Chicago-based and New Jersey born rapper, producer and lyricist Jane Remover’s latest LP “Revengeseekerz” debuted in early April to rave reviews. A far cry from the shoegaze melancholia of their previous album, “Census Designated,” the central thesis of this new record seemed to be encapsulated in the title of the sixth track and the label for this tour: “TURN UP OR DIE.”
On Friday, April 25, Jane Remover performed at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall to a crowd of alternative music fans glistening with sweat. Opened for and backed up on a DJ kit by Kimberly Sommers, known by her stage name d0llywood1, Jane hit the second stop on their first headlining tour with shadow force.
It feels like Jane never stops moving. After opening for Barrington Hendricks, aka JPEGMAFIA, during the American stretch of his “Lay Down My Life” tour last year, they immediately began work on “Revengeseekerz.” Yet Jane is known for being a polyonymous artist: after ditching their long-lived persona as leroy, under which they released three albums which inspired the microgenre known as “dariacore,” they released the full-length LP “Ghostholding” under their pseudonym/side project, Venturing, back in February. This is on top of multiple collaborations with Frost Children, underscores, Tinashe and their role as the host of “Wait Watch This” at NTS Radio for the past year, in which they performed hour-long sets as a DJ.
Despite their clear workaholic attitude as a producer, their performing capabilities still needed some attention. As an attendee at their Chicago stop last year with Hendricks’, it seemed like Jane’s stage presence was still being formed.
It’s not like Hendicks’ audience of terminally online shut-ins who refuse to move or respect anyone else made the experience any easier, but in spite of Jane’s clear passion for the music, their work with a crowd as huge as the one at Radius seemed to overwhelm them a tad. Nervous asides, moments of dead air between songs — it doesn’t feel fair to deeply analyze how someone acts on stage, but nonetheless live performance is an art form unto itself, equally as essential to a concert experience as the music itself. It is something that can be improved.
Flash forward to that chilly night in late April, Jane’s style feels much more at home. Swaths of people clad in their merch, many of them fans since Jane’s first work as a meme rapper apart of the ‘Robloxcore’ scene on Soundcloud in 2020, were keen on thrashing around to the speaker-breaking sounds of tracks like “Dreamflasher” and “Experimental Skin.”
Even beyond the more tight-knit venue in Lincoln Hall and a receptive crowd, they felt much more comfortable on stage. Previously bopping along to their songs with apprehension, they were now keen on ripping shrill screams while the cacophony of digital noise blared behind them on “Professional Vengeance.”
“Revengeseekerz” wasn’t the only work on display however — interspersed with that record were cuts from their first album recognized under the Jane Remover moniker, “frailty,” such as the moody digicore (there are so many genres, my god) pop song “movies for guys.” In addition, Jane performed a previously unreleased single “The 1” in the middle of the show, throwing fans for a loop while maintaining that electric energy that they’d been able to capture so well throughout the night.
Due to the newness of their new album, the crowd was in the mood to dance throughout the night, but perhaps weren’t completely familiar with the lyrics quite yet. To wrap out the show, Jane threw the audience a bone, harkening back to their first EP “teen week” in the song “homeswitcher.” “homeswitcher” switched things up: a chorus of fans screamed along to the misanthropic and brash attitude of a teen musician, throwing themselves at each other as bodies collided in the pit.
If “TURN UP OR DIE” has been any indication of things to come, it proves only that Jane will stay busy and continue to evolve. I eagerly anticipate their next project, which given their work flow will probably be out by the time I finish this article.
Related Stories:
Support Student Journalism!
The DePaulia is DePaul University’s award-winning, editorially independent student newspaper. Since 1923, student journalists have produced high-quality, on-the-ground reporting that informs our campus and city.
As the funding model for journalism changes, we rely on reader support more than ever. Your donation helps us fund the reporting that keeps our community informed. Donations are tax deducible through DePaul's giving page. Click the button below to donate.