Joey Bada$$ Brings Out Freddie Gibbs

Part of this story

Red Bull Sound Select Presents: 30 Days In LA 2015

Big Sean, Grimes, Flume top Red Bull Sound Select: 30 Days In LA from Nov. 1-30. Get ticket info.

October 31 – November 30, 2015

Los Angeles, United States

View Event Info

Joey Bada$$ leads the sell-out Belasco crowd
© Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Content Pool

Rap will never be entirely post-regional. The evidence remains in the excursions. Some hometown favorites struggle to find their footing when performing abroad, others transcend regional bias with ease, commanding and converting crowds no matter which city they land in. Headlined by the Bed-Stuy bred Joey Bada$$, Wednesday night’s sold-out show at the Belasco (the fourth show in the annual Red Bull Sound Select Presents: 30 Days in LA concert series) reaffirmed all of the above.

Joey Bada$$ at 30 Days in LA
© Catie Laffoon/Red Bull Content Pool

The opening set at the regal downtown venue went to Venice/Santa Monica trio Warm Brew, whose latest album, Ghetto Beach Boyz, dropped earlier this year via OPM, the record label of renowned L.A. rapper Dom Kennedy. The group’s sunny, synth-inflected “Bringing Me Home” supplanted an introduction, and swaths of the audience waved their hands in unison (one concertgoer climbed a speaker and jumped on stage before being carted off by security). Warm Brew’s shared and unflagging energy, as well as their kinetic performance of the Hugh Augustine-assisted anthem “Wanna Get High,” garnered deserved and enthusiastic applause from Angelino fans old and new.

Warm Brew at 30 Days in LA
© Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Content Pool

G Herbo (aka Lil Herb) at 30 Days in LA
© Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Content Pool

The arrival of the second act, G Herbo (aka Lil Herb), marked a dramatic shift in tone. Arguably the best rapper to emerge from Chicago’s drill scene (other drill rappers include Chief Keef, Lil Bibby, and Lil Reese), the recent Cinematic Music Group signee tempers the terrors of a city that saw 62 homicides this September with vivid lyricism and an arresting cognitive dissonance.

Sold-out crowd at the Belasco for the Joey Bada$$ concert — Sold-out crowd at the Belasco for Joey Bada$$
© Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Content Pool

Joey Bada$$ Posters given to early arrivals at 30 Days in LA — Posters given to early arrivals at 30 Days in LA
© Catie Laffoon/Red Bull Content Pool

Each time Bada$$ seemed to be winding down, fans chanted his name. In the end, there were two encores. Though the 20-year-old will forever represent the “Beast Coast” (east coast), he claimed his second home last night.