Gig review: Kid Ink; Glasgow ABC

Practically more tattoo than man, the young Los Angeles MC cut a mean-looking figure once his hoodie and T-shirt were ripped off – with a certain sense of inevitability – to reveal almost entirely inked arms, neck and torso.

Uncommonly, for a Stateside artist of his rap ilk, the 26-year-old’s reputation doesn’t precede him in touring the UK, and he remains a relative unknown after just one album.

But however small the crowd, the fact that so many of his dress-alike acolytes were queuing outside suggests he’s quickly earning depth if not yet breadth of appreciation. And come show time, one kamikaze young fan became so over excited he handed his shirtless idol a joint – marijuana being a favourite lyrical subject of this hardly cliche-busting rapper.

All ravey synth sounds and apocalyptic electronic beats, Ink’s tunes have addictive flow. Best among them the bling-craving I Just Want It All, even if its spell was broken abruptly – as with so many tunes – by the infernal honk of the DJ’s dodgy air horn sample.

A clamour for Collins to sign baseball caps, tickets, plaster casts and body parts near the end added further to the feeling this rapper is yet another to possess the abundant star quality and bare minimum of talent necessary to command far larger crowds in time.

Rating: * * *