Most excellent subreddit HopHopHeads has come through again in documenting the elusive trajectory of crazy good rapper Your Old Droog. Now, I don’t want to say this guy isn’t Nas in a white guy mask, but after last week’s video and this killer clip of his first show ever (to a sell-out crowd), it’s becoming abundantly clear that this guy definitely probably maybe isn’t Nas.

Repping the crispest of Pete Rose Phillies jerseys, Droog hits hard with an excellent stage presence and a good variety of beats. It’s amazing knowing this is seriously his first ever show and he’s got the whole audience shouting his bars back at him.

The live video is really the last element of establishing his cred as a good independent rapper. He’s copped some online flak from style biting hard on the likes of Nas, Wu Tang Clan (specifically Ghostface) and a range of other NY beat rappers but with his own solid EP, freestyle footage and what is an irrefutably good live performance (albeit only 3 minutes of it), his critics have no choice but to acknowledge that, hey, even if he is riffing on his predecessors, he’s pretty damn good at it.

Seriously, his ascent through the ranks of begrudging rap game respect is akin to Death Grips levels and I think he’s beginning to know it. Why else would you wear sunglasses at night? (2:22 in the video above)

More Your Old Droog

Your Old Droog starts Vlog series, obliterates Nas rumours
No Country for (Old) Rap Men: The thin line between influence and biting
No Country for Old (Rap) Men: How Droog, Rast and two DJs from Nottingham brought “NY back”