I Luv Live 07/03/11 - Dot Rotten

Same night, different artist. This is what happened when I caught up with grime artist Dot Rotten ahead of his headline performance at I Luv Live, check the cameo from the waitress...!

I Luv Live 07/03/11 - Lovelle

Yo!! So last night we rolled into the east end but not to see Ian & Phil but to catch acts like Shorty, Dot Rotten, Lioness & a lady called Lovelle. Now after the later finished her sound check she took the time out to speak to me out in the freezing cold smoking area (oh the glam) and this is what went down!

Secret Ed Sheeran Gig.....at the Green Note

So last night I headed down to a top secret gig in Camden at which singer, songwritter Ed Sheeran was headlining. The buzz around the show on Twitter was mad with Ed tweeting a load of clues and then straight after me tweeting that I was going even I was bombarded with pleads to reveal the location. Anyway I didn't tell and I rolled up to a tiny restaurant/bar called the Green Note in Camden Town, it was a really humbling feeling to know that Ed is still cool to play in small venues like that as the night before he was smashing the Islington o2 helping out his pal Devlin. He had support from Soul singer Louise Golbey, who was really good doing a cover of Katie Perry's 'Firework' & some other bloke who's songs all sounded exactly the same, I was relieved when he said 'this is the last one from me'. Anyway up stepped Ed who performed a barrel of new material some of which he had never even tried out in public before as well as some of the Sheeran classics we love such as 'A-Team' & 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You'. The tune of the night for me though was one he said he'd written about his girlfriend when he was drunk, sounds like it would be terrible, but it was actually really good, promise. The tune is called 'Wake Me Up' and in his words 'this track is about my girlfriend and all the stupid things about her', do you think that's why he's still sleeping on a sofa? Who knows but what I do know is when he broke it down into his own rendition of Gyptian's 'Hold Yuh' the crowd reaction was crazy. If you get the chance to see Ed Sheeran play live you have to do it before this kid is selling out the o2 Arena and you have to watch through binoculars....just sayin!

Devlin at the O2 Academy, Islington Gig Review

So, last night we rocked up to the O2 Academy in Islington, North London to see the second gig of Devlin's 2011 Bud, Sweat and Beers tour.
Among the line up of various support acts were cameos from artists such as Ghetts, Griminal and new signing to Atlantic records, Ed Sheeran.

When we initially got there, it became apparent that we were pretty much the oldest people there (at our grand ages of 23 and 24)... bar a few parents who had obviously tagged along with their young'uns to make sure they didn't get into trouble.

That didn't bother us though; the warm up performances from Ghetts, Griminal and Ed Sheeran blew the roof off the place, although there were times when said artists had to ask the sound engineer to turn up the mic volumes. The biggest performance during the warm up had to be that of Ed Sheeran's, who managed to get the crowd chanting his name in a football match style... Pretty impressive considering he was only one of the support acts!

Then Devlin came to the stage. Kids were screaming and throwing blown up condoms off the mezzanine floor (don't think we used to do that in my day) and declaring their undying love for him. I don't think I've seen anything like it since Take That. Seriously. He went on to perform several of his tracks, including 'Let It Go,' 'London City,' and 'Runaway.’ Throughout the show he also made use of his support acts, performing 'Lately' alongside Ed Sheeran and 'Finally' with Ghetts.

Overall, a really impressive show with live band and great supporting artists throughout which kept the show interesting all the way to the end. Still annoyed I could only see it on the screen or through people’s legs but still well worth going!

The show has now been extended with extra dates in May, all of which are available on Devlin's website or on our blog from last month which featured the tour dates. Check the video below for Devlin's closing track of the night, 'Runaway' featuring Yasmin.

New From Cee-Lo Green - Bright Lights Featuring Wiz Khalifa

After Cee-Lo's recent run of big chart hits and picking up best International Male Solo Artist at the BRITs, here is his next instalment which is released on 11th April. It also features star of 'Black and Yellow,' Wiz Khalifa. Big tune!

Wretch 32 Ft. Example - Unorthodox - Brand New Video

After trolling through Twitter all day for interesting things to talk about, it looks like I hit a gold mine with this one! Literally posted on youtube 10 minutes prior to writing this blog, here is the new video from Wretch 32 and Example for the new single, 'unorthodox' which is released 18th April on Levels/Ministry of Sound Recordings, enjoy!

Kings of The City Ft. Klashnekoff - Darkness

Its been a hot minute since I heard much come from UK Hip-Hop MC Klashnekoff, so I thought it was only natural that I should check this video out when someone tweeted it through to @number1spotUK (plug, plug, plug!) The video itself is pretty strange, with white - eyed contact lenses and a part where there are some girls grinding up against a blood stained fishbowl, but don't let that put you off. This track probably won't be hitting the chart anytime soon, and going by the comments on Youtube its got very mixed reviews. However, it made me nod my head a bit and hopefully it will do your's too. Have a gander below!

UK Hip Hop Battler Tenchoo...AKA My Brother

Now I haven't blogged about this yet because I've been waiting for the right time, I think that time is now. Don't Flop is a battle league in which MC's go up against each other in 3 rounds and then a winner is decided. My brother, Tenchoo is part of the league and he's actually one half of the doubles champions alongside Lego from Yorkshire. Now recently at Brixton Jam there was a promotional event in which some of the Don't Flop MC's took on their American counterparts. Tenchoo was drawn against a rapper from Chicago called Kannon whom in my humble opinion he absolutely destroyed. Don't just take my word for it though because I could be biased as he's my brother, check out what Radio 1 DJ Reggie Yates had to say about it here. Peep the video below and keep an eye out for Tenchoo, doing a Fire in the Booth with Charlie Sloth real soon.

Brighty

BBC 1Xtra Press Event

So, last night myself and Nick headed down to BBC Radio 1Xtra's press event in Notting Hill Gate. Ignoring the sea of people 'shmoozing' - that is, introducing yourself to people in a manner that would make onlookers cringe, as a 1Xtra producer called it - there were some amazing performances from 6 artists who have been on the lips of anyone in the music industry over the last year or so.

The stand out performance of the night in my opinion was that of super talented guitar playing, beat boxing, singer, Ed Sheeran. His style is somewhat of a cross between Jamie T and Plan B... with more singing and a better voice. His main quirk happens to be a track he performs with a audio looping device, recording in each part of the track and then playing them back to create a whole track live on stage. This guy has been on everyone's radar for a while now and has also been lucky enough to land himself a major record deal with Atlantic Records. Good on ya mate!

Another big performance of the night was that of Aggro Santos. Ignoring the sea of paps and press stood in front of him staring at their Blackberries and IPhones, he gave a truly great performance, with plenty of stage presence and energy.

The other performers who still all deserve a big mention were, in no particular order; Skepta, Yasmin, Maverick Sabre and, to my surprise, Lethal Bizzle who has recently announced the comeback of Fire Camp.

Unfortunately, neither myself or Nick thought to bring a camera with us on the night, so there are no pictures I'm afraid. However, check out the video below of our favourite of the night, Ed Sheeran, performing one of his singles, The A Team.