MUSIC REVIEW: THEOPHILUS LONDON - LIVE AT WARNER BROS.

An Exclusive Event Showcasing Personal Rap, Rising Talent & New Hooks

By: Josh Moorhead

August 6, 2011

(August 5, 2011 in Burbank, California) Theophilius London is not a villain from Sherlock Holmes. Neither is he a cowboy, though. When I saw him, he was dressed like one completely equipped with an American flag behind him. Theophilius is a rapper, but then again, he's not. He's got a song called "Girls Girls $," but it's almost as ironic if I had a rap song called "Girls Girls $" (trust me, this would be very ironic).

So it turns out Theophilius London (try typing it five times fast), like a lot of people, is a lot of things. But what's refreshing about him as an artist is that he keeps his full person about him. The bombastic, diamond-studded rap persona this is not. Theophilius is tall and rail thin. You'd maybe think drug problem, but dude seems too well-adjusted to be carrying that kind of weight just to be interesting. That's probably why he doesn't carry the weight of pretense or persona either -- just himself, naturally there; that's all he needs, and he's light on his feet about it.

I had the good fortune of catching Mr. London at Warner Bros. Records in sunny Burbank, California. These events are always interesting. Imagine your office. Imagine that, at lunch, instead of quiet conversation around the microwaving Hot Pocket, there was catered steak-house food, free booze, and a rap artist. The truth is, that doesn't happen everyday at the offices of Hollywood either, but you'd better believe it does when those Hollywood offices want to let you in on something. The refreshing thing about the whole event -- yes, besides the chocolate mousse, stuffed mushrooms, and margaritas (props to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and Red Bull, btw) -- was that London got it.

Dude came out on stage like a comedian, not a Kanye West. He engaged the crowd and loosened us up by recognizing it was a little bizarre to be standing there under the dog days sun having a polite business rap lunch. He was funny. He cut off "Girls Girls $" halfway through when he deemed it wasn't appropriate for the audience (there were some kiddos there, sans margaritas). He regularly asked for audience involvement, either in hollers or heys, or the presence of more of us at the stage. The good thing was we responded; this wasn't a hand reaching from a sinking ship -- it was a conductor working his orchestra. Why, one of those enterprising young blonds even made it up on stage for some dance-around.

Turns out London has been tripping around the world and has been getting most of his exposure in Europe. Makes sense to me. Everything old is new again, and his rap isn't quite the brand we're used to. It's New Wave meets the current, sometimes more playful or more deeply lyric'ed movements in rap, whether that be Lupe Fiasco or Kid Cudi, or one comic-turning-rapper Don Glover (Childish Gambino). Anyway, if Michael Myers taught me anything with "Sprockets" back in the day, it's that anything that sounds a little different and a bit more techy than my eardrums are used to is probably European.

But that's also not the complete depiction of Theophilius. His "Why Even Try" has a great keyboard-stroking hook, even if you can taste some '80s on it. He opened with this number, and I was bobbing immediately, and when the line dropped "If you think you're special, you're probably not," I knew this guy was for the win. I looked around the room nervously to see if it registered with any of the more Barbie-accessorized LA types, what with their fancy shades and their leopard-print high heels, but it seemed to pass. Then I was forced to look in on myself, even if I left my leopard pumps at home. At least I was thinking, and at minimum, that's something London definitely offers -- i.e., most of his album was recorded in Belgium, and other tracks feature titles like "Wine and Chocolates." The tripping on a bout of chilling "Flying Overseas" (featuring Solange Knowles) is also obviously globe-trotting. And let me clarify what I mean by "tripping on a bout of chilling." It's not the bonfire barefoot pancake crams of a Jack Johnson; it's the synthy, other-worldly-designed sounds of another time that remind you of bright colors and baggy sweatshirts that hang over one shoulder. It's not quite Coldplay when they go grandiose, but it's of that same produced daydream-drifting quality (though it's worth noting he's got a guitar player, which is cool, and the dude brought it too -- not just decor, but a complimenting presence).

It just so happens that Theophilius is drifting across continents and speaking stream-of-consciousness about it all as he does so. He said, "It was one thing cutting tracks in LA and testing them ocean side on the 1 in a drop top," but he wanted "...something a little deeper and flavorful than that," which, evidently, he found in a Belgian winter.

The dude was very natural. For all of the success he's experienced thus far, he still engaged his audience with the honesty and personal involvement of an open mic night. My invited 'plus 1' at the show isn't even in the rap game, and she dug it. But I imagine Theophilius will catch on bigger soon, as he begins hitting the States this September, especially in circles where jeans run tight and acts like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are already, somehow, thought to have sold out. That's saying Theophilius is going to play to the hip, to the cheetah high heels, but I don't think he'd care if he didn't. He's much too busy being himself to make himself believe he's special.
 

Standout Tracks: "Girls, Girls, $,"  "Why Even Try?" "Wine & Chocolates"

For Fans Of: Kid Cudi, Lupe Fiasco