It’s That Goon Shit
Jang the Goon’s sold-out show at the Dipper wasn’t just a performance—it was a declaration.
Jang the Goon’s sold-out Dipper show is further proof that he’s not just passing through—he owns the space and can treat it however he wants.
Any great punk show has that electric, chaotic energy—something about the swirling of the mosh pit feels like home. Usually, a singer serves as the conductor, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Friday night? A rapper.
As J. La Rae and Micah Clay kicked off the set with an instrumental reprise of "Roof On Fire," Jang emerged from the green room, guitar in hand, staring down the crowd before shattering a guitar on the stage and stomping on the splinters.
Forget the usual rock trope of musicians sacrificing guitars at the end of monster sets—Jang obliterated any doubts in the first song of his set about why the crowd had gathered that Friday: we were in for a punk show.
Punk rap has long been at odds with rap. Whether it’s Lil Wayne stumbling through a guitar solo or the Beastie Boys' newest releases sounding dated upon release, punk rap often is forced or out of place. But Jang the Goon and his crew? Naturals.
Over the last four years, Jang has experimented with blending rock and punk influences into his lyrical rap foundation of his ‘Alone By Choice’ mixtape era. Over this period of exploration and working with different producers, his songs began taking shape in production and beat selection - morphing from clear hiphop beats, through the eerie and distorted ‘Espresso and Shine’ that hinted at a rockish sound. Only in his songs since 2023 and 2024 featuring production by J. La Rae and live show guitar work by Micah Clay has his stage presence and crowd dynamics glued into that same sonic world.
The evolution was slow at first as songs from his previous monikers filtered their way out out of his set. Friday, Jang embodied a raucous sound and ethos that commanded the room - whether it was the overflowing pit of shirtless teens and early 20-somethings demanding the crowd's attention, the palpable feeling that Jang might fling himself into the pit and mosh some sense into them, Micah Clay headbanging while playing a riff, or J. La Rae looming tall over the room stoking everyone into a furor, one thing is clear: Jang was in the good company of his goons.I
Mid set I leaned over to a friend and asked, "What’s up with the pit?" as a shirtless dude in Supreme boxer briefs and a pearl necklace locked eyes with another pit-goer and lurched his torso forward, throwing his body into a wild spin then began a fake beatdown of his friend as another hook off the unreleased “OFF WITH HIS HEAD” rang through the venue. The hook was new to the room but immediately familiar.
Jang’s newest track “FIGHT BACK” rang through the Dipper for 97 seconds in true punk form. That 97 seconds was enough time for a mosher to fall to the ground and by immediately scooped up to his feet. This set was strictly no crowdkillers.
Oh, Jang crowd-surfed, as everyone knew he would. Friday night was a punk show at the Dipper. Fans left ears ringing and satisfied.
Jang the Goon and I AM TOPP perform their unreleased song, “OFF WITH THEIR HEAD”, video by Spicy Ketchup
