What Went Down: RBMA Pres. kidkanevil Club Night @ Apex Lounge, Zouk

By Cindy Low  •  09 Mar 2016 in Reports

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Moving swiftly along from the lecture session, Akhyla signee and the latest addition to Singapore’s ATTAGIRL! crew, Fatim Guzel, was primed and ready for her opening set. It was darkly textured and atmospheric; the setting of the lounge just didn’t match up to her deep, bass-y set. We wished the lighting were dimmer so it’d be a thorough experience.

Emir Hermono and Fliko’s set pleased a different set of ears. There were plenty remixed instrumental versions of popular songs such as a soul/ jazz version of Rihanna’s ‘FourFiveSeconds’, we heard the familiar tune of Justin Timberlake’s ‘Senorita’. In between it all, Emir dropped his own song ‘SUM12HOLD’ that featured musician Shelhiel from his album Karma Kisses. The duo ended their set with club staples and trap favs such as the inescapable anthem ‘It G Ma’ and Snapchat king DJ Khaled’s ‘All I Do is Win’.

The Apex lounge really wasn’t quite the ideal spot for a club night. One side, people were chugging Red Bull Vodka and bouncing to big beats, and on the other side, there was a damned chef making sushi at the corner of the bar. Also, when there are multiple stools provided, everyone will inevitably plant themselves on them – this sight ruined the mood, really. Jin Hackman, dressed in the same sweat ensemble as the man of the hour, hyped the crowd up for both Emir x Fliko and kidkanevil. Quite adorably, kidkanevil lightly nodded his head and smiled a small smile as if to say, “Hey, yeah, it’s me,” as he prepped himself.

His meekness in character, however, did not translate to his set as it was largely buoyed by heart-racing jungle and dense percussion of the UK bass variety – one that even included Reddi Rocket’s ‘Wheat’. When was the last time an international act dropped a tune by our homegrown DJ-producer?! His much more introverted, twinkling, gentle compositions had no place during his dancefloor-ready DJ set. Unfortunately though, another gripe we have about the venue was that the speakers at the lounge were inadequate in delivering the thumping, impactful force of his setlist, especially ‘EWOK’ featuring wunderkind rapper Ocean Wisdom—a track we distinctly recognised from his own EP, Rap Biscuits EP 1.

After interviewing kidkanevil, attending his lecture session, and finally seeing him perform, we definitely developed a big piece of kidkanevil in our heart.

RBMA Pres. kidkanevil Club Night went down on Friday 4 March ’16. Read our impression of the Lecture Session here.