Brixton Academy, London
Like an outreach worker in rapper’s clothes, the platinum-seller tempers a party vibe with heartfelt messages about self-esteem and the teenage mental health crisis
Logic, the 27-year-old Maryland rapper whose birth name is Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, grew up poor in one of his state’s wealthiest counties, as the biracial son of drug addicts. His youth was scarred by the racial slurs slung at him by his white mother – “Papa was a black man, mama was a racist,” his song Mixed Feelings declares – and several siblings sold crack. Since signing to Def Jam in 2013, he’s grown into a platinum-selling conscious MC who styles himself as an outreach worker in hip-hop vestments. The queue circling Brixton Academy testifies to his popularity among people who are young enough to see him as a big brother figure, one who is sensible but not embarrassing.
Music is only half the story tonight. Most songs come with heartfelt preambles touching on the mental health crisis among teenagers and containing advice about staying afloat during dark times. “Say ‘I’m special!’” he directs the house – being British, everyone cringes before complying. Logic is blessed, he says, to be on stage now, proselytising peace, love and positivity; he’s blessed to be accompanied by his RattPack – three keyboardists and a DJ whose considerable individual talents get a good airing in goofball set-pieces. Looking all of 15 in a football shirt imprinted with his name and the title of his new album, Everybody, Logic keeps things cracking along – the tireless party guy who is somehow charming and touching rather than an irritant.
Continue reading...from Music | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2z2XUX9
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