The three hottest hosts in the city right now, Waterwave TV, DanK, and Dolo, collaborated to throw a blackout party with Zodiak and Tarxan headling. It took place at the Poorhouse in downtown Minneapolis, and definitely played into the all-black rage style that Playboi Carti has made popular. It had party vibes, local clothing brands for sale like the cool Wavy hats, and a mix of people in the crowd because of the variety of artists. The event started with DJ Kessel spinning classic hits. The first artist to hit the stage was Traplordty who performed trap music with a futuristic twist on it. The next notable act was Bandit Boys. Bandit Boys definitely made the whole crowd sturdy with their New York drill-inspired beats. A circle formed halfway into their set with people showing off their dance moves in the middle. Bandit Boys had a unique twist on drill beats adding elements of rage music almost resembling Yeat. After Bandit Boys, DanK, Mighty LT, and TJ Sune hit the stage to perform some rage music. Their clique reminded me of when Yeat, SeptermbersRich, Summrs, and Kankan were coming up together, but they raged with a lot more energy. JTC Beats made a surprise appearance and performed his song “Fa(Show)” with Lil Duskii and Tae Supreme. Lil Duskii and Tae Supreme have become two of the biggest faces in the local hip-hop scene and they make strong features. JTC started releasing his own music again recently, but he is known for producing for Tae Supreme, and touring with Tae and Minnesota rapper Prof. Bigg Kiaa brought a ton of energy to the stage right away. She rapped to songs with deconstructed beats with bare drums, and she ragged to harder beats. Bigg Kia had the best crowd control having everyone going nuts jumping around and chanting her name. It was fun to see her after she opened for Lizzo at the Xcel Energy Center this winter and to see how much she has improved. Enzyrose took the stage and performed her hit “Faded”, and her newest song “Favorite”. “Favorite” has a pop bass line with your typical pop snare, with Enzy singing about her relationship problems and her chasing a girl.  Waterwave artist, Qmoe came on after performing hit songs like “Phone Ringin’”, “On Me”, his newest song and my personal favorite “2 Much Smoke” featuring Tarxan, and an unreleased song coming at the end of March. If you haven’t heard of Qmoe, he is a trap artist with clever lyrics, different flows, and tough beats with a lot of bass. Tarxan shook the stage with his set. He and his gang brought a lot of energy which was probably the reason his shirt came off. Tarxan is another hard-hitting trap artist but he has a unique voice that he likes to play around with. Zodiak was the last act of the night. He showed up in a knitted translucent cloak with his goth clique and ragged with the crowd. He played classics like “Why”, “ur loss” both produced by Amir, and “i f****d up…” produced by killcasket. Zodiak is an underground rage artist that has been gaining a lot of popularity around the country recently. He has a very distinct psychedelic rage sound with his wavy and distorted 808s and floaty melodies. Some artists that are in the same lane as Zodiak are Rolling Thrax, Southsidesilhouette, Lunchbox, Redda, Dom Corleo, and Yeat. This is the hottest wave in hip-hop right now and it is cool to have our own Minnesota legend that is continuing to push the sound of music. If you want to rage in the future I would check out Waterwate TV, Dank, and Dolo’s events. 

-Kai Loiseaux-Purcell