The K.R.I.T in Big K.R.I.T stands for “King Remembered In Time”. And the king’s first ever London appearance will most definitely be remembered in time.

I knew it was gonna be a good show from the moment we stepped into Dingwalls. The atmosphere was buzzing, the spirits were already high, and despite it being small and intimate, the venue did well to contain the huge personality of the Dirty South, which was being celebrated and represented fully all night. You didn’t even have to be right at the front to feel like you were in the thick of it. But of course I went in anyway. With a crazy amount of energy and even more charisma, KRIT lit up the entire crowd just after 9pm when he came on.

He speeded it up at the beginning, got us jumping to tunes like 4EvaNaDay Theme and Yeah Dat Me, and quickly had us sticking our fingers up and chanting his lyrics. And even though I was loving feeling like I had escaped from London to a party in Meridian, Mississippi, I was starting to get a little worried that some of my favourite, more mellow tracks might be missed out. But then he slowed it down. That’s when we got tunes like Moon & Stars and Hometown Hero. The audience engagement was still on point throughout this slower section; we sang the smooth chorus of Highs & Lows just as loudly as we sang (screamed) “F*ck these haters, f*ck these hoes” when he sped it up again later on, and jumped into the crowd on I Got This:

Covering so many shorter versions of tracks from all three mixtapes and his debut album, I’m sure he managed to make sure that everyone got to hear at least one of their favourites. The show was put together very well and as his lyrics would suggest, KRIT came across very humble and down-to-earth. He definitely attracted a very positively charged crowd. I didn’t witness any of the usual unnecessary aggy behaviour at all, and even when my phone slipped out of my hands during the mad rush at the start of Country Sh*t, a lovely young lady found it and passed it back to me. Nothing but vibes. Super fly dirty dirty third coast muddy water vibes. The slowing down and speeding up of the set seemed to work well on us too, the excitement was building from start to finish and we all seemed happy for his decision to (take his top off and) close with The Vent which ended up being his best, most passionate performance of the night:

And as if this wasn’t enough, he patiently stayed behind afterwards to sign people’s hats and tickets, and random pieces of paper. And dodgy rave leaflets. And hoodies. And there was a couple of purses too. And one very battered shoe (And we were all sweating a hell of a lot, this was a very brave move). But I guess he proved Southern Hospitality is the best kind.

If he ever comes to your town, go see him. I can almost guarantee it will be worth it.

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