Lil Baby, review: Whirlwind, swaggering set leaves fans crying out for more

Due to the prevalence of intimate “warm-up” shows in the week preceding most major music events, even the most festival-averse fan can benefit from the existence of Glastonbury and the rest. Last night it was trap enthusiasts’ turn to take advantage, with Migos and Lil Yachty’s label mate Lil Baby playing London ahead of his appearances at Reading and Leeds this weekend.

Originally scheduled to play the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, the Atlanta rapper’s only UK headline show this year had been upgraded last minute due to demand. Certainly, the fervour of the 24-year-old’s British fan base was abundantly clear at Brixton Academy, where a sell-out audience seemed to bellow every word back at him all night.

Festooned in diamond chains and backed by a DJ/hype man and four female dancers, Lil Baby proved a predictably confident presence prowling the stage, dropping his braggadocio-heavy bars. To further hammer home the aspirational messaging, Cash featured visuals depicting him flaunting thick bundles of dollar bills, while Global was accompanied by a video of a yacht cutting through crystalline waters.

What Lil Baby lacked in subtlety he made up for in passion, his swaggering flow as dramatic as the shuddering sub bass and blasts of dry ice that sporadically shook the room. Reprising their collaboration at Wireless Festival, south London rap collective D-Block Europe appeared for a two-song cameo mid-set which was so rapturously received that the show seemed to sag somewhat immediately afterwards.

To his credit, Lil Baby quickly reversed the lull with a cathartic rendition of Close Friends, while an incendiary outing of his biggest hit Drip Too Hard provided a satisfying climax, though the whirlwind 45-minute running time did leave some fans feeling slightly short-changed.