Live

Joey Bada$$: Roundhouse, London 13/12/22

One incredible thing about Joey Bada$$ is that he's still in his 20s - and will be for another couple of years. He's been around for so long and released so much music, it's easy to forget he was only 17 when the breakthrough "1999" came out in 2012.

A decade later his "2000" channelled similar golden-era vibes, with an endorsement from Nas and a feature from Diddy showing how he's taken his place at hip-hop's top table. No surprise then that demand for tickets was high, with two shows in London on successive nights.

Support came from Nyck Caution and Meechy Darko, with the latter demanding high energy from the crowd, somersaulting into the audience in an excellent warm-up set.

Bada$$ bounded onto the stage and got the crowd going from the off, a lively version of "Survival Tactics" setting the tone for an excellent set. There was an excellent mixture of old and new material, reminding the audience that he has got plenty of music under his belt despite his relative youth.

"Papertrail$" and "Hardknocks" were performed with style, while newer material like "Make Me Feel" got a huge reception from the crowd in the Roundhouse.

Over the course of 90 minutes, Bada$$ tore through more than 25 tracks, with highlights including the massive "Love Is Only a Feeling" before closing with energetic performances of "Temptation" and "Devastated". There's still a lot more to come from Joey Bada$$, whose star continues to rise 10 years after his early start.

PHOTOS: DAVE BURKE
Words Dave Burke