Posts tagged ‘Lethal B’

November 13, 2012

LIVE REVIEW: RED BULL CULTURE CLASH (LONDON)

It was the biggest music battle to hit London this year and only one sound system could win. The rules were simple; four rounds which are 15 minutes long, you have to save the special guests and the dubs until the last round, you can’t play a tune that’s been played already and the winner is crowned from the decibel reading at the end…

Even though the rules were simple, Major Lazer played as if the rules were there to be broken, playing dubs and bringing out special guests before the end round. Round one kicked off with Channel One bringing roots and culture to the clash, moving on to Annie Mac who kicked off with tunes like ‘Clique’ and ‘212’.

Major Lazer played a Bruno Mars dub on the first round and then dropped their hit ‘Pon De Floor’, starting the first round off with electricity. Diplo also got into a massive blow up see-through ball and tumbled across the crowd in it.

Boy Better Know’s first round was so hyped; playing the biggest and best bass instrumentals from Pay As You Cartel’s ‘Know We’, Faze Miyake’s ‘Take Off’ and Breakage’s ‘Hard’. Just from the first round alone, I thought it was going to be Annie Mac or BBK who was going to win.

The second round is where it got tense, with Major Lazer playing more dubs and also bringing out Stylo G. BBK weren’t happy, as Skepta said: ‘You’re not meant to bring out special guests till the end, Major Lazor better turn their lazors off!”

Wiley’s hits ‘Heatwave’ and ‘Can You Hear Me’ were played in round two and the man himself also jumped into the crowd, giving fans a special surprise. P Money also MC’d over some dubstep on Annie Mac’s set. BBK got more upset on round three, with JME warning his competitors, saying ‘I’m gonna slap someone!’ Channel One also stepped in saying, ‘Major Lazer don’t disrespect, have some respect for the artist dem.’ Round three was called ‘Sleeping With The Enemy’, which meant they all had to play the sounds of an opponent’s sound system.

Round four was the time to get serious, where contestants brought the disses, the dubs and the guests. Major Lazer brought out impressive guests Rita Ora and Usher, which saw Rita have a wardrobe malfunction and revealing a boob! Usher performed ‘Climax’ with Diplo remixing it to a reggae version.

Annie Mac presented us with remarkable guests, including Maverick SabreKaty BMs Dynamite and Example. BBK got came with a Giggs dubplate, also bringing out their guests Lethal B and Chip.

BBK were crowned as the winners, but I think Major Lazer’s screams were bigger and Annie Mac played more of a variety – but you can’t win when rules are broken so they had to go home empty handed. Congratulations to BBK who played fair and came with wicked tunes and entertainment.

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July 9, 2012

MTV Wrap Up – THE UK RAP RUNDOWN

This is my first UK Rap Rundown column; here I will be bringing you the week’s highlights in the UK urban scene – I hope you enjoy it! I haven’t even been back from the BET Awards in L.A a week yet and have already attended a festival – Hyde Park’s Wireless. I was pleased to see underground rappers Political PeakSho Shallow and Ard Adz get a packed out tent and an amazing crowd reaction – it proved how well UK rap is doing…

Of course, Sneakbo smashed his set too. Sway did an old school hip-hop style set, with verses from Wu TangTupac and Mobb DeepRoc Nation signee USG member K Koke also performed on the Sunday supported by his fellow crew members.

In other news, Scorcher has replied to Dappy’s ‘Tarzan 2’ diss which hears him say: “I still roll for my hood and I wear my chain, f**k a Top Boy Scorcher he can’t do the same. Real recognise real, how many albums have you sold to date?”

Scorcher wasn’t too happy with Dappy and replied via an SB.TV video called ‘Rockstar’. The MC dropped punchline after punchline, saying that he is an “underground king, you could never be my equal” and “you could have a mill still look like a tramp.” He also mentions Tulisa and the now infamous tape that her ex-boyfriend leaked to the world.

Personally I liked Dappy’s ‘Tarzan 2’ video; unfortunately he had to re-shoot and re-release the video due to the heavy controversy it received. Props to Scorcher; he went in on the diss track and I feel he is the better man in this situation.

The video that caught my attention last week came from Donae’o. I was at the video shoot for the track ‘YDKAM’ and know there’s going to be a lot more to come from the ‘Party Hard’ singer on his album. He told me: “It’s going to have a lot more hip-hop and R&B, there’s a want for it, so I can put it out.”

The song ‘You Don’t Know About Me’ features some of UK rap’s hardest lyricists, such as Joe BlackSqueeksDru BluRatlin and Lethal B.

Another interesting one was the Labrinth produced ‘Watchtower’ by Devlin featuring Ed Sheeran. It is the first single from his forthcoming album ‘A Moving Picture’.

Leicester based R&B singer Luke Bingham was also recently joined by Play Dirty’s Krept & Konan for the track ‘Shut It Down’. I really like the beat to this track and Krept & Konan really give the song that hip-hop edge it needed. I predict big things for Mr Bingham; he has the voice, the style and looks to match.

February 6, 2012

Review: YoYo Nottinghill Arts Club: Clement Marfo + The Frontline and Mikill Pane

Yoyo’s in Nottinghill Arts Club is the only place to be on a Thursday night, and has been for years now. They always have a stellar line up, and plenty of music artists and industry guests coming to see and support the live acts. Last week Shireen Fenner headed down there to check out Clement Marfo + The Frontline and Mikill Pane, other acts that performed were a five piece band eclectic band mixing up soul, urban and rock called Warehouse Republic and Mike Delinquent played a set after all the live acts.

Clement Marfo + The Frontline rocked onto the stage and it was clear that they had many fans in the audience. The seven members from South London began the show with the band playing an intro showing us what they’re made of, with Clement Marfo emceeing and Kojo singing. After the second song Clement interacted with the crowd asking, ‘London how you feeling? You guys feeling good?’ They then moved onto the next track ‘Survivors,’ which is a song dedicated to Clement’s friend who died 5 years ago, with Clement and Kojo taking off their sunglasses to show emotion and respect. It was time to move onto the songs everybody knows starting off with ‘Champion,’ and the sunglasses coming back on. Clement then announced how he had played at YoYo’s four years ago, and how different the set up was back then and how much his circumstances had changed. ‘Overtime,’ was up next with no appearance from Ghetts, but we did have a surprise on the last track of the night, “Mayhem,’ with a surprise performance from Kano and the crowd going wild.

Now it was time for a break to grab a drink and have a chat about the performance before. The headlining act was now due on and Mikill Pane graced the stage in his collaborative Dope Chef t-shirt. The agenda for tonight’s gig for Mikill was to showcase some new songs from ‘The Morris Dancer EP,’ including ‘Kings,’ and ‘Cut Back FFWD,’ featuring Little Bear. Xo Man joined Mikill next for their joint track, ‘Follow Fashion.’ A live band now joined Mikill Pane for the last songs of the night from the ‘Blackcurrant and Guinness’ EP including ‘Golden,’ and ‘I Can Feel It,’ joined by singer Ben Clemo. Mikill then asked the crowd, ‘Whose going to see D’Angelo?’ Then the song started to play and we realised why he asked the question, as he delivered his lyrics to ‘The Return of Mister Pane,’ over the classic D’Angelo track ‘Lady.’

The three live acts were over, but there was another surprise in store as Mikill Pane left the stage and Doneo and Lethal B jumped on. Confusion struck, but then they announced, ‘everyone who wants to be in our new music video come up on the stage.’ I watched them perform and film the video for their new song,’ Not A Saint,’ safely from below. This Thursday Rita Ora will be preforming her first London show (if you don’t count her appearance on DJ Fresh’s set last night) at YoYo’s. If you’re a fan get on the guestlist and check her out.

February 6, 2012

Secrets to Success with Ms Dynamite, Adam Deacon, JME, Dot Rotten, Lady Leshurr + More

Ms Dynamite, Adam Deacon, Newton Faulkner, Radio 1xtra’s Twin B, Dot Rotton, JME, Lethal B, Lady Leshurr, Sam Garrett talk to me about the secret to their success in the music and entertainment industry at the BBC Introducing Masterclasses.