On September 28th, I journeyed to Union Stage to see one of the most innovative artists in the rap underground. Che embarked on his Rest In Bass Tour in early September, starting in Houston and continuing throughout North America. The D.C. show was one of the last concerts on his tour, but the energy was far from fading. The venue pulsed with 808s, gunshot sounds, and fans chanting, “SAYSO! SAYSO! SAYSO!”, one of Che’s nicknames. At the Che show, our souls rested in bass.
Che’s first mixtape, closed captions (2023), was one of the first underground rap projects I listened to. Nobody went crazier on the track than Che. His beats were erratic and outrageous, each song teeming with pounding bass and screeching synths as he delivered bar after bar under thick layers of autotune. I became a frequent Che listener when he dropped his latest masterpiece, REST IN BASS (2025). The first three songs are intentionally inaccessible. His voice is grating, the adlibs are more akin to screams of terror, and no real melody exists within the cacophony of plug-ins and sound bites in the background. After the initial triptych of insanity, each song is magnificent. Delivering disgustingly diggable bars atop mind-bogglingly intricate beats, Che shows the world his true potential.
Highlight tracks from REST IN BASS are “DIOR LEOPARD,” “MDMA,” and “BA$$.” The first is a two-part anthem that feels equally like a laser light show and a raging blend of instrumental and lyrical insanity. After you hear the iconic “Go, go, go, go,” prepare for the most devious beat-switch of the year. Tangy synths and warbled snares swell throughout “MDMA,” a euphoric screamer about revelry. This hedonistic track is all fun and games, highlighting the bliss of partying when you’re young and famous. “BA$$,” a farewell song about love, loss, and addiction, imparts the final impression of the album. Lines like “I needed Marceline, but now she’s long gone / I drank a pint of lean, know I’ll be long gone” describe a constant oscillation between love and drugs, as Che leans into the deeper side of lyricism. The instrumentals create a grandiose and ethereal atmosphere for Che’s vocals to echo through as the album draws to a satisfying close.
The 19-year-old rapper appeared onstage at around 9:00 p.m. After an hour’s wait, the audience buzzed with anticipation, eager to hear songs from his newest album, with a few classics like “Green Day” and “Sayso” thrown in the mix. Fifty minutes of rapid-fire songs was interrupted only by the unanticipated debut of a new song. The brutal sonics of “Make It Rain” forced the crowd to don their best stank face. It was as if acid rain mixed with TV static was spraying from the speakers, melting the brains of the crowd in the best way possible. Its release is highly anticipated, as snippets have already leaked on Soundcloud, the audio hub where the latest underground rap snippets are worshipped before their official release.
Each track that Che performed sparked an inextinguishable fire in the crowd. It didn’t matter how soaked with sweat we were, how much our feet ached from jumping, or how mad our eardrums were for putting them through this show. We were hypnotized, moving to the musings of Che as one entity. The otherwise small venue turned into the most crowded mosh pit imaginable, but it was full of love and respect. If someone fell in the pit, they were immediately helped up. We were there for Che and for each other.
Che has potential to be one of the greatest rappers of our generation if he continues to create concert experiences like this while maintaining his community of energetic rap enthusiasts who want to see him go far. “The Rest In Bass Tour” was an unforgettable concert experience. Thank you, Che.
