Concert Reviews

What So Not at the Hoxton

After a few short months, the always incredible What So Not returns to The Hoxton in celebration of his new record Divide and Conquer. This time Emoh had brought along some friends with High Klassified and Michael Christmas along for the trip. The What So Not tour came complete with a dazzling LED set piece that really brightened up The Hoxton’s intimate interior.

For a Sunday evening, The Hoxton was packed like any other Hoxton night with a sea of bodies flowing to the night’s hip hop and future bass sounds which isn’t to surprising considering the amount of buzz that What So Not has been gaining throughout the years.

After entering the already fairly packed building, the one of a kind stage lit up the interior with a mesmerizing and welcoming glow giving the place a warmer atmosphere. DJ fre$co, Michael Christmas’ DJ, was behind the decks spinning and vibing out to his hip hop selection to get the crowd hyped for his MC to take the stage. With a towel around his neck and a Stone Cold t-shirt on his back, the Boston MA rapper took to the stage to an eager crowd. Michael Christmas served as his own hype man as his infectious energy carried out into the crowd.

The 22-year-old had the crowd singing along to every one of his hooks from tracks like Cell Phone, Grab Her Hand and Video Game. Christmas had the club jumping with his lively tracks and even had the crowd jump up from the ground at the starting of one of his songs causing not only the usual rumbling windows but caused the ground to shake too! The crowd really embraced the man that a few members in the crowd handed him drinks in between songs.

After what felt like a short set, DJ Fre$Co went back to selecting hype hip hop tracks to keep the energy alive till What So Not Went on.

The crowd was eagerly excited for anyone who went on including cheering on the sound techs as they did their thing, but the crow erupted in excitement when Emoh of What So Not took to the stage to the sounds of

The crowd was eagerly excited for anyone who went on including cheering on the sound techs as they did their thing, but the crow erupted in excitement when Emoh of What So Not took to the stage to the blaring sounds of the tours title track Divide and Conquer with the iconography of Divide and Conquer video playing in the background. The Australian DJ/Producer would subconsciously set the tone of the rest of the evening with two Kendrick Lamar tracks with the hard and energetic M.A.A.D City and flowy and mellow Money Trees.

The buzz cut blonde was all smiles in front of the Toronto crowd while taking in the energy and antics of the room. What So Not’s undeniably infectious future bass sounds crept into every individual ensuring that nobody was standing still. The hyper and sultry sounds that What So Not was throwing down took a turn to TV-land as the crowd erupted for an original remix of the Netflix hit Stranger Things. From 80s synths to popping beats and back into the sultry, the Busta Rhymes drop on 7 Dollar Bill had the crowd jumping before hoots and hollers rang out to the wavy intro of Buried. The crowd went vertical as Emoh requested for the ladies to get on top of someone’s shoulders for his remix of Rufus Du Sol’s Interbloom in which the crowd happily obliged.

From the unique stage to the take out bag set list, What So Not’s second Hoxton show was a stand out event unlike any other in the Hoxton’s infamous history. I’ll be eagerly anticipating the next time the Australian serenades the city with his illustrious sounds.

About author

Music writer for Live in Limbo. Anthony spends most of his free time wandering downtown Toronto in search of new food and fashion or surfing music sites on the hunt for his new favourite sounds. Find him online @aikidcruz.