Photos courtesy of Sophie's Photography
11/09/2011
Event | Labsquared - True Hip-Hop and The Naked Soul (8th Sept 2011)
God knows how much I tweeted, wrote and posted information about this event; the last Labsquared showcase was at the end of July and I barely made a whisper about it. This time though, I made sure any and everyone knew about True Hip-Hop and The Naked Soul. That means that if you weren't there... it was your fault and not mine!
Anyway, enough of the blame game. Seeing as I'm a certified hip-hop junkie and a member of singing/songwriting collective Labsquared, there was no way that I was going to let this event be a flop. Despite only four weeks of planning and rehearsing, the whole night was a success! The Lab crew performed well-known hits, opening with a stellar medley that opened with Jay-Z's Public Service Announcement and streamed into The Pharcyde, Missy's One Minute Man, Blackstreet's No Diggity and Nas' Got Urself A Gun, finally closing out with Murder To Excellence, Gigg's If Your Talkin'... and 'Ye and Jay's Otis. And that was just the first performance. The remaining performances kept the standards high with the team covering songs by Erykah Badu, Floetry, Frank Ocean and Hi-Tek. Meanwhile our featured artists, which included rappers Rolo, Tinyman and Craze as well as poet Marion O. and Grammy nominee Trenyce literally tore the house down with their amazing performances; Trenyce's rendition of Beyoncé's Love On Top had me bouncing from the walls (she took the song one octave higher than King B? Dayum giiiirl). The Labsquared band certainly outdid themselves with Sam on the bass, Junior on drums, Danel on keys and Bayo on guitar. If not for the them the night wouldn't have been as successful as it was so they all get big wet kisses from me! *mwah* The crowd were kept entertained by the night's crazy but charismatic host, Mr Ralph Hardy and in house DJ and producer Warren set the airwaves alight spinning the best in soulful sounds and classic hip-hop during the break. As soon as he dropped Hip-Hop by Dead Prez, I was away with the fairies. Believe me, I was on a hiiiiiigh. No kush though - life keeps me high enough, obviously! Our open mic section was just as blazing as our set - poets, rappers and singers all took to the stage to showcase their talent. Aamir's little "unprepared" sing-song was definitely my favourite open mic performance... this guy can sing!
Video courtesy of Yes Another Blogger
Overall, the night was a beaut. I loved the good vibes, all the good people that came out to support the night and the good music that played. I had a great time and I'm sure the next Labsquared showcase (which will feature R'n'B and nu-jazz) will be as entertaining as this one. Yessir. Once all the photos and videos are up I'll be sure to post them. For those who wanted to know what songs the Labsquared team performed on the night... Here you go :)
The Lab True Hip-Hop and The Naked Soul setlist (does not include the songs that the featured artists performed)
1. The Lab - The "It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop" Medley (songs featured: PSA - Jay-Z, Runnin' - The Pharcyde, One Minute Man - Missy Elliot, No Diggity - Blackstreet, Got Urself A Gun - Nas, Murder To Excellence - The Throne, If Ur Talkin... - Giggs, Otis - The Throne)
2. Sage - Let It Go - Hi-Tek
3. Cle-Mar- We All Try - Frank Ocean
4. Danel - Labsquared original
5. Gillian - Say Yes - Floetry
6. Yimmi Ray - Bag Lady - Erykah Badu
7. Cleo Starzz - To Zion
8. The Lab - Lost In The World medley (songs featured: Lost In The World - Kanye West, No Church In The Wild - The Throne f/ Frank Ocean, All of The Lights - Kanye West)
For more information about Labsquared and our future projects, visit www.labsquared.org and check out the team's Twitter feed @labsquared.
Anyway, enough of the blame game. Seeing as I'm a certified hip-hop junkie and a member of singing/songwriting collective Labsquared, there was no way that I was going to let this event be a flop. Despite only four weeks of planning and rehearsing, the whole night was a success! The Lab crew performed well-known hits, opening with a stellar medley that opened with Jay-Z's Public Service Announcement and streamed into The Pharcyde, Missy's One Minute Man, Blackstreet's No Diggity and Nas' Got Urself A Gun, finally closing out with Murder To Excellence, Gigg's If Your Talkin'... and 'Ye and Jay's Otis. And that was just the first performance. The remaining performances kept the standards high with the team covering songs by Erykah Badu, Floetry, Frank Ocean and Hi-Tek. Meanwhile our featured artists, which included rappers Rolo, Tinyman and Craze as well as poet Marion O. and Grammy nominee Trenyce literally tore the house down with their amazing performances; Trenyce's rendition of Beyoncé's Love On Top had me bouncing from the walls (she took the song one octave higher than King B? Dayum giiiirl). The Labsquared band certainly outdid themselves with Sam on the bass, Junior on drums, Danel on keys and Bayo on guitar. If not for the them the night wouldn't have been as successful as it was so they all get big wet kisses from me! *mwah* The crowd were kept entertained by the night's crazy but charismatic host, Mr Ralph Hardy and in house DJ and producer Warren set the airwaves alight spinning the best in soulful sounds and classic hip-hop during the break. As soon as he dropped Hip-Hop by Dead Prez, I was away with the fairies. Believe me, I was on a hiiiiiigh. No kush though - life keeps me high enough, obviously! Our open mic section was just as blazing as our set - poets, rappers and singers all took to the stage to showcase their talent. Aamir's little "unprepared" sing-song was definitely my favourite open mic performance... this guy can sing!
Video courtesy of Yes Another Blogger
Overall, the night was a beaut. I loved the good vibes, all the good people that came out to support the night and the good music that played. I had a great time and I'm sure the next Labsquared showcase (which will feature R'n'B and nu-jazz) will be as entertaining as this one. Yessir. Once all the photos and videos are up I'll be sure to post them. For those who wanted to know what songs the Labsquared team performed on the night... Here you go :)
The Lab True Hip-Hop and The Naked Soul setlist (does not include the songs that the featured artists performed)
1. The Lab - The "It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop" Medley (songs featured: PSA - Jay-Z, Runnin' - The Pharcyde, One Minute Man - Missy Elliot, No Diggity - Blackstreet, Got Urself A Gun - Nas, Murder To Excellence - The Throne, If Ur Talkin... - Giggs, Otis - The Throne)
2. Sage - Let It Go - Hi-Tek
3. Cle-Mar- We All Try - Frank Ocean
4. Danel - Labsquared original
5. Gillian - Say Yes - Floetry
6. Yimmi Ray - Bag Lady - Erykah Badu
7. Cleo Starzz - To Zion
8. The Lab - Lost In The World medley (songs featured: Lost In The World - Kanye West, No Church In The Wild - The Throne f/ Frank Ocean, All of The Lights - Kanye West)
For more information about Labsquared and our future projects, visit www.labsquared.org and check out the team's Twitter feed @labsquared.
03/09/2011
Video | Tarik Adams - Heaven Only Knows
Seems like I'm apologising to everyone because of my poor memory these days! I should have posted this video ages ago, but as usual I forgot. It was definitely worth the wait though! Heaven Only Knows, the second single from Tarik Adams' debut mixtape Tigers & Girls is too much of a banger. If you've been keeping up with my posts on here, you'll remember that I interviewed Tarik shortly after he released his debut single Wake Up. I'm in love with just how diverse he is an artist - Heaven Only Knows is a sensual track, laced with synths and an infectious chorus while Wake Up was definitely more electro/pop. The beautifully shot video directed by Dylan Knight tells a poignant story of lovers who literally have to dodge a bullet... I just hope she got there in time... *crosses fingers*
Watch the video below!
Watch the video below!
Video | Krept and Konan - Otis
How many times did you play this before you caught every bar? And don't lie. Fast emerging as wordplay kings in the UK rap scene, South London wordsmiths Krept and Konan take a stab at Jay-Z and Kanye's single Otis. Compared to other versions of the song (UK or otherwise), I reckon this is my favourite by far! The video is fun, the lyrics are smart; you can't really take much away from it to be honest! Good job lads.
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