RWD On Straight Outta Bethnal

, originally uploaded by hattiec2.

Friday, Feb 17th, Straight Outta Bethnal:
Kicking off with RWD’s very own Hattie Collins and Chantelle Fiddy pon decks, who were “starting to sweat at Stanza's lateness as we were running low on the grime,” Collins later informs. They hadn't intended to play much but once they began, there was no going back (especially with their self-confessed lack of technical skills). Anyway, luckily Stanza arrived and did his Scandalous set - Scorcher definitely stole the spotlight there. We'd seen good things from Purple (previously doing well at Live and Urban Classics) and really liked his spots on Eye of the Tiger, but Scorcher seemed to have the lyrical upper-hand on this occasion. Watch out for more from Scorch, we reckon he's about to have a good year. JME and Skepta put in a great set - though we've seen them get better reactions, the mob-like following seemed kinda low energy in places - with JME particularly amusing during his Serious, Shh Hut Yuh Muh and Don't Get Rude moments - he and Skepta have great stage presence and put proper effort in whilst the Plasitcian reciprocated on the wheels of steel.
Other great moments came from Tiny 'Swiiiiiiiiing' Tempah, the Murkle Man and he who will blaze more than you – Kronik. Meanwhile upstairs there was another RWD invasion and colourful (in both clothing and music) DJ Chewy was sending for the funky house. Not wanting to move cos the Newham Generals arrival was imminent, we unfortunately missed most of his set. He sums up with, “I think it went well, the crowd were feeling my selection and as I’ve told people before, funky house is taking over.” In the Run the Road basement, The Generals were standing to attention and seeing D Double E do his thing was just too good. He might not move, and yes he's given to mumbling but he's just amazing to watch. Monkstar and Foots were also murking the dance, reaching for old but ever-popular reload bars. Double killed it lyrically; he’s still leagues ahead of so many others. Just when we thought their unique set was coming to an end, it got even better… Foots and D went back-to-back for Mic Centre over an on-point DJ Tubby selection, whilst Monkey enjoyed the reaction from the bubbling faithful. Not wanting the night to end we waited to see what was next, from nowhere it was time for Logan Sama’s Shower Hour and Ears (accompanied by Hoodlum) was on the mic. Just as we skanked to bars from the impressive Breath of Fresh Airs mixtape our peripheral vision spotted Ghetto and Lightning trying to make their way past stage security. Once they had obtained their white VIP Bands of Power and bypassed the competent foot soldiers, Getts touched the mic and it went off. Ghetto was completely sick - he had a whole other thing going on. He maybe too grimy for mainstream tastes but we reckon he'll go down a storm on the festival circuit this year - those indie kids are gonna go nuts when they see him live - Incredible. After the mic was passed from pillar to post it was definitely time to leave when there were more MCs on stage than people in the crowd. Overall, it was great to see the reactions of people watching - some people quite rightly looked amazed particularly at the moments where the MCs got excited. Nice too to see people smiling and having a good time - the way raving should be!

Words by the RWD Team – coming to a rave near you (email staff@rwdmag.com). www.rwdmag.com Picture Hattie Collins...

Online Review: December Event
Oh my diddy! The first in this exciting series of monthly nights kicked off with a (hmmm what’s louder than a bang) at its Shoreditch based home Friday November 18th. Not ones to shy away from such a splendid line-up of promised proceedings the RWD team made their way down a chilly Old Street and stopped at number 333. After the pleasant door staff checked our guest list credentials we gained access to the dance. Without a single moment spent resting on our lorals, we swiftly moved to the Run the Road Basement only to be greeted by none other than Hattie Collins (RWD Editor) and Chantelle Fiddy (679 A&R, Freelance Journalist) pon-ze-decks. Both with DIY ‘We Don’t Mix’ slogans Puff Painted to their t-shirts we knew we’d be in for an interesting start to the evening. Fiddy seemed content on stirring up crowd hype for her partner in crime who was in fine form and excelled with her timeless selection, choosing an eclectic array of riddims ranging from the grimiest of Lady Sovereign remixes to R&B classics like Foxy Brown and Blackstreet’s Get Me Home. Her epic set was only let down by slight crowd-seething technical hitches [which were not her fault but the person who bought connecting wires from Netto] and her inability to mix, but all-in-all jolly good show girls. Def Jam UK’s DJ Samurai (who’s more street than the A-Z) and Luckie from Advance replaced the two budding Disc Jockey’s and the night upped its speed. Samurai drew his sword and unleashed just about every big track under the sun and audiographically showed exactly what he’s made of. Ms Collins who so far held the prestigious title of Track of the Night was soon surpassed when we heard Forward 2 (which we like to call Forward 1.91567) - you know the one that was leaked with Flirta D having an asthma attack about half way through. After the various reloads of F1.91567 and many trying to get their breath back from limited Flirta imitations, Ears made his way to the stage.
The Pronoun Boy and his entourage of hungry MCs including the lyrically vast Stamina Boy, the video camera wielding All in One and up-and-coming Hoodlum were waiting for instrumentals and the DJ duly obliged. Right now MC Ears has grown out of Jammer’s shadow and is arguably the hottest thing on road (GO GET HIS MIXTAPE!). Ears with his unique dance style got the crowd to pre-boiling point and his ‘Ear ‘em scare ‘em, wear ‘em tear ‘em’ bars got a massive hijack. Going through each lyric with more vigour than a freshly charged Energiser Bunny, he excelled and proved why he’s one to watch for 2006. Just when we thought that was it for the night and contemplated a pipe and slipper, Ovaltine influenced early night, it soon took a turn for the better. From nowhere No Lay emerged on the mic and breathed lyrical fire to the avid and growing crowd. The well-known flows which earned her a much deserved reload were a grimed-out audience pleasing treat and she murked the beat until the mic was eventually passed to Roll Deep’s Scratchy. Mr B.U.N. then proceeded to go back to back with his less talented partner in crime JD but best moments definitely came from Scratch as he let loose with infamous lines like, ‘Stab you in the back, but I’m not a back stabber’ and equally reload-worthy vocal content… Big!!!
With no sign of Bruza or Ace and Invisible (apparently across the other side of town) it was down to Logan ‘more dubs than a mastering suite’ Sama, Skepta, Jammer and co to represent. Skepta (who was once again rocking insane comrade styled From Russia With Love headwear) wasn’t waiting around and soon let off kingsized bars sending for many a crew. Multiple much deserved rewinds followed and then the Murkle Man donned the microphone. Being too far away from on-point selecta Sama to initiate a self-reload he earned one through his own verbal efforts, leaving those inside 333 watching in anticipation. That eagerness was soothed as Skepta unleashed another big bar aimed towards a certain artist from North West London and at that point Jammer went head first into the crowd, performing a Superman Dread stage dive into the unsuspecting individuals at the front. Dressed from head-to-toe in white adidas, Jammer was a blanc blur and somehow at that very moment intensified the jubilation of all those lucky enough to be inside… Once again big big big!!!
Big bad Rossi B did a massive jungle set upstairs and the night in the basement finished with Logan dropping brand new Wiley joints, Slew Dem’s ‘Blaze more than you’ soldier Chronik getting a few big reactions and Fuda from Ruff Sqwad wiping the floor with life-size bars. Another massive night for the RWD team and massive props to the organisers.

Tales from the frontline by Danny Walker