Bugzy Malone review: A king comes south

The Manchester rapper takes London's Kentish Town Forum by storm
Bugz life: Bugzy Malone performs live
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Jimi Famurewa @jimfam20 November 2017

With his muscular rhyming style (and habit of performing in front of video clips that show him sparring in boxing rings), Manchester rapper Bugzy Malone cuts an imposing figure on stage. So spare a thought for the overzealous security guard who drew his wrath midway through this blistering show.

“Woah, woah, excuse me security,” said Malone, briefly halting his set to eyeball the steward attempting to stop a girl clambering onto her friend’s shoulders. “These are my fans. And tonight they can do what they like.” Inevitably, a huge, approving cheer went up. But — in truth — by that stage, the 26-year-old had long had this youthful crowd in the palm of his black-gloved hand.

Having scored three top 10 EPs in just over two years, the former Aaron Davis is one of grime’s biggest recent independent success stories. And, with his Mancunian vowels and shout outs to the 0161 area code, he provides abundant proof that the genre’s resurgence isn’t contained within the M25.

This breathless, energetic set underscored the point. Watch Your Mouth was all wobbling bass and frenzied wordplay, Make Or Break’s brooding piano brought swaying arms and a mass singalong and even Pain — a strikingly bruised song about the death of Malone’s young cousin — prompted a maelstrom of excited, shoving bodies on the floor. What’s more, there was pop savvy to match the gritty storytelling as singer Tom Grennan came on for Memory Lane, a belt-it-out anthem that half-inches parts of Wonderwall by Oasis.

Yes, there were some shameless moments (frequent clips of the rapper showing off his gym-sculpted physique, an advert for his new clothing line) but it was all so furiously infectious that few could deny this self-styled King of the North his very own coronation.

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