Dine On Grime / Munch on music
All my features, reviews, opinion pieces, and artist profiles in one place (the punctuation isn't perfect but the passion is!)
Being invited to BDL’s weekender by Big Narstie’s record label and my frequent affiliates Dice recordings, was like rolling the dice on a game of Aces and getting a no.6. Every time. ‘REALLY noooooooo! P*ss offfffff, serious???!’ I exclaimed in my usual no nonsense Northern, slightly tom boyish way, as the label broke down the offer in full...
I arrived at Parklife looking like Ini Kamoze’s ‘hot stepper’ yanking my trusted wellies from inches of mud. I nestled myself in at the front of the Temple stage to catch the last half of the walking soul system’s set - 1xtra’s Jamz Supernova, who was joined by fierce Croydon MC stush, who flexed her skills to an eager crowd ...
Standout performance of the night for me was Cadet, Big Tobz and DJ Russke. This time Big Tobz sported a red man united shirt (as opposed to the white one he was flexin; earlier in the week during my interview) with the words ‘Kool Nuh’ big and bold on the back; which prompted me to turn to my girls and say “He better not wash the white and red together imagine the colour run on that!” Cadet...
We struck it lucky again when we were invited back to Bigga Fish to see wa gwarn and catch up with some old friends of ours who had been invited back to perform (Kay Rico and DJ Win.) Last year Bigga Fish was a one city performance this year the enterprise cast their net a whole lot wider as they had bigga fish to fry. They embarked on a 3 city tour kicking off with Birmingham on 20th February, Manchester 21st February and the grand finale in London on 25th February. Another twist...
On the day of Kano’s Made in the Manor gig (13th October) at the O2 Ritz, Manchester I was vexed. I was screw facing making the plants in the kitchen shrivel up with my sour face. The reason – My favourite MC was playing in my home city, the gig had sold out quick time...
With Sidewinder summer festival in a state of slumber in 2015 we were more than ready for the event to wake up from its yearlong snooze and wind itself back up again like a watch with a brand new battery; just in time to celebrate its sweet sixteenth. In Sidewinders’ infancy back in 1996 its capacity was that of only 600 and was held at a small venue in Northampton shining a spotlight on garage legends EZ, Sticky, JAM and Principal. As the Garage sound began to evolve into a darker sound it welcomed acts, So solid Crew, Ms. Dynamite and Heartless crew so too did the venues...
The city of Manchester had Bigga fish to fry when they hosted their end of term event at the O2 Academy on Friday 22nd July to a crowd of gassed Grime and hyper hip hop hip hop fans ready to cut loose and leave any signs of study in the shade and start their summer with Manchester and Birmingham Rap and Grime artists – Mist, Burgaboy, Kay Rico and Keekz Bigga fish is an enterprise with a twist as they enlist 14 -25 year olds to join their 10 week street team programme which teaches young people skills
There we were four lil old limping ladies, hobbling and trudging towards the bathroom in slow motion trying to muster the motivation for round 2 at Parklife. We’d all done a Tom Hanks in the film ‘Big’ and experienced accelerated aging overnight as the events of the day before had done us in which was apt because some of us had BIG blisters on our feet but a few blisters and aching limbs were not going to deter us from getting our dance on at Parklife festival day 2, not on your nelly or should that be not on your wellies
the festival itself was located at Heaton Park, Manchester, but one must present themselves where the party is in progress) With the gal gang assembled early doors and shots lined up before midday on Saturday like a squad of soldiers ready to intoxicate and inebriate the four of us we were ready to roll. Whilst queueing to gain access to the festival it struck me how vigorous security checks were on the guys, due to the fact the violent incidents which threatened to see the festival shutdown permanently had involved men.
“Welcome to the ninth annual hunger games, may the mic be ever with you firin’” - it’s 2016 – spring, Eskimo dance is touring and each MC is poised and ready to compete in Grime’s version of ‘The hunger games,’ the DJ’s are the game makers (and game changers), the venue’s become the arena and the stage is set for our microphone matadors to impress its audience. The tour
Dine On Grime / Munch on music 