I was slightly surprised when I heard that the enigmatic Theophilus London was linking up with Atlanta based producer/rapper Father for his Vibes tour. The two artists are undeniably rising stars, and both bring two unique styles, on and off the stage. Yet, to picture both of them sharing a stage in one night was a hip-hop dichotomy that I just had to see.
Theophilus London and Father both represent relatively separate sides of the hip-hop hemisphere. Father takes on a more classic Atlanta style with heavy trap beats and musical collaborations with fellow Atlantan ILOVEMAKONNEN. The stylishly versatile Theophilus London, truly a renaissance man, has worked with the highly acclaimed Kanye West, and A$AP Rocky. Now, “Theo” headlines his own album tour.
Toronto was the 6th stop on the Vibes tour, named for Theo’s well-received 2014 LP, which was executive produced by Kanye West. Tattoo on Queen West was filled equally with excited hip-hop fans next to trendy hipsters. By the time Father took the stage the energy was consistent, naturally peaking when his hit single “Wrist” dropped.
Theophilus was accompanied by a full band, complete with a drum kit, guitarist, bassist and various keyboards and sampling devices. After some teasing, Theo eventually sauntered on stage to begin his performance in earnest, and he effectively killed it. His incredibly technical rapping ability seems to be occasionally overshadowed by his dynamic singing style and vocal range – yet all of this was only complimented by the funky grove the live band created.
However, the show was not short of it’s eccentricities. Theophilus would wander on and off stage at random, pass beers into the crowd, or demand a new microphone stand, and then throw it off stage two songs later. Occasionally, Theo would take breaks to scroll through his Macbook Pro, dangerously perched on the very edge of the stage, or, to lift girls out of the crowd, and croon into the mic as he danced close to them. Depending on your perspective on “audience participation”, these antics were either cute, or creepy, but they undoubtedly added to the persona of “Theophilus London”, and hardly interfered with his music, or the show at large.
Ultimately, Theophilus London and Father seem to be an unpredictably effective musical match. Their differing musical styles in fact compliment each other incredibly well, and the crowd was left satisfied, and thoroughly engaged. Check out the Vibes tour near you!
