Roc Marciano Brings the Pimpire to London [Show Review]

Last week, your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper turned The Jazz Cafe into The Hard Roc Cafe. Roc Marciano returns to London with four new projects under his belt. Whether producing or spitting, these releases are quintessentially Roc, coming with quality and quantity. Not to mention the 15-year anniversary re-release of his genre-defining debut Marcberg, an album that has served as the blueprint for the next 15 years of hip-hop; to quote Billy Woods, “You tinkered with the flow, but yo, the whole style Roc’s.” Or you can hear it from the man himself on “Liquid Coke,” “And if we being frank, I created this lane, if you hating, then eat a frank.”

The seismic shift of alt-rap didn’t stop at the US border; it tunnelled beneath the Atlantic into the Thames, the result: Tay Jordan. South London’s very own Roc Marciano opens up the night. Giving us illustrious space age pimping bars over expertly selected beats. His punchline-forward-barring makes him the perfect candidate to warm up a room of Marci fans.

Roc steps on stage head to toe in “quiet luxury,” his words, not mine, ready to preach the pimpire gospel. He lets his right-hand man, Animoss, rummage through the never-ending goodie bag of hits in his back catalogue. Starting with some new tracks from The Coldest Profession in collaboration with DJ Premier. Cuts like “Glory Hole” and “Armani Section” are reminiscent of early Roc and the perfect way to ease into a set, before moving on to some classics from Reloaded and The Alchemist tapes. 

Last time I spoke about Roc, I referred to him as the Martin Scorsese of rap. Tracks like “Pistolier” most definitely had a hand in that claim. The bar “take off your ear like a souvenir” is straight out of Casino, on some Joe Pesci shit. The key to Marci’s excellence lies in his ability to paint pictures, no matter how absurd. Lines like “I defy gravity, higher than giraffe pussy” come to mind. That’s pretty high, man.

I can confidently say this was the most animated crowd I’ve been a part of in a long time. Marci’s punchlines get more laughs than your favourite comedian. Many of which can be found on The Elephant Man’s Bones, his 2022 album with The Alchemist. Uncle Al’s retrofuturistic beats bring out the playful side out of Roc. The track “Quantum Leap” alone includes some of my favourites: “You just tryna get by like Talib Kweli” and “Your favourite rappers send fanmail to me,” elite-level shit-talking.

Lately, Roc Marciano shows have felt like an endless victory lap. We already know he’s great, and he knows it, too. He’s just showing off at this point, and best believe we’ll be there to witness it every single time.