You know South by Southwest is nearing its end when your main conversations with fellow folks on the ground focus on the weather.
Yes, it’s hot; yes, we’re all tired; but Friday still (nearly) wrapped SX ‘25 with a hip-hop-heavy bang. Rolling Stone closed its Future of Music showcase with performances by Rema, Samara Cyn, Anycia (who the Chronicle caught up with before her set), and more, while Armand Hammer rapper billy woods performed down at the 13th Floor.
Elsewhere, The Austin Chronicle hosted our annual Hair of the 3-Legged Dog Day Party at Hotel Vegas (read our review here and check out a photo gallery of the event), and the folks over at Luck Reunion followed up Thursday’s yearly anti-fest with additional performances by Waxahatchee, Lucinda Williams, and Bill Callahan. (Look for our recap from Luck later today.)
Rolling Stone’s Future of Music Goes Out With an Afrorave Bang
DJ and That Good Shit founder Annabelle Kline greeted attendees with trap-infused beats and mash-ups to the likes of Don Toliver and BashfortheWorld. Missouri-born rapper AJ McQueen kicked off the night with contagious positivity. The former MC, accompanied by a threepiece live band, spit poetic justice between neo-soul grooves with lyrics centered around freedom, gratitude, and love. Samara Cyn followed with her deceptively soft voice and razor-sharp delivery, pulling gems like “Sinner” and the aptly titled “Rolling Stone” from her catalog. “What better way to tell my story than to start at the beginning,” said the L.A. songstress as she introduced “Green Eyes,” the freestyle that put her on last year’s rap radar. Following a five-minute hype session from DJ-producer-hypeman Yo Bosco, Atlanta it-girl Anycia unleashed braggadocious bars with hits like “BACK OUTSIDE” and Tiktok sensation “So What.” The 27-year-old’s frankly hilarious personality spilled through her crowd interactions, including extravagant compliments, back-to-back jokes, and laugh-worthy, quick-spoken tangents about everything from tequila to her new relationship. Nigerian hitmaker Rema commanded a packed ACL Live with bass-boosted Afrowave, bringing a high-octane finale to the night. Every attendant was on their feet and dancing to the record holder’s breakneck rhythms and lightning vocals. – Miranda Garza
Water Damage’s Never-Ending Drone
Never know what you’ll find in the SXSW grid appearing ONLY in this sponsoring paper every festival. One year, Robert Fripp at the Electric Lounge and another the remnants of Moby Grape at the Dirty Dog. Friday night on ATX’s Red River hub, at the 13th Floor – long Beerland – Wire leader Colin Newman and spouse Malka Spigel of Minimal Compact spun Immersion out of Brighton, UK, after NYC trio SUSS spellcast classical Americana. Then they joined together in a spellbinding fivepiece. Simply disassembling that stage setup bit off 20 minutes from Austin primalists Water Damage. Configuring what Fripp’s King Crimson would call a double trio, the locals matched up double drums, double bass, and two guitars. A tawny bass backbone with four drumsticks thumping a Monster Island beat, the volume itself pulsed the pair of chandeliers hanging over the packed house. Guitarist Jonathan Horne played his own drumstick, up and down his six strings like an English schoolmaster. Come minute 16 of this, with me passing out extra earplugs to nearby auditory hemorrhagers, the band weeded out about a third of the house. That single tune then fell one minute short of doubling its runtime into the entire set – one whose sky never cracked after exciting so many atoms at such earsplitting loudness. Like a Sunn O))) show, the nuance nudged the drone ever onward, but like a dark Grateful Dead quasar, Water Damage needed additional stoppage time to fulfill the cycle, perhaps. Mind the gap. – Raoul Hernandez
billy woods’ No-Frills Lyrical Scorcher
Few rappers rival billy woods’ individuality. The underground hip-hop veteran truly moves to whatever beat he’s decided to grace at that moment – or, as the NYC-bred rapper demonstrated on a 90-plus degree Friday afternoon at the 13th Floor, a mere laptop. The Red River venue announced his set would occur outside on the patio just two minutes before its scheduled start, with the Armand Hammer MC’s voice soon guiding attendees out the door. There’s a gravitas to woods’ lyricism boosted by a flow that often feels like a controlled stream of consciousness. One moment he recalled swearing vengeance on the human race as a seventh grader adjusting to life as a Black American in a single mother home (“Indian Summer”). Soon afterward he expressed his emotions by referencing James Harden’s inability to win an NBA championship (“Paraquat”). But for someone who rhymes over such varied production – recent collaborations with producers like Kenny Segal blend jazz with boom-bap – he offered a captivating stripped-down performance with just one mic, some speakers, and a laptop to control backing beats. He provided a no-frills offering for 30 minutes, stopping only to wipe his head with a can of Waterloo Sparkling Water (original flavor, of course) before taking a sip. In true DIY fashion, he whipped out a large suitcase after his set to sell merchandise. No gimmicks necessary when the pen’s that potent. – Derek Udensi
This article appears in March 14 • 2025.
