ZillaKami built trap metal before most people had a name for it, and the numbers since have been hard to argue with. The formula — hardcore punk aggression fused with hip-hop’s trap percussion, distorted guitars turned up past the point of comfort — seemed like a basement proposition. Then DOG BOY landed in 2021 with 413 million Spotify streams and closed that debate. He’s in Buffalo on Tuesday, Nov. 17, closing out a four-city Midwest/Great Lakes run at Rec Room.
About the Show
Born Junius Rogers in Bay Shore, New York, ZillaKami came up writing for 6ix9ine around 2014 before dropping his debut EP, LifeIsAHorrorMovie, in April 2017. He’d connected with SosMula through his brother’s work at a tattoo parlor, and the two co-founded City Morgue that same year. The catalog that followed — City Morgue Vol. 1 (2018), Vol. 2 (2019), Toxic Boogaloo (2020), My Bloody America (2023) — established trap metal’s genre infrastructure. The sound: distorted guitar over trap percussion, vocals landing somewhere between a rap cadence and a hardcore bark, with production calibrated to hit in rooms where you feel the kick drum before you hear it. They made floor-shuddering anthems like “SHINNERS13” and “ARSON” alongside darker, more inward material like “DRAINO” and “THE BALLOONS”; that range is what kept it from being a novelty.
DOG BOY (September 2021) was ZillaKami’s first full solo statement and split the difference: half leaned into City Morgue’s brand of aggression, half reached toward something more melodic and introspective. The streaming numbers say people heard it. His most recent release, TITANS, dropped in December 2025 ahead of singles “BLACK FLAG,” “Knife,” and “Sold Pain.” The run closes in Buffalo, after stops in Columbus (Nov. 13), Cleveland (Nov. 14), and Detroit (Nov. 16). No support acts are listed for the Buffalo date.
Venue & Logistics
Rec Room is a 300-capacity bar and music venue at 79 W. Chippewa St. in western New York. For an artist with ZillaKami’s streaming footprint, it’s a deliberately small room — the kind of show where the distance between the record and the room gets erased quickly, and the material has to prove itself live. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. The show is 16+ with ID; under 16 admitted with a parent or legal guardian; no one under 12.
Tickets
Tickets start at $33.67. Presented by After Dark Presents. Buy tickets