Beast Coast: Escape From New York Tour

Beast Coast (Joey Bada$$ + Friends)
WaMu Theater, Seattle, WA
07.23.19

2019 has been no stranger to rap collab albums, with a pretty good handful of them so far. One of the most notable ones however, was the Beast Coast Escape from New York project featuring the likes of Joey Bada$$, The Underachievers, Flatbush Zombies, and many, many more. The best part of these big albums though, is when they have tours to support them too. Suddenly, instead of getting one great artist headlining their own tour, we get a whole group of great artists all coming together for one big night.

The Escape from New York tour started out with quick opening sets from CJay, Nyck Caution, and Kirk Knight. Each brought something a little different to the table, but also tied together showing off the little parts they played into on the Beast Coast album in a really interesting way.

The Underachievers took it over next and blew everyone away. AKTHESAVIOR and Issa Gold have such a cool dynamic between them that it completely ropes everyone in. They’ve clearly been at it together for so long that they’re effortlessly comfortable with each other and pair perfectly; with one banging through the verses, and the other playfully bringing everyone through the hooks.

After a quick intermission, it was time for Joey Bada$$ and Flatbush Zombies to lead the Beast Coast pack in one of the wildest headline sets around. It all started pretty normal: different artists came on and off the stage one by one to perform their small part in the song, everyone switched around and had a good time—the usual.

Then all of a sudden, Joey and a few others were hooked up to wires on their hips and lifted straight up towards their light structures, free to flip and twirl around however they please while performing their tracks. Jaws dropped and turned into smiles as the whole crowd ate it up and continued to enjoy the fun performance with so many great names.

Review and photos by Lulu Dawson

Joey Bada$$ and Flatbush Zombies