Review: Loyle Carner, O2 Academy – ‘Versatile, pioneering and always amiable’

Amongst his fanbase, Loyle Carner is a shining light in a world of darkness. On a cold and dreary Bristolian night, the London-based rapper warmed the hearts of the sold-out O2 Academy crowd as he tours following his acclaimed 2022 effort, hugo.

Versatile, pioneering and always amiable, Loyle Carner is one of those artists that are just impossible to hate.

From sun-bathed jazzy grooves to scathing political bangers, the rapper’s discography is nothing short of glowing and is a deft representation of everything that hip-hop can represent.

In anticipation of Carner’s presence, rows upon rows of rain-soaked punters lined the fabled halls of Bristol’s O2 knowing that greatness in the making awaited them.

However, this was not before the brilliant Wesley Joseph showcased his diverse talents in a set that brought a visceral energy to an otherwise disgruntled crowd. Performing tracks from his latest project, GLOW, it’s hard to see the artist’s trajectory from being anything but upwards.

As the stage became beamed in red, Carner emerged in a passionate fit of rage.

Performing the opening track of his latest project, Hate, the rapper delivered gritty bars on the experiences of living as a black man in the UK – racial violence, profiling and the fears that encapsulate it all.

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Loyle Carner has always strived to find beauty in his struggles. Consciously avoiding the often-braggadocious lyricism one would come to expect from hip-hop music, family has always been at the heart of what Carner does and the Bristol show was no different.

Though he has been troubled in the past, he wants to spread a message of acceptance and forgiveness, which he emotionally shared through a story of reconciliation with his previously absent father.

Alongside this, a dry eye was hard to spot across the crowd as he expressed his love for his new-born son, who he claims he cannot wait for his fanbase to meet one day.

The set spanned Carner’s discography seamlessly, performing old fan favourites like Desoleil and Ice Water to newer cuts like Plastic and Georgetown.

However, undoubtedly the most powerful moment of the night was the performance of Blood On My Nikes, in which he welcomed activist Athian Akec to deliver his unsparing Youth Parliament speech on knife crime.

In a moment that silenced the Carhartt-clad and corduroy-wearing crowd, the rapper invites the crowd to join him in sharing an important mindset – “You can either be relevant or revolutionary and we choose to be revolutionary still”.

Before the crowd departs into the rainy Bristol night, Carner delivered a poem that saw him at his most vulnerable all night.

With themes spanning generational trauma, mental health and anti-blackness, the rapper powerfully requests just one thing from the crowd: “Take these words and go forwards”.

Main photo: Josh Templeman

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• Review: cktrl, Rough Trade – ‘Dreamy soundscapes filled the venue’

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