Live Review: A$AP Ferg, Yo! Mafia

Bucket hats, basketball jerseys and big hoodies are tonight's uniform as hip hop heads descend on Richmond. YO! Mafia does what a good warm-up DJ should, blending a mix of old and new hip hop with the occasional pop chorus mashed in. Covering ground from Kendrick Lamar to Jay Z, Justin Timberlake through Toto, the set serves its purpose delivering a bevy of 808 thuds and drum claps to whet the appetite.

The curtains draw open to a burst of light and an eerie figure in a gas mask centre stage. As the opening bars of Lord belt out, the mask is dropped to reveal A$AP Ferg. Dressed in all white with a loosened straitjacket, Ferg plays the crazy preacher delivering his sermons with venomous believability. Riding the wave of exposure found by fellow A$AP Mob member A$AP Rocky, Ferg is the second artist from the Mob to release an album with his LP Trap Lord. The self-proclaimed “Hood Pope” goes full demented priest as tonight's congregation chants, “I fucked your bitch, nigga, I fucked your bitch,” along with Ferg during Dump Dump. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, he has the crowd send prayer hands to the sky for a “ASAP/Trap Lord” call and response. It all adds to a sense of shared jubilation between Ferg and his flock of followers. Introducing Fuck Out My Face by calling out “ugly ratchet bitches” and “broke-ass, loser niggas”, Ferg is beyond politically incorrect. He continues the thread as he drags women up from the crowd to dance, only to begin booting them offstage one by one based on crowd judgement while he waxes lyrical on Let It Go. The blokes get a turn too as Ferg finds two (conveniently) talented crowd members for a rap battle. Staged or otherwise, this is yet another example of Ferg's already honed crowd management skills, which add to his regal rapping ability.

Pausing the party along with Cocaine Castle, Ferg sings about drug-afflicted family members. It's a reminder that a lot of hip hop comes from a place of struggle and proves a real earnest moment within tonight's display of bravado. However it doesn't last, and Ferg mashes together Work (Remix), Murda Something and Schoolboy Q's Man Of The Year for an explosive and exultant end from our Harlem hood cleric.