Concert Review: BKTHERULA Is All The Vibes
There is a punk vibe sweeping through Hip Hop that feels apropro when some say the very first punk group, in America, was Detroit’s own: Death .Yet, as BKTHERULA proved at Terminal 5, the rise, or rather re-rise, of this sector within this cultural force is absolutely unsurprising. Punk was always described as the working- class rock n’ roll. Yet, it was not about the working class, themselves, as much as their children, and the rebellion they felt at having parents that just did not make the world better because the world was not better to them.
We inherit our family’s wounds, and part of BKTHERULA”s match made in Heaven, in terms of touring with Lil Tecca, is that their show feels like a wound opening to gush out, rage out, and overall pour out every pent up feeling we carry like a poison. I have always described, more than other genres, how Punk is a spiritual experience. It is the child of anger, exhaustion, good music, and a roaring call to oddly chill out. Thus, unsurprisingly we had it all there. Tossing water bottles and mosh pits were abound as the BKTHERULA’s music felt like a welcomes exorcism. She is a combination of fun, flashy, and the “who gives a F**K” mentality you have to have to get to the latter two.
As people bounced to her songs like their legs had become pogo-sticks, tracks like “Tweaking Together” and “Coupe” felt banally visual. Simple verses and heavy baselines used to make people leap into luxuries far away from what we know. In some ways, that punk vibe I caught stems from THAT; the working class idealization of money. We all want it because we think its freedom, but BKTHERULA’s dynamic presence showed that music is liberation. Personally, I want to approach life with that BKTHERULA’s energy: taking my mic, putting a lyrical/ literal middle finger up, and manifesting prosperity as if it was already here so that when it comes, its not a surprise, it’s an expectation.
