Take It Down’, the Auckland hip-hop artist displayed her flame spitting skills to an enthusiastic audience that could not get enough. Tossing out unreleased track ‘TTLA’, JessB scorched the very stage itself with her passionate delivery and emboldened lyrics of keeping the key and throwing the lock away. Here is a young woman that isn’t afraid to communicate her ideals through authentic performance.
Half.Queen continued to do her thing as fans crowded their way into Whammy, the spectacle of Brooke Candy too good to pass by. Switching it up, Half.Queen began to mix in a few tracks that were appropriate for the lead up to Candy’s entrance; ‘Tomboy’ by Princess Nokia sung almost as loudly as that infamous track by Khia that involves both her neck and her back…
Hysteria soon whirled around the room as Wellington based DJ EMWA – creator of the ‘Bass Pussy’ mixtapes’ – swapped out with DJ Half.Queen, movement at side of stage resulting in the eclectic crowd howling for Brooke Candy to step out from the shadows. What did emerge was a demure looking Candy in an oversized white jacket with matching skirt, her bare feet pale against the coloured stage rug, her wig fluorescent white under the lighting. Behind her the familiar sight of an entourage ready to pounce should their empress require anything. For anyone that isn’t familiar with the stylings of Brooke Candy – who began her journey to worldwide phenomenon thanks to her appearance in the 2012 Grimes video ‘Genesis’ – what would happen next would have been a little mind-blowing.
Barely a few lines into ‘Feel Yourself’ and the jacket was soon discarded, the ratchet bitch emerging from underneath like some venomous moth on an acid trip. Sending the crowd into overdrive as she stood there topless, her intricate tattoos glistened as she poured ice-cold water all over herself. Whammy Bar has always been adored for it’s up close and personal space, and Candy used it to her full advantage, getting within millimetres of fans as she dropped bars at a helter-skelter pace.
Barely giving fans (or herself) a chance to breath, Candy smashed out hit after hit, ‘Godzillionaire’ closely followed by both ‘Rubber Band Stacks’ and the ferocious ‘Das Me’. Brooke Candy is an enigma, a continual shape-shifting artist who blends together elements of everything from punk, pop, rap and EDM to sub-genres such as cyberpunk and electropop. Take Peaches, splice her together with Lil Kim, inject the ‘don’t give a fuck’ attitude of Nicki Minaj and dust her down with the essence of Gaga and you might have something remotely close to Brooke Candy; but make no mistake, this pansexual, ex-stripper goddess who draws on her life experiences to fuel her creative fires is seriously one of a kind. Brooke Candy has as of yet to release her debut album, however she is still currently armed with more than enough material to satisfy her fans; ‘Pussy Make the Rules’ seeing her almost climbing into the front row as she spat out the lyrics, ‘Pop Rock’ and ‘Don’t Touch my Hair Hoe’ matched word for word by many of her attending admirers.
Granted some of her earlier studio work may have seemed a little carbon copy of other female rappers that have come before her; but it is within the environment of a live show that Candy’s talents can truly be appreciated. Candy wears her sexuality, they are one and the same, unapologetic and at times twisted and angry with the world, it is her and she is it. A fact that is clearly communicated by both her at times empowered lyricism and feverish on-stage demeanour. While the audience showed no signs of waning, Candy reminded them all that she felt like she was about to die (sunstroke in NZ often like a crack to the back of the head) and that it was time for her to wrap it up. But that didn’t mean some weak ass ending, Candy instead going full nuclear as she threw down ‘I Wanna Fuck Right Now’ and latest single ‘Nuts’; a vicious version of ‘War’ that involved Candy and her fans collectively screaming into the mic taking out the set with a sweet reggae undertone.
Brooke Candy has the pussy and she sure as fuck makes the rules. And you best be believing it.
Were you there at Whammy! Bar for this intimate high-energy club-hop gig? Or have you seen Brooke Candy perform live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Feel Yourself
- Godzillionaire
- Rubber Band Stacks
- Das Me
- Opulence
- Pussy Make The Rules
- Pop Rock
- Don’t Touch My Hair Hoe
- Everybody Does
- I Wanna Fuck Right Now
- Nuts
- War
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