BBC RADIO 1 HACKNEY WEEKEND
REVIEW
BBC Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend witnessed a mighty Roc Nation takeover this weekend.
Almost a year ago Hackney and East London was sprawled all over the news and papers due to the eruption of the riots. This weekend, live coverage was streamed onto BBC3 of the star studded musical celebration that was BBC Radio 1’s Hackney weekend.
Hackney hosted a festival of artists across the 6 stages, many of which hail from the East London area.
Locals such as Leona Lewis, Labrinth and Professor Green took to the stages and performed 30 minute segments of their hits to date. Rizzle Kicks, Example, and Ed Sheeran proved most popular on the first day of the weekender, while headliner Jay-Z took to the main stage in front of 50,000 people bringing on cameos from his Roc Nation label signees Rihanna, Kanye West and Londoner MIA who suffered from a mute mic for the majority of her limp performance.
Viewers at home watched what was a mini Jay-Z concert combined with Watch The Throne medley with label mate Kanye West. While Jay-Z performed his whopping hour and 15 minute set, Beyonce was seen watching her husband and rapping along to his verses as well as moshing in the crowds. On the sideline Roc Nations newbie Rita Ora watched following her short set on the 'Introducing' stage.
Jay-Z & Rihanna perform Run This Town
Jay-Z and Kanye West perform Ni**as in Paris
Newcomers Azealia Banks and Lana Del Rey received the best reception from the crowds on Sunday with ‘212’ and ‘Blue Jeans’ being the favourites. After an outburst of rainy showers (luckily at this point I was sheltered in the BBC 1xtra tent watching Kano, Lethal B and Sway) the sun started beating down onto the Hackney Marshes as Jessie J took to the main stage and performed her generic songs.
Azealia Banks performs 212
A personal favourite performance of mine was Florence & The Machine on the main stage when they performed the feel good ‘Shake It Out’. From that point onwards I was not to budge from my spot until the end of the festival, meaning I unfortunatley missed Hip Hops very own Nas on the 1xtra stage and superstar dj David Guetta in the Dance tent.
Following many rumours on the identity of Sundays special guest which included Beyonce and Cheryl, I was not going to miss this long awaited surprise. After a 30 minute wait it was revealed to be Hackneys finest, Dizzee Rascal. However, it was hard to avoid the sounds of tens of thousands of people tutting with disappointment at the surprise. Yet his rave-pop chart-friendly tunes quickly turned this around into a sea of lunatic and not to mention fickle ravers.
Florence & The Machine performs Shake It Out
Then it was time for the headlining act, Roc Nations reigning Princess, Rihanna. With an Ancient Egyptian stage set up, bongo drums and smoke began and there she was in a very casual attire of trainers, stockings and a t-shirt. I did wonder if she was running late and hadn’t enough time to get into her outfit. Nevertheless, the show begun and all other stages were abandoned as the sun began to set and the Bajan beauty sung and danced to her best tracks from her current and last album.
The 24 year old singer interacted with the fans and we got to see her personality through her performances if not for the first time. For those who missed out on Saturdays headlining act, were in for a treat and went into an absolute chaotic frenzy as RiRi bought Mr Jay-Z onto the stage where they performed Umbrella, Run This Town and Talk That Talk for the first time together.
To finale Rihanna performed We Found Love which was undoubtedly the best performance of the entire weekend. Every single human body in the crowd was moshing and jumping to the Calvin Harris beat almost recreating field scenes from the We Found Love music video. Rihanna left the stage as the sky was alight with fireworks saying ‘Hackney you f****in rock. Oh sh*t I dont wanna go, I love you guys so much. Thank you’
Rihanna performs We Found Love
It was a star studded event which everyone in London enjoyed whether it be those who were at Hackney Marshes or those watching from home. However for the Roc Nation team it was way more than a festival it was a very a bold statement to the music industry, they are here for the takeover.
