One Self, Cargo London, October 2005
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One Self are relatively new to the hiphop scene, so for those of you who aren't currently up to date, let me tell you they are DJ Vadim, Blurum, and Yarah Bravo. It's not just the names on these three that's unusual. Their music falls well and truly into the hiphop category but it is not your ordinary Saturday night hiphop. In fact I can say that the concoction of music put together at Cargo on Saturday 15th October was nothing short of refreshing.

This so called new act is by no means made up of new artists. DJ Vadim has a somewhat iconic status, sometimes disturbingly so, amongst hiphop, triphop, and ninja nerds the world over. This is 2005 and his legendary Terrorist track is still featured and remixed on many new albums. Surely that alone is not enough to keep him on this underground media pedestal though. Indeed it is not the only string to his bow...the guy has produced, promoted, and written hiphop and this new adventure seems to be stirring up more ripples. Vadim did not disappoint, mixing fast beats with slow, his stage presence aided by his clean russian style on the decks.
Yarah Bravo is what every man wants, and every woman wants to be. She's cool yet she's pretty, and her silky smooth soulful vocals brought Cargo right in the mood along with her sensual on stage presence. She was as comfortable performing in front of the clubbers as she was meandering and mingling through them, drink in hand.

One Self's act brought Vadim's heavy beats and scratching, Blurum's rapping, and Yarah's melodic singing into a blend which reminded me of some of the Herbalisers older work. There's something about the contrast of what is going on which creates a stronger impact. It makes a vibrant live set and whilst somewhat disjointed compared to your average straight up dj set, this only adds to the realism I guess.

My only criticism was it was all over too soon, but admittedly I think that might have been because I was late.

One Self are touring the UK for a while now, and you can still catch their live performances around London in November.
Check out www.one-self.net for the full listings.
For other nights at Cargo nightclub check www.cargo-london.com

Editorial : A Winter
Photography : Ninjatune