CHESTER WATSON x ELAQUENT – Mirage European Tour

Illegaal hosts the one and only exclusive belgian show of
– Chester Watson & Elaquent –
on their 2025 Mirage European Tour

See you on Monday Feb 17th
from 19:00 to 00:00
for the best hip hop show in town!

Get your tickets soon enough!
https://fienta.com/fr/chester-watson-elaquent-x-illegaal
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19:00 DOORS – food & warm up act
20:30 SHOW
22:00 DJ
00:00 END
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CHESTER WATSON

https://www.chesterwatson.co
https://www.instagram.com/chesterwatson/?hl=fr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSnj2WZIfIs
https://open.spotify.com/…/artist/1vmLIa1VRY38hZoar8AyYS?

The internet has a funny way of distorting our sense of time.
When Chester Watson debuted in the mid 2010s with verbose, technically precise music indebted to MF DOOM, Earl Sweatshirt, and more obscure artists from the stratosphere and the blogosphere, it was as if he was simultaneously from the past and future.
Enterprising fans reacted accordingly. Before he was old enough to legally drink,
there were “Best Of,” rarities compilations, and .zip files floating through the ether like secret handshakes. Whenever industry prospectors earmarked him as the next big thing, he disappeared back underground, only to reemerge sharper, leaner, weirder.
Though only 27, the St. Louis born rapper and producer, who grew up between that city, Georgia, and Florida, has seen enough for several lifetimes and raps as if he’s tapped into many more. But after a few years of highs, lows, and traumatic odysseys, he was able to stare straight into the abyss and conquer it. The regained confidence was exhibited on fish don’t climb trees, the largely self
produced 2023 album that reaffirmed him as one of rap’s great auteurs. An album that Spin described as « sounding fresh the whole way through, which may be its greatest accomplishment. »
The willingness to both expand his repertoire laterally and dive deeper down each rabbit hole has made Watson’s one of the most quietly rewarding catalogs in hip hop. In the last half decade, he’s released Project 0, the apex predator version of the style that he’d been tinkering with since his breakthrough a decade ago on with the heady 10 million plus streaming “Phantom.” There was
A Japanese Horror Film, the full length album from 2020 that sounds like a small team of assassins being trained in the art of hypnosis, and the following year’s glitchy, percussive EP 1997.
Any informed observer would have him on a short list of the genre’s best voices. And they have: Complex hailed him as « one of the best new musicians. » Pitchfork said he so comfortably and skillfully amongst his influences that he already feels like their peer. » Pigeons and Planes named him one of « Best 20 artists Under 20.”

Last year, he delivered a bravura performance on the COLORS performance series, unveiling « summer blues » and « chasing clouds, » two tracks which Fader hailed as effortless, fresh, and distinctively trippy.
It all served as the prelude to another dynamic 2024, in which Watson released a
pair of EPs: the first, « Winter Mirage » was a kaleidoscopic journey with the Japanese producer Ill Sugi; the second was Montisona, another transformative odyssey with his tourmate, Elaquent. But this is merely the start: 2025 figures to be full of more otherworldly spells, psychic travels, and time warps courtesy of Watson. Just wait.

ELAQUENT

https://open.spotify.com/…/artist/14rl122F3uMCloqdEVV9WL?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPcArBLARkA

Elaquent has spent this decade forging a style all his own, internalizing the sounds of great producers like J Dilla and DJ Premier, but glitching and altering them to the point where his voice became inimitable. With a sprawling catalog that includes dozens of projects and countless remixes, Elaquent has become one of beat music’s most compelling figures despite living thousands of miles from its Los Angeles epicenter. As Noisey once pointed out, he’s been pivotal in emphasizing the varied influences of beat music, pushing the genre into new, previously unthinkable spaces and helping to establish a vibrant beat music scene in Toronto

DJ SHUNGU
Beatsmith and DJ ShunGu has been dropping spiritual beats in Brussels since 2011. Further cementing himself in the music scene as an eclectic producer with 10 years of experience on the famous MPC almost every day. His alter ego Senga is used for his more electronic groovy house style. Sampling and music-making are part of his daily life. He worked with Pink Siifu, Navy Blue, Fly Anakin, Fatima, Seven Davis Jr, $ilk Money, Rejjie Snow, Quelle Chris, Chester Watson, Liv.e, Dreamcastmoe to name a few.

Regarding ShunGu’s career, the producer has collaborated with established partners in the industry such as Boiler Room, My Analog Journal, BBE on Lefto’s compilation, Gangster Doodles compilation ‘Gangster Music Vol. 2’, Pitchfork, OkayPlayer, NTS Radio, Carhartt, Billionaire Boys Club,…

Concerning his forthcoming projects, ShunGu have produced tracks for the upcoming albums of MIKE, Liv.e, Navy Blue, Larry June, Fly Anakin and more.
Without forgetting his electronic alias, a special release on London-based record label Touching Bass in 2025.

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MIRAGE EUROPEAN TOUR SPONSORED BY I LOVE UGLY
https://www.iloveugly.com/
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Lundi 17. février à 19:00
Brasserie ILLEGAAL •
Rue Bollinckx 300, 1190 Forest, Bruxelles

Come by train, bike, car, bus