Not many people know about New York-based duo The Underachievers, but that is sure to change soon. The group received a lot of acclaim in the online hip-hop community with the release of their debut mixtape “Indigoism” in February and their EP “Lords of Flatbush” over the summer. At this year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest, the group rocked the Blue Stage on Saturday afternoon to an enthusiastic crowd.

Their set was a good mix of material between their two releases, with a majority of the songs coming from their earlier release. This was a good thing, because while “Lords of Flatbush” was not a bad release, it was entirely produced by Lex Luger and suffered from the same problem many albums that are creatively pioneered by one person: it was pretty repetitive. A lot of songs on the EP are, as hip-hop heads put it, “bangers” with a lot of energy which make for exciting live shows, but listening to the EP, they all sort of blend together, and during a live performance you want a bit more variety in your setlist.

The Underachievers were definitely aware of this need for variety and they provided it. They introduced their well-known track “The Madhi” by telling the crowd it is good to get “turnt up” at a show, but sometimes you have to bring it down a bit before you turn it up again, and that track was perfect for what they were going for.

The crowd responded positively to the entire set, but they were especially excited when the duo’s most popular songs “Herb Shuttles” and “Philanthropist” were pulled out, and it was hard to spot a head in the crowd not bobbing along to the beats. Of the numerous groups coming out of New York right now (more specifically Pro Era and Flatbush Zombies), The Underachievers should not be slept on.