It’s rare to see a performer command a stage like this. From the moment she appeared, Philadelphia native Tierra Whack had the crowd at Auckland’s Powerstation in the palm of her hand, and she was well aware of it.
Photo: Jana Te Nahu Owen
In fact before she’d said a word she just stood there basking in the applause, an eye-catching figure clad in a floral print that matched her red hair.
And then she began to perform, taking nothing for granted as she spent the next hour or so working hard to keep us entertained.
Backed up by her DJ and no one else she sang, rapped, prowled the stage, crowd-surfed, and delivered an entire song from the middle of the audience.
Photo: Jana Te Nahu Owen
Whack (that’s her real name by the way), is someone who works to break down the barrier between audience and performer - this wasn’t a one-way exchange, it was a conversation.
I’m pretty sure she made eye contact with everyone in the room, and in the moments when she expressed gratitude she was strikingly genuine.
That down to earth vibe permeated the whole night. At one point a fan called Daniel shouted a request from the front of the crowd, so Whack and her DJ insisted he join her on stage to perform it.
He didn’t know all the words, but he gave it a good go. She teased him a bit, but he didn’t seem to mind.
Photo: Jana Te Nahu Owen
There was a lot of talking to people directly - complimenting their outfits, thanking those who knew all the lyrics, and commenting on one guy’s arm strength (shaking hands with those front of stage was an ongoing habit).
And the music? As good natured as her persona, and as musically diverse as you’d expect if you’ve heard her five years-worth of singles and EPs.
She drew heavily from her one album - that’s Whack World, which consists of 15 songs, each one minute in duration. So, a fifteen minute album.
Songs included the nostalgic R&B of ‘Hookers’, ‘Cable Guy’ and ‘Pet Cemetery’, and a particularly rousing version of ‘Hungry Hippos’ (“open up and bite it”).
There was also the pure pop of her 2019 hit ‘Only Child’, and a plethora of playful rap tracks, the best of which was ‘Stand Up’, from her 2021 EP Rap?
That same year she released two other instalments called Pop? and R&B?, and that naming structure sums up her musical identity - her bars are impressive, her singing pitch perfect, and her ability to write hooks impressive, but she resists being tied to one thing, and all her songs playfully merge genres.
Photo: Tony Stamp
She’s also cultivated an eager fanbase, and it reflects well on her that the crowd at The Powerstation was diverse, and thoroughly amiable.
Looking around you couldn’t see many people who weren’t dancing, or singing along. And absolutely everyone was smiling.
