The Curious Case of Theophilus London

Theophilus London at SXSW (Rachael Ray Party) Photo by Amanda

By all accounts, I shouldn't like Theophilus London. I am pretty outspoken about not gravitating towards anything that falls in rap or hip hop categories, which London clearly is, so couldn't figure out for the life of me why I was loving him so much at SXSW.

As I always do when faced with such musical conundrums, I consulted Max. He responded as follows:

Coming from a genre you and I are not too keen on it is always surprising when we find ourselves wandering toward the stage when he and his crew come on. He has a DJ providing much of the backing for him, which is often a recipe for a terrible show, which was exemplified by every DJ group at the MTV party at SX this year. (For those not in attendance, the general model was to have a mediocre rapper unoriginally sing over sampled beats and tunes, making for an all around underwhelming listening experience.)

But enough with the bad. On to the good.

Theophilus takes this model, alters it a bit, and owns it. First, he brings some instruments on to stage with him. The bassist gives a much more lively feel to the rhythm section while the guitar adds a smooth, funky feel. Second, he raps in a much smoother way, as opposed to a Beastie Boys style of rapping, which when not done really well just sounds terrible. Last and most importantly... he's got swagger.

So there it is. The curious case of Theophilus London.