The good people at Vision Pr hit me up with this little shindig/sweatbox raveup/artist showcase happening this Thursday (26th Nov) at the King Apparel store in Covent Garden.
The artiste in question isSkandal and the event's to celebrate the release of his album "Hunger Pains". Familiarise yourself with his output here...
I Heard him flingin' down some heavyweight bars when he opened up forSouls of Mischief earlier this month and dude does not disappoint live
All you need to do is bring yourself and a packed lunch.....the juice is free.
Don't be late, cos these events are always RAMMED and with this F'd up weather we've been having lately you'll either freeze or drown if you get left outside.
I've managed to acquire a pass to explore the largest annual Erotica conference in the UK and I am very, very happy about this.
Sunday's the last, and some say wildest day, so if you wanna reach, book your tickets here. Pics, Vids and whatever else they'll let me get away with coming shortly.....
Funky house is supposed to be a sexy affair happening in places where fly chicas with 3 Degrees come to show off what they learnt in their belly dancing and salsa lessons. And where the reformed 'Man dem' pose off at strategic places lookin sharp, spittin game to the said females.
It's not like that at all though. It's like war and it's not sexy. The chicks don't dance they 'Stomp' and all the 'Gym boys' just wanna out sweat each other. It's not Funky it's Fuckries....
Who can save us from this madness?
She can!
Enter Natalie "Sexy Sexy" May. She's the triple threat. She sings, writes and dances.....very well. She's one of my Fly Females of Funky. Other members include Princess Nyah, Egypt and Meleka...to name a few. Her new track Sexy Sexy(Put your fingers all up on me) has been bringing the funk back to the clubs for a little while now and is due for general release in January.
It's a BIG tune and if she let me, I would blatantly put my fingers all up on her, and her dancers, and her backup dancer......and her manager. They're like a gang of brown Barbies on a mission to 'keep it sexy'. I endorse this.
Check out the fresssshnew video and have a listen to what happened when she joined me in the studio a few weeks back...
Natalie and I choppin it up in the studio at BANG Radio
I was heading up the stairs to the library and It came out of nowhere. Actually, I'm lying. I was trying some flash "dip under the bannister" shit when a simple "one 2 step" would've done the job.
It wasn't pretty. I lost balance mid crouch and in a split second I was laid out on the stairs like a drunk tramp. I felt like Sonic when he gets stabbed by a spike. My cool points went everywhere.....Bling! bling! Bl -bl-bl-bl-bliiiiiing!
My swagger was in tatters. Everybody laughed and nobody helped. I can only deduce from this that the library is a place where humanity HAS no place. So FUCK the library. From now on, I'm working at home.
People doing silly shit. Then falling over.
Parkour fool
Singing atop table fool
R2-D2 fool
So beware of "The Drops" blockski's, they can strike at any time....
After "Brain Training" at Saturday school my sister and I would sit down with our happy meals and get our little minds warped by the comedic madness that was "The Real McKoy".
As the only man on The Block, it's my duty to keep our male readers updated with all things fresh and fashionable.
The 'Brothers Christian' aka The Individuals' are two men committed to preaching the gospel of dapper desires to the unstylish chaps amongst us. Their website www.individualism.co.uk is the culmination of years spent observing and obsessing over what defines Style. Mens style in particular.
Look out for the 'Product of the week' and their regular Vlogs on everything from how to tie a bow tie, to the 5 essential pieces every gent needs in his wardrobe.
After their world record breaking Time Sculpture advert, trophy lust has permeated the creative minds at Toshiba.
To aptly launch their new range of Regza TV's, they decided there was only one thing for it.... Float an armchair up to the edge of the atmosphere, film it, and in doing so acquire the world record for the highest ever advert.
My thoughts are, that certain individuals were consuming illicit substances over a working lunch, or that brainstorming sessions were outsourced to a gang of six year olds. The end result could easily be a product of either scenario.
To get the in-house take on the whole affair, peep "The Making Of..." right here.
Above is the video forMama(Loves A Crackhead) from the album Who Needs Actions When you Got Words
Just had a post-lecture introduction to Plan B. I'd heard his name mentioned a few years back, but the prospect of a white dude who raps, sings and simultaneously plays the guitar wasn't something my mind was open to at the time. When Eminem dropped, my psyche took a similar stance. How curious! Perhaps I'm a rap racist? Perhaps not? Either way it's irrelevent. The dude's clearly talented, and as of this moment I Endorse-This-Ish.
So till next time Blockski's,
Pie-Ce
Blaze
P.S And from now on, I'll prevent my dads "White Devil" speeches from affecting my musical tastes. Amen.
London is thePLACE for culinary globetrotting. Whether it be a full blown restaurant or a tiny unit slotted into the cityscape, we can skip continents and timezones with just an Oyster card and our natural desire for good food. I love it when I find a new place to chow down. I can go there every day for a month, get sick of it, and move on. This is one such place.
"Kennedys" on Goswell Road; experience the traditional British Fish Supper (plus salad and coleslaw) with some choice alternatives such as Calamari, Trout or Scampi washed down with a glass of the house wine or Tea/Coffee ALL for a fiver...
I opted for the tea, because I'm a G. But mainly because talking to clients on a full belly with alcohol molecules wreaking havoc on my concentration is NOT fashionable.
And one more thing. They play old Charlie Chaplin films on a massive plasma screen, so the apres munch entertainment is sorted...
In death, it is essential that one is remembered at their finest, their buffest and most dapperest. I weep when watching news bulletins of "X" who's died because of "Y" because when they show you a picture of the said victim, it usually looks like SHIT.
It's shocking, but so true.
Why is it always some B.S photo that looks like it was taken on a pinhole camera - In a storm?
If I die or fail return from my escapades about town, here are some self approved images you may use for all the "He'll be dearly missed" articles and tributes.
This mini-doc was brought to my attention about a year ago and it maps the journey of a six second drum solo, from existing as a flamboyant display ofmusical panache, to being included inglobalisations' unseen arsenal of subliminal weaponry and simultaneouslybecoming the basis for an entirelynewmusical genre.
Although thenarratorsounds as if his vocal chords have been reduced to the grand total of one, he makes some excellent observations on the history of Hip-Hop cultureand manages to shed some light on the murky beginnings ofDrum and Bass.
So. If you've seen it,RE-school yourself and if you haven't,proceedand become musically learned.
A few weeks ago I got myself down to the JDM Drift Championships which were held in amassive car park purpose built drift circuit outside Wembley stadium.
Now, I would've liked to explain to you all the various engineering and driving techniques employed to get a car up to drift spec, but that's what wikipedia's for - Drifting
Put it this way, it’s not as simple as flooring it and “doing skids”. Drifting is a terrifically dangerous vein of racing, and at times, drivers are travelling within inches of one another whilst being blinded by tyre smoke and trying to keep their car sideways.
Speeds can exceed 70mph, and that’s just in the corners. On a short course like the one in Wembley, the head to head heats were 30 seconds of mechanised mayhem.
The noise was incredible, and unlike last year when I heard it all from my house (very lame – wouldn’t recommend it), this time I was on the frontline choking on freshly cooked rubber fumes.
For you anoraks out there, Dan Chapman took the win and for the rest of us, here’re some pics and vids of some truly sublime motors.
Anyway, it's her tune"The Healer"which has prompted this post. All day I've been sorting out my music. Records, CD's and anobscene amount of Mp3s were getting cleaned, re-labeled and re-filed until I came across this tune. It's distracted me completely and 3 hours haveflown by since I put it on. Madness.
The chorus is like an ancient chant. I can imagine thousands of years from now after the earth's been ravaged by some kind of apocalyptic war you'll have old dreadlocked Hip Hop fiends chilling in their cave meditating to this sh*t.
It's deep man.
I feel possessed! Possessed by the spirit of Badusim, and as a fully fledged Baduist, I must share with you not only a visual representation of "The Healer" but also my first encounter with Ms Badu talents, plus some slick kids getting loooooose to "Back In The Day (PUFF)"
Enjoy.
"It's BIGGER than religion......"
"What a day, what a day....."
"Soooooul flower take me flyyyyyin' with youuuu......"
On hearing Mr Kweli was in LDN I can honestly say I haven't been that excited since I went surfing.....in Jamaica. True stories.
Not only was he rolling through my neck of the woods, but he was to leave his natural habitat behind the mic and set up shop behind the wheels of steel ready to snipe unwitting ravers with scything cuts and killer classics from his mammoth selection.
The venue of choice, Yo Yo's. Slap bang in the middle of Notting Hill, this place has seen more stars than Hubble telescope but pretentious and stuck up it is not. On entering the place I clocked the ever so swaggalicious Kay Young posted up in a corner and the stencils projected all over the walls were a very original touch. I can't remember exactly what they said but it was something about LDN being the Pit's Bits, which I AIN'T gonna argue with.
On stage was some chick warbling away shouting out her myspace in between tracks. She was alright, but the next time I see an artist on stage seriously expecting a half drunk, half uninterested audience to remember that ish I'm gonna get in touch with Zippos to give them an invitation to clown school. I'll have a flyer or a free CD thanks.
Once she'd cleared off, the DJ started throwin down and I hit the bar to get my juice game in motion. "Uprock" the B-boy/bar man was blatantly high on his own supply but I felt his pain. I've done bar work before, and a little "sippy sippy" definitely makes the nights more bearable.
My cohorts for the night, Lauren(Hill) and (Amazing)Tahirah had found a spot next to the drunkest people in the place.
Within two minutes, two seperate groups of crunkheads managed to throw their drinks on the floor. One dude even collapsed. (For once it wasn't me contributing to the nights spill count.) During an animated conversation in the middle of a club, I once back handed a chick who then crash landed onto a table tipping drinks all over the gaff. She FREAKED the f**k out. I thought I was gonna get a heel in the face. After her little tantrum, I bought her a drink to compensate for her bloodshot eye and then she asked me for my number.True stories.
With the Crunkquake over we bounced to the dance floor and after half an hour of jammin to a bit of Funky and some Old Skool Garage our boy finally showed up.
The MC grabbed the mic and as he was introducing TK, everyone squeeeeezed towards the booth to check the gwaanins. I had NO intention of getting my kicks stepped on so I jumped on the stage to get a better view.
There was no overhyped intro, dude just pressed play and went to work.
It was clear he knew his way arojund the decks and the selection was on point.
3 tracks in and we were sweating HARD, even the ceiling was perspiring.
As (Amazing)Tahirah said, he hurt it with D.O.A but when he dropped T.R.O.Y (Pete Rock&CL Smooth) my inner Hip Hop fiend emerged and the nights intention was well and truly validated.
To make matters even MORE rampageous, Maceo from De La Soul decided to pass through and jump on the decks as well.
Overwhelmed by both MC's display of extra curricular skills, we skipped, leaving the remaining revellers to contend with the fat droplets of sweat/condensation falling from the ceiling and the sight of two microphone champions acknowledging Hip-Hop's original element.
"Death Stare" - Usually seen when a DJ is asked to play something they don't wanna play
EVERY DJ has one. Here's mine.
Till next time Blockers....
Pie-Ce!
P.S - MY BAD for taking so damn long to upload all this ish but the server wouldn't let me upload the pics.... Had to send em to Tahirah first to do it for me. Long. Anyway, from now on I promise I'll step up my blog game and all interesting interactions, occurrences and "OH SH*T!!!!" moments will be appropriately covered. A-MEN!
Tahirah - the landlady of the Block - self-proclaimed Amazing One, she often says things like "do you know who I AM??" while riding public transport at obscure hours of the night. You can also find her striking up conversations with random people, singing out-of-tune in public, looking for new tunes to play on radio, writing stories on her BlackBerry, spending not enough time in her university library/reading anything except for coursework books, scribing for The Block & SoulCulture while perfecting the art of styling on a budget.
Blaze Oh My Dayz AKA AJ King - the only Block Resident known by multiple monikers - he's the resident you'll catch doing insanely cool sh*t like jumping from rooftop to rooftop, playing big tunes, making ish happen, plotting to take over the world and perfecting the art of mind control. He is unstoppable.
Lady V - the lady of the manor & the best resident to go to if you need a cup of sugar or the scoop on the latest sneakers/trainers. When she's not on the Block you can find her jumping on the speakers in a drum & bass rave, drooling over the latest Nikes, threatening to sit on John Mayer/Johnny Depp/Jude Law's face, saying things like "yeah, but I'm well fit!" and scribing for Hot 110.
Nee Nee - The youngest resident of the Block, with an unhealthy obsession for UK grime boys, the radio, twitter and sitting on the internet. When she's not on the Block, she's at school refusing to bluetooth her classmates the latest [insert grime artist here] leak, she's on one of her 10 phones talking to the "gyal-dem", following Tahirah around, or she's parring people on her blog Par's Accessories.
Simone - Simone is the resident who'll sit you down with a cup of hot chocolate and educate you on life. Aspiring movie-maker and industry girl, Simone has a passion for films, MJ, 2Pac, Spike Lee, music and culture, a quiet appreciation for Pop&B boys (cue Chris Brown, Bow Wow & the like) and she has an innate skill of tweeting 24-7...even when sleeping.
Bougie - The resident to hit up if you need to figure out how to make a quick dollar - always on a [legal] hustle, you'll find Bougie making phone-calls, editing film pieces and writing out treatments before she's even gotten out of bed to brush her teeth. Repping hard for the Canadian Urban scene, you can also find her supporting dope hip-hop and R&B acts who say "aye" more than Juelz Santana and reference Tim Hortons in their tracks.
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