When speaking to the founder of the Midnight Run (Inua Ellams,) he describes what I think is a revolutionary idea, especially in times where we find ourselves consumed by gadgets/electronics and all that is cyber.
Ask about Inua Ellams within the Poetry circuit and you may hear the following: Amazing, Word smith, Geek, Play write, Poet etc. the list is endless however, there is no doubt that these descriptions are not false or over the top. Inua at 25 has achieved so much within the last three years, still growing as a writer yet producing beautiful pieces of work.
He created his first play titled “The 14 Tale” in Jan 2010 at the National Theater and now he is set to premier his second play “Untitled” starting 23/09/10
I could go on for years!!! but to find out more about Inua, Click Here
K so, the Midnight Run!
There was no way this event was going to take part without my involvement, not this year.
So the background of The Midnight Run involves Inua and his friend who became frustrated after waiting for a long while for the bus to arrive so, they decided to walk. That evening the walked across London, from Battersea to Chelsea, Victoria, Vauxhall and the West End, a journey that spanned six or so hours. After a year Inua decided to do the same thing again but this time, set the time from 6pm to 6am.
Insane was my first thought when he told me about this event and after a number of successful years, he ran one in 2010 and I was fully involved!
The beauty about The Midnight Run is that you can literally join it at anytime during the 12 hours, I noticed the groups increase/decrease at certain times and I also noticed the fatigue that crept in within odd occasions (especially after we ate at tinsle town at 2:00am.) The group can be as big or as little, we had group games to play to keep the energy alive and it was filled with photographers, musicians, Actors/Actresses/Dancers, a really good opportunity to network and share experiences.
We walked through the Tate, St Pauls, Barbican, Farringdon, Goodge street plus various other places.
12 hours seems long to some but this was fun and really engaging, London town at night lights up beautifully and I would Urge you to join the next Run taking place next year.
Check some of the pics from the night.
So would you take part in The Midnight Run? What are your thoughts regarding walking for 12 hours?
I have to link this into my art form some how even tho its SIIIIICCKKKKK!!!!!
Okay so what you about to watch is amazing on so many levels.
It took practice, at times it must have flopped but once perfected the end results spoke for its self and that, is exactly what the group demonstrated in this clip.
Its also very interesting to see what other cultures are doing, how creativity spreads around the world.
CLOSE UP, Known to profile various artists in the past such as Mpho, Mikill Pane, Nutty NRG and the Godfather of UK Spoken Word David J!!!!!!! presents CLOSE UP, With D Double E
Im sure he is going to SET IT OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF on the Night!
Im in attendance!
What about you?
CLOSE UP with D DOUBLE E (Newham Generals)
Alongside NU VIBEZ
OCT 6TH
THE OLD QUEENS HEAD
44 Essex Road
Angel
Islington
N1 8LN
Hey peeps, I been quiet, I know. I thought instead of pretending like I’m down with what’s happening and new, I thought I’d just let you know what happening and new in my life. A scary concept I know, but lets get down to it.
I’ve just finished a documentary film called Afrikaaps, dealing with the history of Afrikaans in Cape Town. Most people (including the many Afrikaner ex-pats in the UK) think that Afrikaans is a language that gradually just developed in South Africa as a mix of Dutch and the different European languages from the settlers in the Cape.
However research and history shows that Afrikaans actually started as a creole/slave/servant language, later hijacked by Europeans. The clincher is that the decendants of these people don’t know this, and the way they speak is now represented as a “funny” or “gangster” version of Afrikaans. I followed the theatre production (with my video camera) that presented and unpacked these issues, to create a timely piece of agit-prop theatre.
Here is the trailer for the film:
We had a successful run at the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, and sold out both of our scheduled screenings in Cape Town.
Hopefully coming soon to theatres near y’all…everywhere….
OK Self promotion over lets get back to some real blogging… uh, how about that Kanye?
Seriously amazing flyer for seriously amazing gig… Flying Lotus, one of the most prolific hip hop producers in the game, is playing at KOKO this month, promoting the album ‘Pattern and Grid World’ out later in the month. Fly Lo,( as the die hard fans call him.Apparently)has smapled the likes of J Dilla, Madlib, Common,(the list goes on) with some of the sickest (experimental) beats I’ve ever heard.Get down thurrrr.
Jendor who was a member of Essentials, which broke up and half of the collective (Jendor & N.E) went on to form OG’s. Dot Rotten was also a member of OG’s up until last year. None of the collective have worked with Dot since the split and since many of the current members as well as dot haven’t touched upon the subject, up until the Ghetts Vs P Money clash. Since then the whole situation has been become a bit of a touchy subject. I actually caught up with Dot Rotten a few weeks ago in an exclusive interview for Super Super. I asked him what was the reason behind leaving and to be honest behind all the hype and rumours there was no exciting hype. On his side, for which is what he can only talk for, he just felt he wanted to part ways and evolve as an artist by himself. He also went into depth about N.E and how much he has helped him (that’s why it was ironic to me when Jendor mentioned the interview parts).
Let’s get into the Jendor Dub for Dot, this isn’t exactly your typical ‘your mum’ send. It sounds very personal, especially the anger in his voice when he’s mentioning how much N.E looked after Dot. Jen comes hard but not with his classic flow but still has that grandmaster bars and terminology. The whole theme of the dub is pretty much Jendor implying that Dot has disrespected N.E. Everyone’s getting very excited about this but until I hear a reply from Dot Rotten I’m not to sure what to think of this or more where I stand. I sound so confused, because I genuinely am, let’s wait for the whole thing to unravel and hear it from a few different angles.
War Report Circa 2006? Let’s hope so.
It’s a sad day to say these type of tunes will never be made again.
Hi Kano, so you’ve been away from the music scene for a little while now, I know what you’ve been up to but can you just update the fans on what’s been going on in Kano’s world?
I’ve just been recording and working on the album. When an artist is away it usually means that they’re doing the most amount of work, so I’ve just been in the studio creating new music and new sounds. Other than that I’ve just been touring, I’ve been all over the world doing shows, whether it be by myself or with the Gorrilaz. Loads of things…
You’ve worked with a lot of different people on the new album ‘Method To The Maadness,’ from Vybz Cartel and Boyz Noise, to Wiley and Ghetts. Why did you choose to work with such a range of people on this project?
Those people were people whose music I liked listening to and I’m really happy that I got to work with a lot of my favourite people. Whether it be Boyz Noise, Diplo, Vybz Cartel, Ghetts, Wiley, Damon Albarn, Hot Chip, Chase & Status, there’s just a great cast of people on the album. It’s all people that feel my music and I feel their music, it’s not just collaborations for the sake of collaborations. You both have to want to be there, you both shouldn’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zones either. When I was working with these people you could clearly see that it was something different for me and something different for them also. Personally, I think that I came up with some of my best material with this one.
So what would you say your favourite track from the album was? I think ‘Crazy’ would have to be mine…
[Laughs] ‘Crazy’ yeah? Well my favourite tune has changed so much throughout the recording process, but ‘Crazy’ has definitely been one of them. As soon as I made that I definitely knew that it was the one. ‘Lady Killer’ and ‘Spaceship’ are also some of my favourites.
You worked with some of your old grime friends Wiley and Ghetts on the album. How was it getting back in the studio and working with them again?
It was really good you know. I didn’t get in the studio with Wiley, we made the beat in Berlin and then went to Kingston, Jamaica to get Aidonia on it and I then sent Wiley the vocal as soon as I did it and he just sent me it back with his part. That’s what was good though; the suspense to see what he was going to do on it. Ghetts, we got in the studio for that track we did together, it was produced by Hot Chip so we went over to Joe’s studio and recorded that. It’s always good to work with Ghetts, he’s someone that I’ve worked with throughout the last couple of years and the chemistry is still there and we still have the same passion to make some of the best songs that we can. He’s also someone that I will be touring with in September/October; he’s just one of my good friends.
Talking of grime, do you still follow the scene? If so, is there anyone that you’re rating at the moment?
Definitely Maxsta, I like him. He’s someone that has passion and I haven’t seen that in a little while, I just think that the way he puts his words together is great. I listened to ‘The Maxtape’ and I heard some great potential from him as an artist, some of the choruses that he’s putting together shows that he’s very advanced for the age that he’s at. I think he’s one to watch.
I always ask grime MCs that have gone on to make commercial music whether they miss the old grime days or not. You know the times when you’d go to an Eskimo Dance and get like 100 reloads on a set?
I definitely miss it! Not to say that I’d want to be doing that right now, I just think that it was something that was so fit for that time, something that you can’t really re-create. You would’ve had to have been there to experience it to really know what it was about and understand the culture. Back then we didn’t know where it was going, we didn’t know that it was going to grow to be something as big as it is now and there’s something pure in that. I definitely do miss those days, they were some of my best times in music man, them raves there…
You’ve gone from being signed to a major record label, to releasing your music independently. How would you say the two differ from each other? Do you have to put a lot more promotion and effort into selling those units now?
Put in more money, that’s what you mean [laughs]. You’ve always got to put money in, but it’s not always your own money [laughs]. But yeah, I’m on an independent with Bigger Picture Music and there’s some great guys over there. When it comes to recording an album you might be like, ‘Yeah I wanna record a song’ and then you might want to go over to Jamaica and do it and that’s cool, but you don’t really see the money that’s being spent when you’re on an independent, you’re still doing the same things as if you were on a major. Obviously I just have to do some things out of my own pocket, I’m 100% willing to fork out money for my music, I’m certainly not gonna lesser the quality because I’m independent now. All the creative things that I’ve ever wanted to do I can just do them, no one can tell me anything, I just have to put my money where my mouth is and make it happen.
If you were offered another major record label deal though, would you take it?
Well, right now I definitely like being independent. I still get offered loads of deals, but it has to be the right one and it has to be the right home, but that right home can also change in the next couple of years. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t ever partner with anybody, I just wouldn’t sign deals like these new artists are signing, 360 deals where the labels are making money from your touring. I’m not into none of that.
OK, so what can people expect to hear from Kano for the rest of 2010, next year and beyond?
The rest of the year is going to be very, very busy. As I said before, I’ve got the single and the album coming out and I’ve got a big showcase at Bush Hall on September 1st which will be full up of my new music, that’s sold out I think though. I’m also going on tour from the end of September and into October, so look out for that. Then I’ll be going on tour with the Gorrilaz in Europe, America, Australia and a UK Arena tour too. I’m gonna be all over the place man!
Kano’s new single ‘Upside’ featuring Michelle Breeze is out now. Kano’s new album ‘Method To The Maadness’ is out August 30 – www.kanosworld.com
NEWHAM GENERALS LIVE (D Double E & Footsie)
El-B (Ghost Recordings/Groove Chronicles)
MARCO DEL HORNO (Rinse FM)
DJ YASMIN (Bad Intentions)
DJ CABLE (Hotoneten)
CANDYMAN B2B ANTICS (Brum Goonies)
LAST JAPAN (Bullet Train / Southern Fried) B2B KOODIKI (Bullet Train)
£5 entry
8pm-late
THE MACBETH
70, Hoxton Street,
Shoreditch,
London
N1 6LP
This East London duo need no introduction. From last year’s seminal track Hard, featuring Rodigan and Breakage on production to D Double E’s recent Street Fighter Riddim tearing the scene to shreds, Newham Generals have rapidly established their place at the forefront of the grime scene. They’ll be performing a live PA of all their classics sure to tear up the dance.
El-B originally made his name as part of the legendary Groove Chronicles outfit, being the first artist to bring a dark edge to the 2 Step scene with tracks like ‘Stone Cold’ and ‘1999’ – a legacy going right back to the golden days of the UK Garage era. Through his own Ghost Records imprint, El-B has sculpted and defined the modern Dubstep sound and famously inspired the prodigious talent of Burial and countless others.
Featured on the front cover of this month’s RWD, hip hop royalty singing her praises, record deal penned and a successful club night under her belt this lady seems unstoppable. Expect an upfront mix of party vibes – Hip Hop, New Jack Swing, Grime and more!
Rinse FM presenter, producer, record label owner and man about town Marco Del Horno. With support from Annie Mac, Rob Da Bank, Kissy Sell Out , Andy & Jaymo and Mistajam up at Radio1 he’s hot property right now. Recent remixes and singles on Southern Fried Records bring through his house roots with a contemporary spin that can only be described as somewhere half way between Chicago and Croydon.
2x DMC Champ, Alizé Remixed Champ, Grolsch x Vice Magazine Mix Champ, DOA x UAF Mix Champ, Cable’s string of awards speak for themselves. A regular at Tim And Barry’s Just Jam, Cable’s built a solid following in the scene for his ability to smash raves up and down the UK and further afield combining grime, 2 step, bass, dirty hip hop and pioneering the emerging sound of Thugstep.
Hailing from South London, Last Japan has exploded on to the dance scene. The last 12 months have seen the 20 year old grow from knocking up bootlegs in his bedroom to one of the hottest and most in demand remixers on the scene including his well known Sub Bass Mix of Douster’s King Of Africa.
Let’s get this straight, Diddy wasn’t bluffing Skepta delivered full damn stop. A quick relapse of how and why Skepta joined forces with Diddy after an epic hype on twitter a few months back HERE. After hearing the team UK remix with Tinchy Stryder and Tinie Tempah, I did expect the ‘grime remix’ to be pretty much exactly the same, a touch watered down with the same beat and similar feel to the original. Let me make this extremely clear, he smashed it on both jobs, production and bars, and represented in a way I really wouldn’t of believed, for himself and for grime. Salute to you Skeppy – woiiii this is history, so enjoy…
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