The Four Owls + Kirk Knight – Live @ XOYO
aaamusic | On 16, Nov 2016
Thursday 10th November, London
As just one of countless club nights hosted across East London, Mystic Bounce has managed to carve out an important niche for itself. Intimate and understated, every second Thursday of the month XOYO gives space to some of the freshest, beat-laden hip hop currently doing the rounds.
Tonight’s double bill – The Four Owls and Kirk Knight – are very much a part of this ethos. The former is a supergroup of four prolific artists – BVA, Fliptrix, Leaf Dog and Verb T – who between them make up the backbone of the capital’s vibrant High Focus Records. Established in 2010, the label has quickly built a reputation as a hotbed of emerging talent in UK hip hop. On the other side of the pond, Kirk Knight is in the vanguard of East Coat rap. Having last year dropped his first album aged just 19, the Pro Era member is taking his cue from alternative hip hop stars like Kendrick Lamar; subverting a classic sound by dabbling in trippy, spaced-out beats.
It may be a school night doesn’t take long for the venue to fill up; an eclectic crowd of teens, students and professionals including one punter who tells me he pens political science books from his house in the New Forest. All share a passion for hip hop, and as the lights dim the energy in the room is palpable. It takes time for The Four Owls to emerge but when they do, concealed behind signature avian masks, the crowd’s patience is rewarded. The Owls kick things off with ‘Lights Off’; the opener from their 2011 debut album Nature’s Greatest Mystery. The record is something of a cult classic, and this track contains all of the elements we’ve since come to expect from them; quick-fire flows, razor-sharp lyrics and creative sampling.
Not all hip hop translates well live, and while XOYO’s small size is an advantage for fostering hype, there are some drawbacks. The crowd surges forward as the Owls swoop into ‘Silent Flight’. All four emcees are formidable lyricists with unique styles, but Leaf Dog’s production – which comes into its own on their follow-up album Natural Order – deserves a special mention. The obvious love and attention which has gone into the instrumentals is sadly drowned out here, but the crowd continue to hang on the Owls’ every word.
As such it’s the anthems which translate best tonight; such as the tongue-in-cheek ‘Assassination’ (minus Dirty Dike’s verse) and the brilliant ‘Rice Torture’ which gets the crowd jumping. ‘All My Life’ with its bruising beat is another highlight – and it’s these tracks, peppered among the Owls’ equally appealing introspective output, that keep the hour-long set airborne.
Elated, exhausted, there’s just enough time for Kirk Knight – who delivers an atmospheric set which keeps the hangers-on enraptured late into the night. Drawing on the success of last year’s Late Knight Special, the young rapper manages to bottle much of the great energy already in the venue to get his message to London. It’s rap music for your head; a common theme throughout the Mystic Bounce events which proves immersive and conscious hip hop is out there for those willing to find it.
