The DPR Crew Brings the Coming To You Live Tour to Los Angeles
Only a little over a year since his official debut, independent hip-hop artist DPR Live brought high-energy performance to a sold-out show at The Novo in Downtown Los Angeles on October 12.
Live, along with the rest of the Dream Perfect Regime crew, stopped in L.A. as part of the Coming To You Live 2018 World Tour, which has hit 10 cities across North America and will continue with four stops in Europe and seven stops in Asia and Australia through the end of the year.
Photos by Annika Brandes
With over 70 million views on YouTube, Live has become a leading face of the Korean hip-hop community. The rapper has worked with DEAN, LOCO, and Jay Park to name a few, developing his own musical style along the way whilst proving his artistic caliber against some of the most respected names in the industry.
It’s pretty ambitious for an upcoming artist like Live to embark on a world tour; he even admitted at the beginning of the show that he struggled to assemble a full setlist, having only released two EPs and a handful of singles. But that hasn’t prevented the 25-year-old from selling out shows and drawing thousands of fans to witness DPR, live (see what I did there).
And the show did not disappoint. Because of his short tracklist, fans got at least a snippet of every track in his discography, including some of his more notable collaborations like “Action!” with GRAY and “Movie Shoot” with LOCO. OG fans were in for a treat as three songs from his Soundcloud were performed as well. “Till I Die,” his first track ever dropped, was preceded by poignant words of advice telling fans that if he could do this—rapping and pursuing the dream—then everyone in the room could truly do anything they wanted. Each song was accompanied by some stellar light work, especially the variegated ones during “Playlist,” which reflect the music video’s colorful setup. Also, Live really seems to have a thing for spraying fans with water, showering everyone with 10 full bottles. The crowd, according to Live, went the craziest for “Jasmine,” with the entire venue singing along and waving their cellphones with blaring flashes around.
It only got more hyped when the rest of the DPR crew joined Live on stage. His cousin Cline was a humorous addition, with a dance solo that seamlessly transitioned into the hard-hitting “Please.” DPR film director Christian Yu (who also goes by +IAN) also treated fans to a dance solo and shared some words with the crowd, who were mostly mesmerized by his Australian accent. Rem and Cream came out to close the show; the whole family shared the stage to thank fans and take a group photo.
It’s easy to see the loyalty between the members of the DPR team, and that genuine relationship was reflected in the concert’s overall vibe, which was clearly carried out the way Dream Perfect Regime intended. Intimate concerts allow artists to share that connection with fans, but the thought behind Coming To You Live’s production demonstrates how the creative team can compete with much more seasoned entities in the game. It’s only a matter of time before DPR Live really blows up.