To say it simply rained last Saturday would be downplaying the torrential downpour that assaulted Sydney. Puddles became pools, sneakers were soaked, and umbrellas were shredded. However, the energy from inside ACO On The Pier couldn’t be dampened. Persian-Kiwi artist Chaii was here to heat up Walsh Bay, making her Sydney Festival debut.
Born in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, Chaii moved to New Zealand at the age of eight, spending most of her adolescence in Auckland. There she ingrained herself in the hip-hop scene while distinguishing herself by incorporating traditional Persian instruments and Farsi lyrics. In the past, she’s been described as a genre-bender, boundary-pusher, and “the future of hip-hop”. It comes as little surprise that Chaii is a successful multi-hyphenate creative. Primarily an artist, she’s also served as a producer, engineer, and director. Her sound directly draws upon her migrant upbringing and diversity of cultures and music she was exposed to. Her debut album, Safar, garnered rave reviews and a slew of nominations at New Zealand’s Aotearoa Music Awards.
The night began with the stage erupting in a combination of bombastic drums and the blare of an electric guitar. With no hesitation, Chaii bounced towards the microphone like a boxer looking to throw a haymaker at their opponent. After rattling off a few bars with the breathless pace of a machine gun, she chanted out the hook to her 2020 single ‘Wow’, demanding everyone to, “Look at me!” For the next hour, we were all in the palm of her hand, mesmerised by the shine of her chromed-out fingernails.
The evening weaved together songs from her burgeoning discography with highlights including ‘Lightswitch’, ‘Night Like This’ and the anthemic ‘We Be Killing It’. Not to be upstaged, her band, Yoko-Zuna, was equally captivating. Lead guitarist Kenji hit multiple hip thrusts to the beat while woodwind musician JY Lee played a go-go-gadget inventory of instruments.
The relentlessness of the set was only broken for brief intermissions where Chaii’s down to earth and self-effacing disposition took centre stage. When showing her appreciation for the opportunity, she thanked ‘Auckland Festival’, then ‘Sydney Arts Festival’, before finally landing on ‘Sydney Festival’. The room hummed with laughter as Chaii sheepishly looked down and giggled to herself— all of it very charming and unmistakably Kiwi.
Towards the end of the set, Chaii took a moment to acknowledge the larger political unrest occurring in Iran and how many of her songs were an expression of the freedom she desires for her homeland. Before playing the last few songs, Chaii smiled at the audience and said that her dream was to make music and perform a set just like this one in Tehran. Though the night was filled with bangers, collective head nodding , and rain (again, so much rain), It was Chaii’s earnestness and vulnerability in that moment that left the most profound impression on me.
oh nah yeah/10
Special thanks to Chaii, all the memebers of Yoko-Zuna, Common State, and the good people at Sydney Festival. All photos courtesy of Victor Frankowski.
