In 2022, Quadeca released a concept album about haunting your loved ones from the afterlife, self-produced and featuring Danny Brown and the Sunday Service Choir. Anthony Fantano ranked the lead single “Born Yesterday” as the seventh-best song of that year, and from that point on, whatever remained of his YouTube-rapper reputation became irrelevant. That album, I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You, is what made his music worth tracking. He brings the Life 1 Tour to Empire Live on Saturday, October 24.
About the Show
The Life 1 Tour supports his fifth studio album, expected later in 2026, and marks Quadeca’s return to full North American touring: 23 dates across four countries, including festival appearances at Fuji Rock earlier this year. His previous record, Vanisher, Horizon Scraper (2025, X8 Music), was a narrative work built around the image of someone lost at sea chasing a horizon that keeps receding—obsession as the thing that ultimately costs you the journey. Quadeca put it directly: “It is through the act of surrender that you can regain a more honest form of control, one that respects the universal constants that you are always at the mercy of.” Sonically it blended folktronica, art pop, hip-hop, and bossa nova, with contributions from Danny Brown, Maruja, and Olēka.
Three singles from Life 1 are out ahead of the tour: “Dark Magic,” “Baby Steps,” and “Hell of a Time,” released July 22. Reviewers describe “Hell of a Time” as “probably the most pop-centered and bright sounding song Quadeca’s made”—drum machine, piano flourishes, heavily layered auto-tuned vocals. He is described as capable of going anywhere stylistically; the new singles suggest he is pulling toward something more immediate.
Derby and Olēka open throughout the entire tour. The pairing is not incidental: Olēka appeared on Vanisher, Horizon Scraper, so the collaboration runs deeper than a standard support booking. A portion of tour proceeds benefits City of Hope, which funds cancer research and support for children and families facing the disease.
Venue & Logistics
Empire Live is a two-floor, standing-room venue at 93 N. Pearl Street in Albany. The October 24 date puts this show on the Capital Region calendar between Quadeca’s October 23 stop at the House of Blues in Boston and Toronto on October 26. Show time is 8:00 p.m.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. Artist presale begins Wednesday, July 29 at 10:00 a.m. local time; general on-sale is Friday, July 31 at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster. Buy tickets