MUSIC list.co.uk/music
A$AP ROCKY The controversial, rising Harlem hip hop star gets seductive
T he good thing about being a rapper is that when you do something idiotic, one of your peers will be along shortly with a different cock-up to steal the limelight. Take A$AP Rocky, the languid and beguiling New York MC, and the recent furore over his comments that black women should not wear red lipstick (possibly the most emasculating rapper controversy we’ve ever had). After A$AP (real name Rakim Mayers) blurted this out and was forced to mumble a ‘clarification’, his Detroit peer Danny Brown came along and, apparently, ahem, received oral pleasure while on stage. Or maybe that happened first, and A$AP’s lipstick farrago stole Brown’s thunder . . .
Whichever, the point is that rappers, more than any other musicians, are constantly trapped in a seemingly never-ending swirl of hearsay, truths/untruths, rumpuses and
conjecture, behind which their music is constantly fighting for attention: A$AP’s arrest for a brawl with amateur photographers last year didn’t help. Yet his debut 2011 mixtape Live. Love. A$AP. was charming, hazy and intoxicating, and put him in the position where he now gets asked about his exfoliating treatments and beauty tips for women. His excellent debut LP Long. Live. A$AP. (featuring cameos from Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Santigold, Danny Brown and Action Bronson among others) retains that seductive appeal. This live tour will test his commitment either to the craft, or to developing a bad boy image. (Mark Keane)
O2 Academy, Glasgow, Sun 26 May, A$AP Rocky’s debut album, Long. Live. A$AP is out now on Columbia.
HITLIST THE BEST ROCK, POP, JAZZ & FOLK
✽ Stag & Dagger One day. Seven venues. A ton of bands – including visiting Americans How To Dress Well (Tom Krell) and Phosphorescent (Matthew Houck, above); plus local boys Divorce and Randolph’s Leap. See preview, page 83. Various venues, Glasgow, Sat 18 May.
✽ Matias Aguayo Ai ai ai. The hugely versatile techno-electronic-psychedelic-
dance producer has a new album, The Visitor, out in July, but is treating us to a live show first. See interview, page 21. Part of Electric Frog, SWG3, Glasgow, Sat 25–Sun 26 May.
✽ Arika13, Episode 5: Hidden in Plain Sight A study of social norms, using
dance, talks, DJ sets and video to explore the NYC House Ballroom scene, queer theory and more. Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 24–Sun 26 May.
O2 Academy, Glasgow, Sun 26 May. ✽ A$AP Rocky See preview, left. ✽ Wet Sounds Swimsuits, underwater
speakers . . . Dive bombers best stay away
though, this one’s more a meditative sound experiment than pool party. See Five Reasons, page 89. Arlington Baths, Glasgow, Sun 2 Jun.
✽ Camera Obscura Soft, dreamy indie pop from Tracyanne and co, who moved
from Glasgow to Oregon to work on new album Desire Lines, out in June. See interview, page 22. Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh, Tue 4 Jun; RockNess, Dores (near Inverness), Sun 9 Jun.
✽ Jurassic 5 The 90s hip hoppers behind ‘Concrete Schoolyard’ – soundtrack to
many’s a summer evening spent supping cans in parks across the land – are back. O2 Academy, Glasgow, Mon 10 Jun.
✽ Neil Young The Canadian troubadour/ guitar god par excellence returns in the
company of his trusty band Crazy Horse. See preview, page 83. SECC, Glasgow, Thu 13 Jun.
16 May–13 Jun 2013 THE LIST 81