Primal Scream‘s new album More Light – perhaps named after the last words of Goethe?– came out this week. (The video for its nine-minute opening track and first single, “2013,” is below.)

Since 1991, they’ve been building on the sound of their third album, Screamadelica –whooshing, drone-based psychedelic dance-rock. For the near-decade before that, though, they were a very different band. “Velocity Girl,” the brief B-side of their first single, reappeared as the opening track of C86, a semi-legendary cassette compilation put together by three editors of the British music newspaper NME in 1986 (and later reissued as an LP). C86 collected 22 songs by 22 then-mostly-unknown bands on independent labels, and outlined a new direction for British pop: terse, sweet, tuneful and guitar-based, privileging spirit over precision, and occasionally augmented by a bracing dash of weirdness.

If you dipped into any music scene in the history of pop and pulled up 22 of its most promising new bands, the odds that more than one of them would be around more than a quarter-century later would be pretty slim. True enough, a lot of C86‘s acts didn’t even make it through the ’80s — Big Flame were the first to go, splitting mere months after the compilation came out, and the Mackenzies, Stump, Miaow, Mighty Mighty, Bogshed, the Shrubs and A Witness didn’t last much longer. One of the earliest to break up was the deeply silly, reference-mad quartet Half Man Half Biscuit, who split in late 1986, but they got back together in 1990, and have been playing ever since. “Left Lyrics in the Practice Room,” from 2011′s 90 Bisodol (Crimond), is a good example of HMHB’s sui generis songwriting.

The first of the C86 crew to break through commercially was the Soup Dragons, whose big hit — their 1990 post-acid-house cover of the Rolling Stones‘ “I’m Free” — arguably helped clear a path for Primal Scream. (They stuck around until 1995.)

A handful of other C86 bands scrabbled toward mainstream success, didn’t quite get there, and called it a day. McCarthy broke up in 1990, but spawned the excellent, long-running group Stereolab. Age of Chance took a stab at the dance charts with a ridiculous industrial cover of Prince‘s “Kiss” in late 1986, below, but they were gone by 1991.

A few of the other C86 bands that gave up the ghost in the early ’90s have recently gotten back together. After the Wolfhounds broke up in 1990, Dave Callahan formed Moonshake, who made a string of superb records over the course of that decade. The Wolfhounds first reunited in 2005, and a few months ago, they released their first single in 22 years, “Cheer Up”; it’s got a hell of a chorus, and a fine Rotoscoped video.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Wolfhounds shared a bill (at NYC Popfest) with the also-reunited Close Lobsters, who had split in 1990 as well, but released a new single, “Steel Love,” late last year.

Another C86 band, We’ve Got a Fuzzbox and We’re Gonna Use It!!, subsequently shortened their name to Fuzzbox and got a significantly more “professional” attitude toward music-making. They broke up in 1990, but reunited in 2010, releasing the cover of M’s 1979 hit “Pop Muzik” whose video appears below as their comeback single. Sadly, it’s probably the last we’ll hear from them, since guitarist Jo Dunne died last year.

The one other C86 band besides Primal Scream who never officially broke up are the Pastels, from Glasgow, Scotland, who released a new album of their own, Slow Summits, just a few weeks ago. (The elegant video for its first single, “Check My Heart,” is much more about the look of contemporary Glasgow than it is about showing off the remaining Pastels, Stephen McRobbie and Katrina Mitchell.) Admittedly, they hadn’t released a new studio album since 1997, but they’d still been sort of active, doing soundtrack and theatre work and recording an album with the Japanese duo Tenniscoats a few years ago.

And, after Primal Scream, the C86 band who’ve done the best for themselves in the long term have to be the Wedding Present, who had a string of British hit singles in the ’90s. They were inactive between 1997 and 2004, while singer/guitarist David Gedge was playing with Cinerama. Eventually, Gedge just changed the name of Cinerama’s final lineup to the Wedding Present; they’re still recording and touring (often playing their early albums start-to-finish), although Gedge is the only member who’s remained with the group since 1986, or indeed since 2008. Here’s their performance clip for “You Jane,” from last year’s album Valentina.

It’s worth noting that Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie doesn’t exactly feel allied with the C86 moment. “We never had anything in common with all of those bands,” he said in a 1989 interview with NME. “They can’t play their instruments and they can’t write songs … The dawn of independent music, it’s meant anyone can make a record … and that’s a bad thing.”

Are you ready to pogo rapidly to someone else’s heartbreak? Because British pop-punk outfit Sharks are doing such a thing in their snazzy new video for “Sunday’s Hand,” the second single off their recently released full-length Selfhood. They’ve managed to cram love, betrayal, and a serious felony into a mere three minutes and thirteen seconds. Impressive.

The scene opens on a cute girl walking away from something we can’t see with one shoe in her hand. What’s going on? What happened to her other shoe? And how did her hair get so perfectly tousled?  The answers unfold in a series of flashbacks ostensibly shot on a home video camera that show her and her pompadoured boyfriend messing around in bed, embarking on a sexy road trip, and picking up the best dressed hitchhiker I’ve ever seen. (Seriously, someone must have given him an Urban Outfitters gift card.)

At first they’re having a grand old time, with her riding in the car improperly, exposing herself on a playground, and giving him, if not road head, then road head-in-lap. But things soon get dark when she finds out some bad stuff and shows him the downside to dating a mentally unbalanced manic pixie dream girl.

You can probably guess where it’s going, because you’re smart like that. But as glad as we should all be that we are dating neither of these people, these two kids’ road trip to hell is pretty entertaining, especially when set to a bouncy punk rock soundtrack.

Selfhood is out now via Rise Records.

Yeezus season is upon us! Although Kanye West‘s latest album leaked last Friday, today’s official release date has created a warm and fuzzy feeling that we can only imagine a Kanye Christmas would feel like. But just like the man himself, the record is quite polarizing. Here’s a snapshot of the rap community’s reaction to Yeezus as expressed through the wonders of Twitter. God speed.

1. Golden-era rap icons are not down with the Yeezus vibe.

I’m listening to this @kanyewest YEEZUS album, all I can say is “are u serious? ” This is EUROTRASH masquerading as RAP. #skirtmusic — Lord Jamar (@lordjamar) June 18, 2013

2. Yeezus works if you’re prepping a studio session.

In my room blastin Kanye before I head to the studio.

— Swank Sinatra (@DymeADuzin) June 18, 2013

3. Yeezus can solve your relationship problems.

1 good girl is worth a 1000 bad b#%ches! #yeezus — Meek Mill (@MeekMill) June 17, 2013

4. Always invoke religious slang when talking about Yeezus.

Ok.. Time to listen to the prophet Yeezus. Brb.

— SKEPTA (@Skepta) June 18, 2013

5. To wit: There’s a new holy trinity in town.

COLE JIGGA AND YEEZY IS THEM NIGGAS RIGHT NOW SHUN

— oG $wank. (@joeyBADASS_) June 17, 2013

6. It’s all about the new Super Tuesday sales wars!

Hip-Hop’s Super Tuesday: I LOVE THIS According to early sales forecasts from industry sources, “Yeezus” might … http://t.co/cUHVImsIXJ — Jermaine Dupri (@jermainedupri) June 18, 2013

  7. Rank Yeezus at your own peril.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: 9 Watch The Throne: 6 Cruel Summer: 8 Yeezus: 7 — DJ Yoda (@DJYodaUK) June 16, 2013

8. Yeezus vinyl is the real mystery.

what’s the yeezus vinyl going to look like?

— BADBADNOTGOOD (@badbadnotgood) June 18, 2013

9. It’s perfect.

daily news gave ‘Yeezus’ 5 stars #veryrare

— CJ Fly (@FLYestintheeERA) June 17, 2013

10. Golden-era rap icons definitely do not like the Yeezus vibe.

Kanye West does not like black people….

— Dres (@DresBlacksheep) June 13, 2013

Photo courtesy of Mac Miller/Facebook

I was wrong about Mac Miller. Really wrong. Back in 2011, I was one of many music critics who slated the Pittsburgh-raised rapper’s Blue Slide Park debut with an enthusiastic abandon and lots of cheap puns about the tyke-like Miller. It was like slaughtering a shih-tzu; a particularly twee and yappy shitzu who becomes so annoying that you don’t feel bad about digging in to it. I even suggested it was akin to the insufferable cast of Glee making a rap album. It also saw Mac rhyme “coffee shop” with “holocaust,” which still endures as a high-point of torrid rhyming couplets.

Despite the critical lashings Blue Slide Park received, Mac Miller quickly went on to become a real-deal superstar. Today, his social media game dominates the outlets who took umbrage at his music. But despite his success, Blue Slide Park cast Mac Miller as a rapper I stopped having any interest in. He existed outside my sphere of interest. That is until earlier this year when he popped up on “21& Over,” a song with boom-bap revivalist Statik Selektah and rugged punchline king Sean Price. I retweeted a link to the track, which somehow lead to Arthur Pitt, the vice-president of the Rostrum Records label Miller is signed to, asking myself and another blogger, “I just want to know who pays you boys for the years of slander thrown our way?” Banter ensued, which lead to an early listen to Miller’s follow up album, Watching Movies With the Sound Off. And it’s good. Really good. It sounds like the work of an entirely different rapper. It’s as if we’re finally getting to hear the real Mac Miller.

Whereas Blue Slide Park was embossed with a poppy and playful sheen, Watching Movies is strewn with static and distortion. It opens with a wave of slow-building scuzzy atmospheric effects which morph into the song “The Star Room.” Mac talks about living inside his head, dwelling in purgatory, and dealing with demons. This endearingly eerie vibe continues through the excellently-sequenced first run of songs: “Avian” is hooked around a stripped-down piano motif and has Mac urging kids to embrace the world outside of their computer screens; “I’m Not Real” has him out-rhyming the lauded Earl Sweatshirt over an off-kilter beat. Then comes the Flying Lotus-produced “S.D.S.” which offers up another woozy, static-sodden backdrop and Mac coining the bumptious brag, “I’m dope and I know/ My voice sound like it was a sample off of vinyl.” It one of those calling card couplets. The rest of Watching Movies continues in a similar manner, with Mac Miller’s music embracing more rugged and experimental tendencies. It winds up with another couple of highlights, the rambunctious team-up with Tyler, The Creator for “O.K.” and the closing confessional “Claymation.”

Mac Miller is in fine company when it comes to following up a successful first album by switching to a murkier vibe — often after experiencing the inner workings of the music industry and the harsh glare of fame. Native Tongue compadres De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest both changed tact from debut albums defined by a youthful optimism to something more bitter (and brilliant) for their sophomore projects. MF Doom‘s first group, K.M.D., are a textbook example, with the positivity of Mr. Hood being usurped by the sarcastic Black Bastards. Watching Movies arrives on the same day as Kanye West‘s Yeezus and J. Cole‘s Born Sinner. Both albums also see their respective architects musing on reinvention, with Cole’s opening words promising “It’s way darker this time,” and ‘Ye apparently deciding that he’s a god. There’s a spoken-word short that appears midway through Watching Movies that makes this idea of change explicit. Once again, it’s heralded by a snatch of static before a voice asks, “You was easy Mac with the cheesy raps/ Who the fuck is Mac Miller?” The skit labors the point a little, but the competing clash of the backlash and the success of Blue Slide Park has been vital in getting Mac Miller to this point in his career. He’s taken a part of his journey that was looked on unfavorably and used the experience to create something that’s likely to be received warmly.

Maybe I’m reading too much into the Mac Miller who appears on Watching Movies. Beyond lofty ideals of artistic reinvention and a rapper finding their true voice, he could have also simply penned the project after holing himself up in a room for a month, smoking too much weed and listening to a bunch of jazz records. Artistic intention is always a finicky conceit. What I am sure of though is that Watching Movies sounds like Mac Miller has made an honest record. He comes across as earnest; he gives the impression that he’s writing songs that reflect where he is in life right now. And most times, that’s all you can really ask of any artist.

Watching Movies With the Sound Off is out now on Rostrum Records.

Texas-based rapper Fat Tony is not only a great rapper, he’s got a refined beer palate, as you might suspect from someone who his crew the Denim Guinness Boys in honor of the first beer he drank. On the heels of his excellent new album Smart Ass Black Boy, Hive invited him for a beer tasting session when he recently came through New York City. He agreed, so we holed up in Pearl’s Social & Billy Club in Bushwick, Brooklyn and ransacked through a selection of the bar’s most distinctive looking beers. Here’s Fat Tony’s guide to what you should be drinking and not drinking this summer.

1. Hite

Hite is a South Korean beer that claims to taste “clean and pure.” The can also brags that its brewing process involves a “freezing point filtration system.”

Fat Tony’s Take: “It’s an old-school type can. Man, this beer has a fitting title: It’s sharp, it almost tastes like it could be a fruit, a really exotic fruit, and it actually tastes kinda like soda, Sprite. I would be confident giving children this beer.”

2. Shiner Ruby Redbird

A Texan beer, Shiner Ruby Redbird is a summertime brew with a session-friendly 4% ABV.

Fat Tony’s Take: “I’ve only had Shiner Bock and their Christmas beers. Hmmm. [Takes a hearty swig] Ooh! Damn! Hey, this is like candy! This tastes like straight syrupy candy, yo! And I thought that I would give Hite to kids! Shiner Ruby is kid-friendly approved! It’s hella good. It’s almost shocking how good it is. That’s awesome, a really great beer. Wow.”

3. Rolling Rock

An American pale lager that’s now owned by Anheuser-Busch.

Fat Tony’s Take: “No good. My biggest beef with Rolling Rock is a lot of the bars I go to here in New York try to sell this for crazy prices as if it’s a nice beer. I’ve seeing Rolling Rock for like six bucks at times. Glasslands love to push Rolling Rock on people. That’s not what’s up. It tastes like ass, kinda. When you’re coming from Hite and Shiner Ruby, this is such a downgrade.”

4. Imperial

A Costa Rican staple, Imperial was also the only bottled beer featured in the taste test.

Fat Tony’s Take: “It tastes like home. I would love to dump this inside a margarita. Good beer. It’s a little more on the bitter side. It’s a grown-up beer.”

5. Narragansett

Hauled in from Rhode Island, Narragansett is the beer that claims it’s “sold on merit.”

Fat Tony’s Take: “Now this I’ve never fuckin’ heard of. It’s from 1890, huh? [Takes a swig.] I actually kinda fuck with this one! This tastes like a beer I would drink before I would go out and party. It’s a big boy can, it’s definitely a man’s beer.”

***

Fat Tony selects: “And the winner is … Shiner Ruby. I could drink it with three of my best girlfriends and have a great night and we’d all be satisfied. I think Shiner Ruby is the one.”

Fat Tony’s Bonus Brews: When you mix up the dregs of five different beers you get a brand new beer. It’s called Paradise Lost and, according to Fat Tony, “it tastes bittersweet, it tastes exactly like you mixed up five different beers.” Showing dedication to his craft, Fat Tony finished off the pint of Paradise Lost before leaving the bar.

Smart Ass Black Boy is out now on Young One Records.

J. Cole at a ‘Born Sinner’ listening party. Photo: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images

It was terrifically late, at least 10 pm, when J. Cole staged a listening party for his new album, Born Sinner.

“I bet nobody will like this,” he muttered, slipping into vintage Roc-A-Wear jammies and quaffing a virgin Thug Passion (one part fruit punch, one part sparkling Martinelli’s).

Upon hearing the album’s first words, “it’s way darker this time,” J. Cole fell into a sound sleep.

A white rabbit named Bleekus with a crooked hat and satchel of magical herbs in his waistcoat, emerged from a waterfall painting. “You must appear before my majesty, S. Dot of Wonderland,” he told J. Cole.

Young Cole had only seen the mythical S. Dot once at a planetarium listening party for The Blueprint III.

“You will meet many lost souls in Wonderland. Convince them to stop stripping to enroll in Sociology graduate programs,” said the rabbit. “Make sure they sleep with only students who wear letterman’s jackets.”

Then Bleekus disappeared into the waterfall. J. Cole chased after him.

***

After thousands of miles spent listening to the rabbit boast of having “next in line in the Roc,” J. Cole approached dry land.

On a beach, a walrus twirled a cane, wearing a newsboy cap and shiny suit. A muscular carpenter covered in Thug Life tattoos accompanied him. He wore a black leather apron, swung a semi-automatic hammer, and roared at J. Cole.

“Where you from!”

“Pac! I studied you at St. John’s!” J. Cole excitedly exclaimed. “I’m real, just like you!

“Me and the walrus heard your album,” 2Pac smirked. “Ain’t that right, walrus?”

“Yo, call me Big,” the walrus responded.

J. Cole dropped to the sand and began digging a hole.

“I knew I should’ve just paid Diddy to executive produce it,” he protested. “But he wanted to name my first and third born, Dreams of Ciroc!”

“You can’t start off your album claiming to brag like Hov and stealing my lines from ‘Juicy.’ The time has come to be original, son.”

“Sometimes I focus on the flow to show the skills I got,” J. Cole defended himself.

“You can rap well and some of your beats are hot, but you need to invent new flows and tell actual stories,” 2Pac said. “To be among the greatest, you need a ‘Dear Mama’ or ‘The Warning’.”

“I have this story about a girl who I never followed on Twitter, but still smashed,” J. Cole replied proudly. “I’m also thinking of writing a book called The Things Hoes Say.”

“I already wrote that,” Pac taunted. “It was called “’All About U’ and ‘I Get Around.’ You’re taking my advice to ‘rap for the bitches’ a little too far.”

“But I beat the odds like Vegas,” J. Cole huffed. “I even copped a Rah Digga CD once. I’m ready to be the greatest.”

2Pac and Biggie burst into laughter.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to uh, collect some oysters,” Biggie said, diving into the water.

Then J. Cole made the most forlorn face anyone had seen and leaped into the bay after the walrus, but the walrus was already long gone.

***

J. Cole stumbled into a forest clearing and was greeted by two caterpillars smoking hookahs, sitting on Gillette mushrooms.

“Who … are … you?” one said. The caterpillar wore lime-green suspenders, polka-dot trousers and a Tam o’ shanter. The hookah matched the drapes.

“Big Boi and Andre? I’m J. Cole. Why didn’t you return my invitations to G-Chat?” J. Cole asked.

“You misheard ‘Aquemini,” said the Big Boi caterpillar. “It’s about using the past to go forward, not just pay tribute. Take the posters off your wall.”

“I sampled ‘Art of Storytelling’ as homage,” J. Cole blustered. “Do know what that means? I took a Brit lit survey once in college?”

“We were talking about a girl named Sasha Thumper found dead, pregnant, and with a needle in her arm,” Big Boi said. “You talked about some girl who called you misogynist when you ‘boned her in your dorm room’ and didn’t call back.”

“I got my dick wet and never let it soak there,” J. Cole shrugged. “Rap game Jane Austen shit.”

Then the 3000-caterpillar handed J. Cole a coupon for discount razors and a vegan brownie with the words “recycle me” written on it. J. Cole ate it and became the size of an ant.

“Please give me the antidote,” J. Cole panicked. “If I’m not at least Lil Wayne’s height, I’ll never get a XXL cover.”

“On one condition,” the caterpillar spoke in double-time. “You leave Tribe Called Quest alone too. If you’re going to sample ‘Electric Relaxation,’ at least chop the sample differently or write lyrics better than ‘just copped the Maroon 5, no Adam Levine.”

“I’ll do anything you say!” J. Cole begged.

“That’s the problem,” the 3000-caterpillar said and handed him a Kombucha with the word, “Erykah” written on it.

“You might not wanna’ drink th…..” Big attempted to warn J. Cole. Too late.

***

J. Cole happened upon a message table set up for a French afternoon tea. There were chocolate croissants and a modernist magic lamp that doubled as a teapot. He rubbed it three times.

An angry genie wearing a blood diamond-free Papal tiara and a leather kilt emerged as though he had been awakened from a hundred years of hiding from Mr. Hudson’s phone calls.

“Are you the true Yeezus or merely a projection?” J. Cole gasped.

“HOW DARE YOU AWAKEN ME! I HAVE AN ALBUM TO NOT PROMOTE PROMOTE AND A NEWBORN BABY AND A MINIMALIST BUT FUNCTIONAL HOTEL TO DESIGN THAT LOOKS LIKE A CRIB!!!” Genie Kanye said. “HAVE SOME LIME-BLOSSOM TEA!”

“I just want to tell you how much your music has meant to me,” J. Cole said, sipping the tea with pinky out, in the manner of the genie. “We have so much in common being guys who love letterman’s jackets and struggle with monogamy due to total awesomeness.”

“LEMME ASK YOU A SERIOUS QUESTION. YOU EVER SEE THE SUN RISE WHILE YOU’RE FISTING AN ODALISQUE IN A MENAGE A OCHO IN A HAREM IN DUBAI?”

“Is that how you make timeless art?” J. Cole twirled his goatee.

“ASK THAT MAN OVER THERE WHY IS A RAVEN LIKE A CORBUSIER WRITING DESK,” Genie Kanye said, pointing to a dreadlocked door mouse wearing a denim jacket at the tea table.

“Is that Basquiat?” Cole queried.

“THAT’S CHIEF KEEF. AND STOP MENTIONING BASQUIAT IN YOUR RHYMES. I’M THE RAP BASQUIAT AND THE RAP MICHAEL JACKSON AND I WOULD HAVE BEEN LEBRON JAMES EXCEPT WITH A MORE MINIMALIST GAME IF NOT FOR MY YMCA BASKETBALL COACH.”

“Do you want to play 1-on-1 up to 11, win by two? I can beat you.”

“BONNY BEAR IS ABOUT TO SHOW UP AND YOU’RE IN HIS SEAT. WOULD YOU LIKE A LITTLE MORE LIME-BLOSSOM TEA??!!!!”

***

J. Cole arrived upon Befuddle Hall, where everything was distorted and bigger than it seemed. He paused to inspect his eyebrows in a funhouse mirror, which briefly made them appear smaller. Delight.

His melancholy returned when a Cheshire cat in a Mets hat and velour sweat suit materialized.

“I’m not worthy, Nas. I’m not worthy,” Cole prostrated to the cat.

“Get up, you’re worthy, you’re worthy,” the cat rolled his eyes.

“You know what question I’m going to ask you, right?”

“I already told you, MFA programs can’t teach you how to write like me.”

“Did I let you down again?”

The Cheshire Cat sighed and took a weary exhale from his blunt.

“Stop being so sensitive. The interludes are good. ‘Power Trip’ is a quality radio single. You obviously have talent,” the cat said. “But ‘Let Nas Down’ is everything wrong with your attitude.’

“I went to hell to resurrect hip hop.”

“I said hip hop was dead when ‘Chicken Noodle Soup’ and Papoose were the only things people talked about from New York,” the cat replied. “Don’t come at me with that passive aggressive slander again. You think I wrote MC Shan an apology after Nastradamus?

“Maybe an E-Card?”

“Nothing’s original, nothing’s new under the sun. But you need to get outside more.”

Then the cat dissolved in a cloud of teeth and smoke.

In his place, the white rabbit, Bleekus, waved at J. Cole. So J. Cole climbed upon his satchel of magic herbs to be led, at last, to the ruler, the mighty S.Dot of Wonderland.

***

After walking past a grove filled with workers painting Samsung signs on rose bushes, J. Cole and Bleekus happened upon S. Dot or Jay-Z as the commoners called him.

Jay-Z wore a King of Hearts costume with a Budweiser logo where the heart would be.

“And who is this?” roared Beyoncé, who was dressed in a Pepsi-made, Queen of Hearts costume.

“Let me see, my dear,” Jay-Z said, riffling through a stack of investment papers that had been handed to him by Bleekus. “It’s certainly not a heart. Do you suppose it has a club song?”

“I’m J. Cole. We met once at that planetarium party. I was the guy who Warren Buffet thought was the waiter and it got really awkward because Kanye called him a racist …”

Jay-Z still seemed confused. The rabbit whispered something in the King of Wonderland’s ear.

“I was nominated for a Grammy?” J. Cole kicked his heels and mumbled to himself. “I knew I should have never believed you when you told me that I was the one.”

Bleekus nodded.

“Ah yes, very good, old sport. I hear your latest album is projected to sell 150,000 copies,” Jay-Z said. “Now tell me do you have a second single ready for radio?”

J. Cole shook his head.

“You told me it was about the art. Is everything a lie? Is the music business but a cliff?” J. Cole wondered. “If I die tonight, who will tell women that they don’t need to wear make-up to be beautiful?”

“OFF WITH HIS HEAD!” yelled Beyoncé.

A horde of Roc Nation playing cards charged J. Cole and attempted to imprison him.

Then he woke up in a cold sweat, back in his bedroom, cup of Thug Passion still in his hand — except now it was filled with lime-blossom tea.

Iggy Azalea
Photo: Colin Gray for MTV Hive

Iggy Azalea brought her Aussie hip-hop twerk party to New York City’s Bowery Ballroom last night. The rap stunner kicked off the first of two sold-out shows with newbie Travi$ Scott as well as special guest T.I.

Travi$, a Houston native, was fittingly outfitted in a gold grill and accompanied by legendary hip-hop producer Mike Dean on the keyboards (and intermittently, the bass). He opened the show with the ominous “Quintana” and then went into collaborative cuts like “Sin City” from G.O.O.D. Music’s Cruel Summer and the Pusha T’s banger, “Blocka.” Between solo verses and production credits, including helming multiple songs on Kanye West’s forthcoming Yeezus, Travi$ has been steadily building a grassroots buzz. Still, he was playing to an audience of Azaleans. “Man! I thought you was gonna come out here and rage!” Travi$ playfully jabbed them at one point.

Travi$ Scott
Photo: Colin Gray for MTV Hive

Luckily, the rapper had an ace in the back pocket of his camo pants, when he brought out Grand Hustle mentor T.I. as a surprise guest for “Upper Echelon.” The crowd went wild at the sight of Tip, rocking summery sorbet-colored pants and a neon Hustle Gang t-shirt.

When in doubt, always call in a favor from your superstar rapper friends, kids.

Iggy then took over. Wearing a cropped, paisley corset and matching miniskirt and her trademark high ponytail, the blonde beauty came ready to party. Iggy and her troupe of hot pants-clad dancers seductively gyrated through “Down South” and “Beatdown” as well as newer material like “Bounce.” Despite sound issues, Iggy pressed on, wanting to give fans her all. The stage oft turned into a twerk fest worthy of YouTube; Iggy shook her famous curves while her dancers dropped it like the rent was due that night to tracks like “Drop That” and “Cheeks.” King of Diamonds, eat your heart out.

Iggy Azalea and T.I.
Photo: Colin Gray for MTV Hive

At one point, T.I. could be seen trying to score drinks with a wad of cash at the bar and then getting cornered by a group of teen fans asking for photos. The Kang adroitly escaped and made it back onstage just in time for “Murda Bizness.” He then ran through an abridged, but welcomed medley out of his own repertoire including “24’s,” “What You Know” and “Ball.” Along with Trae Tha Truth, who made a cameo with his Gettin Paid,” Iggy was definitely well supported by her Grand Hustle family.

Iggy Azalea
Photo: Colin Gray for MTV Hive

In a night replete with Southern rap, the DJ topped it off by playing OutKast’s “Aquemini.” Iggy shared that it’s her favorite song because she listened to it growing up while dreaming about making it one day. As she closed with her new single “Work,” which has amassed over 13 million views on YouTube and more importantly, fans knew word-for-word, it was clear that Iggy Azalea’s dream has come true.

Iggy Azalea
Photo: Colin Gray for MTV Hive