Joey Valence & Brae

One Liner: Wanna-be Beastie Boys sound like fun
Wikipedia Genre: Punk rap, rap rock, nerdcore, experimental hip-hop, electronica
Home: Pennsylvania

Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 10
Day: Saturday
Both Weekends.

Beatbox Stage at 3:30.

Thoughts:  Huh.  They are really failing the world with that group name.  When you see that name, what do you expect?  Some sort of indie bedroom pop?  Joey plucking gentle riffs on his guitar while Brae sings wistful lyrics about lost love.  NOPE.  This is a hip hop duo from Pennsylvania making angry rap action.  I hear some Beastie Boys and some Pharcyde and some House of Pain in here.

Strangely enough, that isn't even a real name.  Joseph Bertolino (Joey Valence) and Braedan Lugue (Brae).  The two met as freshmen at Penn State and after becoming friends started making music together.  Their first single dropped in 2021, but their big hit landed in 2022 as a single.  "PUNK TACTICS" has 152.6 million streams.

Apparently filmed entirely on a Nintendo DSi.  Ridiculous and silly, and yet its pretty damn enjoyable.  They released a 2023 album named after that track.  This is going to be a fun show, I think.  The Internet says that they do a really high energy show with backflips and moshpits.  Perfect for the kiddies who haven't been getting enough fun rap stuff on the poster.

Funny thing, after deciding that I liked this and was excited about it, I played it for wife and child #3 yesterday in the car.  You know how when you play music for someone else, after you have claimed it is good, and then you start really listening closely to it?  You really shouldn't do that with these two goobers.  It's fun music that would be a good time at a festival, but it's not something that will ever be critically acclaimed or something to impress your middle-aged wife with.

The top track off of their 2024 album is called "OK" with 15.9 million streams.

Man, if you thought the video shot on the Nintendo was bad... But again, you get some more Beasties-lite action.  Yeah, I'd absolutely go and bop along to this mess.  It's bound to be a good time.