DJ MK "Above Board" at Fabric,
London, Friday 21st July 2006
where_ur_at : step-on
magazine > music
> dj mk at fabric
While we are all bombarded on a daily basis
by the growing hype of US hiphop artists,
it is easy for even some of the UK's strongest
material to slip under the radar, for your
thumb to scroll past it almost obliviously
whilst scrolling your itunes...
However all hope is not lost. The likes of
Kanye West and Eminem may dominate the mainstream
media, but an increasing number of music listeners
are seeking out good old British hiphop. The
long awaited DJ MK night at London's Fabric
had 100's of clubbers taking the tube to Faringdon
on Friday 21st July. We sent our man Ed Andrews
to give us his verdict on what promised to
be the night of the month on the UK hiphop
calender...
The smokey ambience of the fluorescent
dungeon maze of Fabric creates an amazing
atmosphere from the moment you step in. I
arrived relatively early as an anonymous DJ
was kicking out some Ragga-style beats as
I chilled out with a beer on the leather sofas
watching the increasingly diverse crowd expand
to modestly fill the venue for the launch
of DJ MK's latest album, "Above Board".
Typical of British hiphop DJ's, he would not
be launching it alone...MK brought with him
a line-up which read almost like an A-Z of
British DJ and MC talent to help the night
along....
Sarah Love began her set with the humorous
and ironically self-assured ‘Move bitch,
get out the way’ and continued to command
the stage with a barrage of old and not-so-old
favourites. A few more unfrugally priced beers
got the night fully underway as I spent a
while clocking punters skinning up with impunity
and chatting to a bloke lying on a sofa next
to me who was “rushing off his tits,
mate.” Further exploration was necessary
so I wandered through the early evening calm
into the drum’n’bass room where
DJ Majik was whipping up a human storm with
some incredibly lofty bpm's. After getting
thoroughly involved in the mayhem of rhythmically
flailing limbs, I made my way to the smaller
third room to find some thumping tunes of
what I can only describe as breakbeat electronica.
The place home to some thoroughly serious
heads throwing shapes whose sole purpose was
to just get down with colossal proportions
– and who can argue with that?
Soon enough however, the main event was due
and I scurried back to the balcony to oversee
DJ MK make his entrance exhuding immense confidence
with some skilful and very crowd-pleasing
turntablism. The night’s first MC, Pyrelli,
got the crowd warmed up before Kyza from Terra
Firma came on to raucous applause, spitting
his machine gun rhymes with sniper precision
and sending the crowd into a frenzy. Shameless
and TB competently took their set in their
stride, then it was the turn of the High Plains
Drifter himself, Jehst. The self-professed
‘scruffy little man from the wasteland’
darted from one side of the stage to the other,
upping the energy whilst faithfully flanked
by his wingman, Kashmere the Iguanaman. However,
he managed to duck out early and swiftly declined
an encore to which the crowds disappointment
was almost palpable.
It was the turn of Mr Ti2bs to lift spirits
and he rose to the occasion magnificently
with an electrifying mixture of progressive
beats and a stage presence that made the place
feel like one big house party! Mr Ti2bs was
certainly a man who dominated the stage and
loved every second of it. Jehst somewhat reluctantly
returned to the fray but redeemed himself
with an immensely dope beat laden with a heavy,
heavy bassline. Sweet smoke and the crowds
delight filled the air as Jehst flowed effortlessly
into another scratch skit from MK. Doc Brown
resumed proceedings armed with his magical
baseball cap that managed to rotate a full
360 degrees throughout his set. Norris McWhirter
was also present to confirm that he had managed
to get into the Guinness Book of Records for
most plugs for his new EP in the shortest
space of time ever – quite some feat
indeed! However, he can be forgiven as he
provided a very ballsy performance that put
his skills beyond question.
By this time the previous weeks fatigue had
set in and I accepted that I was never going
to make it until the end of Fabric's generous
opening hours (5am). I made my exit through
hoards of clubbers gathering liberally on
the stairs and the bouncers helpfully guided
me into a taxi home where I was safe in the
knowledge that UK hip hop is going from strength
to strength. In the words of that archetypal
Shoreditch twat, Nathan Barley, “Watch
the fuck out people! Watch the fuck out..."
Ed Andrews, July ‘06
Step-On Magazine
www.fabriclondon.com
    
|
