Sway @ Jazz Cafe

Live Review taken from Blues & Soul...
You may have caught him battling or gracing hip hop nights before, but for many of Sway Dasafo's more recently acquired fanbase this was the first time they'd seen the Hornsey native in all his live glory. The Jazz Cafe may have seemed an unlikely venue too for the unsigned rapper but the crowd of industry supporters (including Blak Twang) and true fans didn't care where they got to see him. By the time Sincere had finished PA'ing 'That's Not Gangster' and new cut 'Give Me Some', the caf' was jammed. Biggz (joined at one point by Eurogang's Mega and Mayhem), continued to hype the warm-up slot, dropping his Channel U heater 'Cor Blimey' and 'Gangster Acoustic', featuring the vocals and guitar of new talent Leon King. Semtex bought more flavour, mixing up street anthems from Dizzee, Roll Deep and Crazy Titch before Sway made his grand entrance. With their faces covered by the trade-mark Union Jack bandanas, Sway, Pyrelli and DJ Turkish made sure everyone knew what time it was. They ensued with a well-rehearsed set, bringing a rare comedy element to the stage, further sealing this units ability to spread their music further than the underground terrain. Launching with 'Ain't No Stopping Us' they rolled out favourites including 'Slow Down', 'Beautiful Ugly' and a medley of 'Pepsi', 'Burglar', 'Thief's Theme' and 'Fuck NY'. Aside from Biggz dropping his watch from the balcony and an appeal for it's safe return (for the record he got it back), highlights included Sway's apace of his verse from the 'Harvey Nicks remix', and his trip down memory lane where he spat fire over children's classics including Rainbow, Postman Pat and the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles theme tune (which Sway has cited as one of the instrumentals he used to pen too when he started out) before launching into the quick-witted crowd favourite 'Magic Roundabout'. Pyrelli was also given his chance to shine, performing his track 'It's a G Thing'. Although not his stand out track, Pyrelli showed the potential to go a lot further in the next year. Sway returned meandering through an old skool selection including Wu Tang and 2Pac before going on to round off the show with the must-own 'Up Your Speed' (This Is My Promo Vol. 2 is you don't already have it in your collection). If his Jazz Cafe gig was anything to go by, it won't be long until Sway and co. are back headlining, chances are it's going to be another sell-out too. Salute the real UK talent.