So in my journey man adventures in the world of Thadboogie and Big Promo I have frequented the legendary Jazz Cafe venue situated in suburban north London several times over the recent fortnight.
The two gigs that jumped out to myself were both seasoned New York City rap duo’s Capone & Noreaga (Monday Oct 20th) and Dead Prez (Wed Oct 29th)
Having worked in record shops and being a Club/Radio DJ for two decades now (yes I have the elixir of youth) it’s with fondness that I remember the east coast of America and in particular New York City for being the prominent force in the culture around the period commonly referred to now as the noughties.
The queue outside had to be around 200 deep and inside the audience for the Capone & Noreaga show were keen to pitch up for priority viewing for one of New York’s seminal rap duos with cult status who seldom grace the UK coast with their presence.
Hosting and DJ duties were duly supplied by a stalwart member of the UK Hip Hop community , namely Kiss Fm’s Shortee Blitz.. He took us on a nostalgic ride from 80’s classics to modern day club bangers.
Working the packed audience and industry tastemakers into a Hip Hop frenzy whilst tastemakers Djs, artists etc congregated upstairs at Jazz Cafe with DJ royalty Tim Westwood interacting on camera duties.
Alas the performance stage time was delayed by 90 minutes, forcing an already hype crowd to become even more boisterous. Finally gracing the stage to a chorus of annoyed boos Capone & Noreaga went through a catalogue of hits from their critically acclaimed War Report & ‘The Re- Union’ albums (‘Superthug’ ‘N.O.R.E’, ‘T.O.N.Y’, Phonetime, L.A.) Literally three songs into the show, the whole audience was won over!
My hunger for lyrical boom bap took me back to the Jazz Cafe on a still surprisingly warm October evening for the Dead Prez show, I was made aware of Dead Prez in my a&r days at Universal Music and their Sony Music debut album ‘Let’s Get Free’ holds a special place in my music collection, I was an immediate fan of their political story telling (ironically I later met and managed UK super producer Baby J who had lived with them during his stay in New York city)
Fortunately for the waiting crowd, my Itch FM colleague DJ Russ Ryan played a dope set and got the crowd amped just before Dead Prez and their DJ hit the stage on time and kicked off the show to thunderous applause and cheers. The stage backdrop to their set being in tune with their African ancestry and messages of political awareness. M1 and Stic Man continued to deliver a frenzy packed energetic performance with mood changes throughout. They embraced songs from their three albums with good storytelling and encouraged the crowd for audience interaction as much as possible, standout moments being when original Saxon Sound member General Levy jumped on stage and performed a song with Dead Prez and of course performances of (‘Mind Sex’, ‘Hip Hop’, Propaganda, ‘I’m An African’)
