There are few places where you'll find yourself caught in a crowd of sweaty zoomers wearing mismatched leather jackets, all while ‘Jeans’ plays for the fifth time during a set. However, 2hollis has never been an ordinary artist.
Since his rise to fame, provocation has been his forte. Even back when he was known as DrippySoup in middle school, releasing melancholic glitchcore over Chicago drill rhythms (imagine Chief Keef donning cat ears), the chaos was evident. He may have matured since then, but his live performances remain cranked up to the max.
It's worth noting that the true madness doesn't end when the venue lights come on; it simply transitions to the afterparty. 2hollis’ events are the kind of nights that continue being talked about for months, long after he has already departed for the next city. During his last show of the European tour in London, he kicked things off with a bang, so no one was surprised when he handed the night over to Maxxing.
If you're a regular London nightcrawler with a taste for dancefloors energised by a mix of Euroclash, hard-bass, and the latest Mechatok experiments, you probably know Maxxing. Founded in 2022 by Paw2000, BoyPillow, and Sonny, this collective has been a nurturing ground for underground talents like Zukovstheworld, Fakemink, and Varg2dm. Often, many of these artists are not included on the lineup; they’re simply pulled from the smoking area by a friend to throw together an impromptu DJ set that feels like a dream.
Then comes 2hollis. In under a year since signing with a mainstream label, 2hollis has achieved the unthinkable: transforming white-boy-emo-rage-glitch-dubstep from a source of cringe into a cohesive cult following.
With his long blonde hair, a thin line across his face, and military jackets, stepping into the pit blurs the lines between performer and audience. He’s created what resembles a cult but functions like an ecosystem. “I swear that was him,” someone in the crowd remarks. One hollis, two hollis, three hollis, twenty hollis. The entire room embodies him, and he encapsulates the entire room. The scent of cigarettes had already permeated the venue before his arrival, leaving the impossibly stylish crowd smelling like an ashtray, but it seemed like a fitting price to pay for entry. “Did he just play 2012 Justin Bieber?” someone queries by the bar. As blonde hair whips through the lights, the night reaches its peak when he performs TikTok hits like ‘Gold’, ‘Crush’, and, of course, ‘Poster Boy’.
A 21-year-old who seems to have stepped out of a J.R.R. Tolkien novel, rapping about anxiety and the allure of fame shouldn’t work so seamlessly, but it does, as he never elevates himself above the crowd. You wouldn’t expect a rage-rap, eyelinered persona to casually appear at Morley’s after a sold-out show, munching on a box of six-portion chips with a Miranda in hand, but here we are. These afterparties reveal another facet of the same experience.
When asked about the criteria for selecting performing artists for Maxxing, Paw2000 stated, “You have to party. And you have to go out. But you also need to spend an equal amount of time on SoundCloud and YouTube. Going down rabbit holes. They both play a crucial role.” This philosophy, while seemingly straightforward, encapsulates Maxxing’s instinct-driven approach to curation.
Maxxing has become a playground for artists who have already achieved mainstream success, a venue where they can share their true playlists without concern for whether the audience keeps the rhythm. 2hollis, with his distinctive style, was the perfect fit—an act people later claim they saw just to remain in the conversation.
There are few locations where you might get crushed by sweaty zoomers in mismatched leather jackets while 'Jeans' is played for the fifth time during a single set.