SAT MAY 6
Lil Peep Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez
A complex understanding of cultural references (specifically of the “sub-” and “pop” varieties) is required to explain both the punchline of a meme and Lil Peep. The 20-year-old, his face covered in tattoos and hair dyed an ever-changing highlighter hue, specializes in slow, emo-infused rap. He tends to combine tropes from both genres, often in the same lyric: “I used to wanna kill myself/Came up, still wanna kill myself.” This makes me think Lil Peep’s musical point of reference is cultural panic. He glorifies sex, drugs, suicide, and anime—taken together, it’s an incredible tableau of things that have scared parents shitless for the past 30 years. Lil Peep raps over the Microphones, samples old cartoons, tweets incessantly, and has a faithful crew of equally sad boys who operate under the name GothBoiClique. I think his emo revival/rap/internet-core hybrid is entertaining, but I can feel myself understanding less of Lil Peep’s art with each passing second.
MON MAY 8
Margo Price w/Jamey Johnson, Brent Cobb; Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside
I often hear people explain that they like “OLD country… like Loretta and Dolly,” condemning (rightfully, in my opinion) the more contemporary country-pop that often plays like a parody of itself. For purists, Margo Price is a reason to celebrate. The folksy songs on her 2016 debut Midwest Farmer’s Daughter are undoubtedly modern, but capture the warm nostalgia of past greats—like the aforementioned country queens—without ever seeming like a byproduct of the genre. Hopefully Price’s success foreshadows an old-style country revival.