PartyNextDoor: Its like Drake but without the good parts
Fans of rap and R&B can’t get enough of Drake these days, with his surprise mix tape “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” setting records on Spotify and the Billboard charts. But even with a record 21 songs on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the hunger for Drake — and artists like him — only grows. Enter PartyNextDoor.
PartyNextDoor (the alias of 21-year-old singer Jahron Brathwaite) was the first signee to Drake’s OVO Sound imprint, and he shares more than just a label with his patron. Across two full-length projects, PartyNextDoor has explored the type of sullen, synth-swaddled R&B mastered by Drake and his former collaborator the Weeknd.
At the 9:30 Club on Wednesday night, PartyNextDoor played the role of dime-store Drake to a sellout crowd of ecstatic fans. In a throwback Michael Jordan White Sox jersey, his braids tucked behind a knit cap, he set the tone early on “Right Now,” a song that strips all the joy out of something like T-Pain’s “I’m ‘n Luv (wit a Stripper)” with lyrics like “I pay you in cash baby, he just pay you mind.”
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This sense of musical deja vu dominated the night, whether in lyrics about popping champagne, blowing money fast and riding through the city, or in samples of Miguel and Dru Hill.
The most glaring example is “Let’s Get Married,” a blown-out take on matrimony that pales in comparison to the Jagged Edge classic of the same name. In this case, PartyNextDoor would be better off not forcing audiences to make the connection. Even the song’s bring-a-girl-onstage stunt seemed torn out of a well-worn copy of “How to Be an R&B Singer”.
“I gotta tell you guys something,” he confessed early on. “The purpose of this show is to hear this R&B music live.” “Live” is debatable — he relied on backing tracks as much as his contemporaries — but that didn’t seem to bother his fans, who were ready to sing along, screech and squeal on cue.
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After playing highlight “SLS” and the Disclosure-sampling “Sex On The Beach,” he left the stage and was replaced by an MC that was part party host, part warm-up comic. The 15 minute interlude felt like an hour.
By the time PartyNextDoor returned to the stage, he struggled to regain the momentum. A few songs followed, as did another brief breather, before he closed with “Recognize,” his Drake-featuring single. Unlike the last time PartyNextDoor played D.C. (at the U Street Music Hall in October), there was no Drake cameo — just a Drake impression.
Kelly is a freelance writer.
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