The second to last stop of Dok2's "2019 Winter Thunderground Tour" landed him in New York City on Saturday, December 21, 2019 at Mission Nightclub. And yes — we partied all night long.
The best way to make the most out of a chilly Saturday night is with cool music and even cooler people - and on December 21st, 2019, Dok2 Gonzo's 2019 Winter Thunderground Tour brought just that to Mission Nightclub in New York City. The venue burned red from the winding, decorative neon lights on the ceiling. As the night went on, Mission NYC filled itself with the comfortable, lively hush of conversations held over bottles of soju and icy pitchers of beer, and crowds waiting in anticipation for Dok2 to come on stage.
Dok2's set was prefaced first by Audrey, a spunky Korean-American R&B singer - her cute face and all-white outfit made the smooth flows of her rap strike even harder. With tracks like "Honeypot" and "Soufflé," she filled the stage with her energy. The vibes were all there for "Time" - a deep funk bass with jazzy electric piano, and on top of it all, silky vocals that allowed Audrey to hit high notes with ease and emotion. She followed up with a psychedelic unreleased track called 'Typical' - and cheekily told the crowd, "Feel free to leak that sh*t!"
The second opening act was a trio that included Royal Flush, who sold millions in the 90s - bringing smooth retro vibes to the opening of Dok2. We couldn't go wrong listening to his deep trap beats and rhymes about being in one's bag and wanting a 'rrari.
The energy that the opening acts brought to the stage was, expectably, nothing compared to how the audience turned themselves all the way up once Dok2 took the stage. Lights dimmed down, and everyone's drinks and phone cameras went all the way up - Dok2's distinct high-toned rap had the entire crowd turnt (and that's not even including how he had them chant "Turnt!" alongside him).
The opening bars of "Beverly 1lls" had the entire crowd cheering and rapping along to the chorus - the distinct trap beats and string melodies sending the audience into euphoria. "Put your f*ckin' f*ckin' hands up!," he'd yell, and the New York crowd was happily welcomed into Dok2's West Coast anthem.
The rapper isn't complete without his entourage of VIPs, and that night's included Hwimin, one half of the famous production duo GroovyROOM. Dok2 made a quick shoutout to GroovyROOM in the building! (Verbatim!) before launching into "Life is a Gamble," produced by GroovyROOM. The track originated from the sixth season of Show Me the Money, where Dok2 judged and led Team DoPark alongside Jay Park, and we count ourselves very lucky to see and hear his legendary deep beats live.
With tracks off of his iconic 2015 album Millionaire, Dok2 used "Am I" to show off that his flow is nothing less than spitfire. Dok2 attacked his beats with a confidence that only comes with years and years spent on stage; it's a playfulness that says, "I'm making this beat my b*tch, and I'll make the audience my b*tch too." Throwing water bottles and free T-shirts into the crowd added even more playfulness to the mix.
The songs go and come as smoothly as Dok2's flow, switching from quick-paced spits to syncopated rhymes with ease. "Dreams, I be livin' that shit" - and the deep bass of Dok2's "Multillionaire" probably still echoed into the throes of Mission NYC. He's really livin' that dream.
The most fun track of the night was probably "1llusion," with the crowd echoing an eager "YEAH!" to the chorus of "Is it ill?" It, without a doubt, was ill, son, really ill, son. But the night managed to only get more fun from there - Dok2 was joined on stage by Double K, rapping acapella for the crowd the beat dropped for their track "Hip Hop." All hands in the building went up for that one, an uncontested hip hop anthem.
"If you love real motherf*ckin' hip hop, lemme hear you say, hell yeah!" Dok2 and Double K showed up with their unparalleled stage synergy as a duo, but the excitement didn't stop there - Baddnews joined the stage with a "Baddnews" chant. Baddnews on stage can only mean good news.
With all three acts on stage, the show was nothing less than a party. The crowd even contributed their share to making things lit - literally, with the house lights shut off and Baddnews calling out for the audience to light the stage with phone lights.
Though the night was winding down, the energy was anything but. From splashing water bottles over the crowd to jumping around on stage to having the entire audience scream along to a call of, "I'm ILL!," Dok2's final few songs solidified his presence as a monster on stage.
Thanks to Socialite Media for the amazing opportunity to cover the show!
