Live Review: 6lack - Heaven, London 26/10/2018

Atlanta rapper 6LACK made his long overdue return to London; he definitely lived up to expectations!

Coming off his sophomore album ‘East Atlanta Love Letters’ he had an array of new material to show off to long-time fans; that is exactly what he did kicking off with ‘Unfair’ and ‘Loaded Gun’ before taking things back to his Debut with ‘Ex Calling’ which had the crowd howl with excitement as 6LACK bounced around the stage locking eyes with the front row.

‘Never Know’ is another old one that had the audience bouncing off the walls, its meaningful lyrics about him doing things for himself and not waiting for others to hand him opportunities, this is one of the first times he refers to his daughter which is the main reason he makes records; to provide for his family.

The number 6 has been said to resonate with Ricardo and is central to his identity, coming from Atlanta’s Zone 6. 6LACK constantly refers to his hometown and sees it as a major influence in his music and spiritually significant. His new album is indeed a love letter to his roots in Atlanta, when performing title track ‘East Atlanta Love Letters’ he hardly had to sing anything as the whole crowd knew every word even though the album has only been out a month; not many artists can claim that their fans are as dedicated as 6LACK’s.

The more upbeat ‘Switch’ took the energy back up after a lull in excitement, once again having the lyrics basically chanted back to him like some sort of rapping messiah! One of the most interesting and popular tracks from his new body of work is ‘Pretty Little Fears’ which features the incredibly talented J.Cole (which sadly didn’t make an appearance this evening…Maybe next time) gave the audience an opportunity to show off their best slow grooves to the slow bass beats that pollute the track.

The night ended in the only way a 6LACK show can, with the nonchalant ‘PRBLMS’ which describes the relationship between Valentine and one or more women in his life, once again 6LACK swiftly gliding about the stage like an early Halloween ghost serenading the females on the barrier!

A damn good show by a damn good rapper, hopefully it doesn’t take him another year to play the UK again; but all we can do is pray and wait to be graced by again by the 6!

Words and Photography by Joe Dick