WIRELESS FESTIVAL 2012

Wireless Festival this year was bigger and badder than before with headlining acts from Deadmau5, Drizzy Drake, and Rihanna.

I had the pleasure of catching up with some of the performers for my Radio Show. Check out the backstage footage below:

Backstage at Wireless Festival interviewing artists

Delilah and myself

Lloyd & A$ap Rocky

The Dream

Dbanj

The Weeknd

Wretch 32 

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.

New Music

Nelly Furtado - 'Big Hoops'

Following an extended long break Nelly Furtado is back and BIGGER than ever. Yes, that was very cliché but hey, I just had to.

The Canadian singer was strong on the music scene with ‘Maneater’ and ‘Promiscuous’ back in 2009 produced by her partner in crime, Timbaland and now she brings us a summer anthem contender which goes by the name of ‘Big Hoops (Bigger the Better)’.

Nellys brings her signature chants to the song as she sings “the bigger the better” over the thumping bass produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. This empowering song is a great comeback track and the best part of the song has to be the drum and bass breakdown towards the end.

Watch the video below and the live performance at the 2012 Billboard Awards.

Nelly Furtado - 'Big Hoops' Music Video

'Big Hoops' Live Billboard Awards 2012 Performance

Kanye West & Jay-Z

'Watch TheThrone' Review

On the opening night of ‘Watch The Throne’ Kanye West modestly said “I guarantee this will be the greatest concert of your life”. Four days into the o2 tour, after I witnessed the 3 hour show myself, I concluded Mr West was not at all far off the mark.

'Watch The Throne' was far more than a concert, it was a celebration and union of 2 of the greatest Hip Hop artists coming together to share their booming music catalogue with a sold out o2 arena.

The tag team approached show begun with Jay-Z and a head to toe leathered Kanye West rising on two platforms covered in videos of slow motioned rottweilers and sharks as they rapped ‘H.A.M’ and ‘Who Gon’ Stop Me’.

As the two rappers rose 20 feet above their adoring fans on their platforms the pair held their positions and soaked in the screaming from the packed out arena as a sea of 20,000 hands rose towards the rappers like magnets throwing up the infamous Roc sign.

From that moment on and throughout, the 3 hour enthralling set delivered nothing but back to back hits combining their own classics such as Jay-Z’s “Izzo” and Kanye’s “Through The Wire” with more current collaborative efforts from their Watch The Throne album such as “Otis”.

Kanye West put his heart and soul into his solo performances sweating from his eyeballs, although this could have been down to all the leather. On the other hand, Jay-Z worked the crowd effortlessly without a sweat bead in sight as he oozed charisma with every stride he took on stage.

Right before Kanyes solo piece of ‘Runaway’ and ‘Heartless’ he bought out his pint sized, high profile girlfriend Kim Kardashian, holding hands as the crowds turned into a frenzy, frantically tweeting of her presence. Well, perhaps the frantically tweeting part was just me. Other than that moment, I did not look at my iphone once as I was completely captivated by the show from start to finish and amazed by the overwhelming pyrotechnics and laser visuals.

I would argue Kanye’s songs were much better suited for a show of this magnitude, particularly the songs from his latest album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, such as “Power” and “Monster”.  However, Jay-Z is without a doubt, the more experienced and accomplished performer with a presence on stage that is second to none as he boldly filled the arena with ease. Jay-Z’s best received solo performances were ‘Big Pimpin’ ‘Empire State of Mind’ and '99 Problems'

The banter and ‘spontaneous’ chat between Kanye and Jay-Z felt a little rehearsed and forced, however this is about the only complaint I could find of the mammoth show.

As soon as the screen read N****as In Paris the arena went insane and the song was encored a whopping 6 times. Somehow, the energy stayed strong throughout the reruns and the excitement intensified everytime Jay-Z demanded ‘Again’.

The 40-song strong show was an experience and truly criminal to have missed out on the hottest ticket in town. Jay-Z and Kanye own the Throne and everybody is watching.



Delilah covers Rita Ora's - 
'RIP'

One of Londons fastest rising stars Delilah has beautifully covered the UK Number one smash ‘RIP’ by Roc Nation’s newbie Rita Ora.

The French born, London raised singer who is best known for her song ‘Go’ performed the cover during a Radio 1 Live Lounge session and absolutely owned the song.

Alongside the perfectly harmonised backing singers and instrumentalists, Delilah softened and slowed the track right down, stripping it of all its pop elements.

Personally, I prefer this cover of the Drake penned track, as Delilah brings the song new meaning and in fact her version sounds like an entirely different song, making it difficult to compare to the original.

Watch the mesmerising Live Lounge performance below.

Delilah covers 'RIP' - Live Lounge

Up and Coming Artist Alert!

Lianne La Havas

Lianne La Havas. Ring any bells? I thought not.

This 23 year old songstress has been slowly but consistently building a fan base on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Rather than trampolining herself into the charts as an unknown artist, La Havas who is from Streatham, South London (my neck of the woods) has been quietly showcasing her talent by releasing songs with accompanied videos online via her website and Youtube.

Similarly to my experience of discovering the late Amy Winehouse during a Jools Holland performance back in 2005, I was truly captivated whilst Lianne La Havas sung ‘Age’ on the show. This lead me to search for more songs from the half Jamaican, half Greek singer.

Her latest track is a great definition of Lianne La Havas as an artist. ‘Lost & Found’ is deep, sultry and soulful and while it would be easy to compare her vocal style to Corrine Bailey Rae and Erykah Badu, this surely can not be denied.

The sweet melody of the song is soothing in contrast to the raw emotion heard as she sings of a destructive relationship, “You broke me, and taught me to truly hate myself”

'Lost & found' is from the compelling and liberating EP 'Live In LA'. If she continues to bring out this class of music, she is certainly the one to watch.

Lianne La Havas - 'Lost & Found' Music Video

Cheryl – 'Call My Name'

Following being dropped from US Xfactor by Simon Cowell, our Cheryl has decided to drop ex-husbands surname Cole and come back with new song ‘Call My Name’.

The video for Call My Name begins with a quote from French philosopher Marquis de Sade, which reads "The only way to a woman's heart is along the path of torment."

For all Twitter and Tumblr budding philosophers I’m sure this will go down a treat and all bitter females out there can update their Facebook status, BBM status and Tweet their heart out with the quote and lyrics from the song. (Yes, I have already done this)

Calvin Harris, the hottest guy in music production right now, wrote and produced the dance track, which quite frankly on the first listen bored me before I’d even reached the half way mark. However, with the accompanied video, I must say my views have changed. Not just because Cheryl is dancing with a bunch of hot male dancers or because she looks stunning as she seductively flaunts herself against a wall in tight hot pants....ok ok for those reasons alone I gave it a second, third and fourth chance.

The song is a grower for sure and once the catchy chorus has got cold of your ears, it will not let go. Cheryl has been quiet for a little while, but no doubt she will be bombarding our airwaves real soon with tracks from upcoming album ‘A Million Lights’ with hot collaborations with Lana Del Rey, Alex Da Kid and her boss Will.I.Am.

Cheryl - 'Call My Name' Music Video

New Video!

Justin Beiber - 'Boyfriend'

I will get this out the way now and confess. I have become a new Justin Beiber fan. Not quite ‘Beiber Fever’ status, but a fan nonetheless. Glad I got that out the way.

Beibers latest single ‘Boyfriend’ is a hot track. Anyone who disagrees is simply just hating on the lad! ‘Boyfriend’ reflects his maturing vocals and his style is clearly heading into R’n’B and away from pop. Beiber’s singing is solid but he really should have taken out the silly attempt at the rap, it is far too cringe.

The track is written and produced by the very talented Mike Posner and has elements of Justin Timberlake and Ying Yang Twins style whispering. The video which is uncanny of N’Sync ‘Girlfriend’ video striked a whopping 8 million Youtube views in less than 24 hours! Those Beliebers of his are something else!!

Watch the video below and his live performance at The Voice US.

Justin Beiber - 'Boyfriend' Music Video

'Boyfriend' Live Performance 

 Rihanna's no Role Model

Rihanna has made it very clear in the past that she has no desire in being a role model. The pop singer wears t-shirts and jewelry emblazoned with dirty words and regularly reminds us via Twitter that she does not care about being a role model for her fans who are predominantly young impressionable girls.

In a 2009 interview, the pop star addressed her violent encounter with then boyfriend Chris Brown and explained that she made the decision to walk away from the relationship for the sake of her female fans saying "Even if Chris never hit me again, who is to say that their boyfriend won't? Who's to say that they won't kill these girls? These are young girls and I just didn't realize how much of an impact I had on these girls' lives until that happened."

The 24 year old is clearly aware of her strong influence on her fans, in case she had forgotten, she was reminded earlier this year when Time ranker her a Number #.... 100 Most Influential People List.

It seems that Rihanna is desperately trying to do everything she possibly can to move away from this responsibility telling Vogue Uk "See, people – especially white people – they want me to be a role model just because of the life I lead. The things I say in my songs, they expect it of me and being a role model became more of my job than I want it to be. But no, I just want to make music. That’s it.”

Her actions have gone on to prove her lack of interest in being a role model as she took to Twitter/Instagram and posted images of herself doing something that is most likely illegal on top of a bald guy's head at Coachella Festival.

In an attempt to prove just how rebellious and controversial she is, today Rihanna posted pictures of herself dancing with a female stripper and throwing cash on another female stripper as she captioned the pictures “ROCstarshit my daddy would be proud” and “RoleModelShit”

Ok Rihanna we get the message, you’re trying to live like a ‘rockstar’ and show us all that you’re bad ass. But surely, it kind of defeats the purpose where you are posting these pictures yourself?

HOT New Couple -

Kim Kardashian & Kanye West

Kim K and Kanye West step out together for the first time

For months on end the rumours have been rife. Are they? Aren’t they? Are they? Yes, they are.

Reality star Kim Kardashian and new beau, rapper Kanye West have stepped out hand in hand for the first time to the opening of Scott Dissicks restaurant in NYC last week following a string of speculation.

Since then they have of course taken every opportunity to be papped as they gaze at eachother lovingly arm in arm to show the world just how happy and together they are.The pair who have known each other for almost a decade were rumoured to be dating while both still in serious relationships, however both camps failed to address the whispers.

Kanye’s ex Amber Rose branded Kim Kardashian a ‘homewrecker’ and “one of the main reasons why me and Kanye are not together” in an interview with RadarOnline, claiming Kim would send Kanye inappropriate messages and pictures of herself.

Kim K wears her new boyfriends initials on earing

Some have labelled the union of Kim and Kanye as a ploy to gain attention, but, why would one of the biggest artists in music and one of the most sought after reality TV stars need any more attention than they already have? Following this case of romantic celebrity musical chairs Kanye rapped on 'Theraflu' "And I’ll admit, I fell in love with Kim‘Round the same time she had fell in love wit’ him”. “Him” being Kris Humphries whom Kim shared a swift 72 day marriage with.

Since revealing their relationship, the high profile couple have been seen at many events and on many dates together. It is rumoured that Kim will be joining Mr West on his European tour of ‘Watch The Throne’ later this month alongside Jay-Z. Who knows, perhaps Kim Kardash and Beyonce may become BFF’s. (Yeah, I highly doubt that too)

Sof's Song of the Week

Coverdrive - 'Sparks'

This new four piece group known as CoverDrive are the latest musical export from Barbados who have been riding high in the charts with tracks ‘Lick Ya Down’ and ‘Twilght’.

The groups set up mirrors 90’s group No Doubt and the Black Eyed Peas with  a 3:1 boy:girl ratio. Their lead singer Amanda offers a sweet vocal on my song of the week ‘Sparks’.

The Caribbean-Pop track brings a feeling of warmth and sunshine. If you close your eyes you can imagine yourself on a beach sipping a cocktail as she sings ‘Happy to see you, setting me off like sparks. You ignite all the colours inside my heart’ over the piano keys and smooth synths. Once you have heard the catchy summery chorus over the repetitive clappy beat it will be hard to shake off.

Perhaps the UK’s dreary, grey and dull weather at the moment has influenced my song choice of the week! Check out the summery, fresh video and escape with CoverDrive for approximately 3 minutes.



CoverDrive - 'Sparks' Music Video

Rihanna New Single

 ‘Where Have You Been’

The hottest female artist in the Music scene, better known as RiRi, has released yet another single ‘Where Have You Been’ from her album 'Talk That Talk'.

The tribal inspired video sees Rihanna climbing out of water and slathering herself about for a while before delving into a full choreographed routine with backing dancers; something she almost never does in her videos. Some of the dancing is a little awkward and stiff which may explain why she avoids choreography in her videos.

Our very own Calvin Harris who produced the smash 'We Found Love', also produced this club-house beat which is bound to score them another Number 1.

Check out the video below and the behind the scenes footage.

Rihanna - 'Where Have You Been'

Behind The Scene - 

New Music Alert

 Stooshe - ‘Black Heart’

I became a fan of the 3 –peice London girl group Stooshe as soon as I heard their first track ‘Love Me’ which reached the Top 5 in the charts.

Following this success they have served up a Mo-Town inspired hit ‘Black Heart’ which allows for their vocal talent to really shine and is a huge step away from their wild, wacky and in your face debut single. The song itself, the styling and the video is much more calm and mature. If you were not already a certified fan to begin with, now you will be.

Stooshe - 'Black Heart' Music Video

Sof's Song of the Week
Usher - 'Climax'

The last time Usher dropped something hot was, well lets be honest, his only significant contribution to the music industry in recent years has been Justin Beiber (I know) and this has only benefited teeny bopping love struck girls.

With the aid of producer Diplo, the pair bring us ‘Climax’. The suggestive title would insinuate that the song is of a sexual nature, however it is quite the opposite. ‘Climax’ is more about an ode to reaching the end of a relationship that has not a breath of life left in it as he sings “Going nowhere fast, we’ve reached the Climax” .

The smooth stripped down song which shows off Usher’s vocal range and falsetto ability is exactly what Usher needed to get his credibility back and to shake off the cheesy collaborations we’ve seen him partake in. (To jog your memory of the forgettable music efforts – ‘OMG’ feat Will.I.Am is just one sorry example)

This masterpiece of a song is a lot more reminiscent of his previous hits such as ‘Slow Jams’, ‘Burn’ and ‘Nice and Slow’. If Usher plays around with these types of classic ‘Vintage Usher’ tracks we will salute his longevity in the biz. Check out the dramatic video for ‘Climax’ below.

Usher - 'Climax' Music Video

New Music! 

Sabi - 'Wild Heart'

The sounds of Jenice Sab-bion Portlock aka Sabi were first presented to us on Britney Spears' (Drop Dead) Beautiful track, but in the form of a rap verse.

To be quite frank, it was average, forgetable and extremely bland. A few months past and I came across ‘Wild Heart’. Just 40 seconds in, I was hooked. 

Immediately I googled the lyrics to find out who was the voice behind the song (as you do) and to my genuine shock it was Sabi. This time I was highly impressed with the Warner Brothers pop starlet……….until I caught glimpse of the video.

The slow mood of the video kills the song which is a real shame as the song itself is so full of energy and attitude. The scattered dubstep beat and the synth buzz are electric together as Sabi sings ‘Damn, this wild heart of mine, is gonna get me in trouble’

With good PR and a hotter video, this song would have easily perpelled her career in the right direction. Although the song is banger, I think it will unfortunately end up being overlooked and wasted. What do you think? Watch the video below.

Sabi - 'Wild Heart' Music Video

Drake - 'Club Paradise'
Tour Review

I was bitter and heartbroken that I hadn’t managed to get a ticket to the highly anticipated ‘Club Paradise Tour' at the o2. Drakes biggest headlining tour sold out before you could say Aubery Drake Graham and I just wasn’t fast enough at purchasing my ticket.

On the morning of the second show I woke up to be greeted by tweets upon tweets about the show from the night before. I groaned as I threw my iphone across my bed and got up to start my day. Little did I know, later that day I would be amongst the 18,000 ticket holders. That evening I learnt that I had bagged myself a free pass into the show which was due to start promptly in an hour and from that second on it was all systems go go go.

As I burst into the arena clutching my ticket and looking for my seat, the arena faded to black and the heavy spotlights boomed onto the stage. As if I wasn’t excited enough, the band began to play the familiar sounds of ‘Lord Knows’ and just like that every single person was on their feet as the stage curtain dropped and Drake hit the stage.

Typically dressed in black, Drake kick-started the show as a sea of blackberrys and iphones emerged in an attempt to get a snap of the star. The set list of the show was rather surprising as I’d expected the 25 year old to start with ‘Headlines’. Drake went on to surprise me as he chopped and changed through the set list contrasting from the emotional, soft and love obsessed songs such ‘Best I Ever Had’, ‘Take Care’, ‘Practise’ and ‘Shot For Me’ to blending into the harder hip-hop tracks like ‘Stay Schemin’ and ‘I’m Goin’ In’. This is something that no artist to date has managed to pull off, yet Drake does it effortlessly and does it well.

The entire 90-minute set was packed with non-stop energy as Drake hop, skipped, jumped and bounced from one end of the stage to the other like a little kid. The crowd pleasers were ‘The Motto’, ‘Take Care’ and ‘Crew Love’, notably ‘The Motto’ gained the best reception with every lyric being mirrored back to the Canadian rapper.

If I am to give a real and honest review of the show I must admit that the show was not fit for an arena, rather it was best suited for an intimate small gig such as Hammersmith Apollo. There were stages in the show that was evident the audience had lost momentum and were not as focused as they were to start, particularly in the middle segment. This is likely to be down to the fact that the songs were pretty rushed and occasionally it felt like the Young Money rapper was performing one long song.

During the performance of ‘Shot For Me’ images were seen on the large screen complimenting the song with visuals of sad women downing shots to reflect the lyrics of the song of drowning their sorrows due to unrequited love. What a strong contrast to the visuals alongside ‘Practice’ of big booty females in thongs dancing and ‘practicing’ their enticing moves to the song. One for the lads clearly.

We also got to see Drizzy’s funny and witty side when he cooled down by shouting out the audience members that he could see making jokes with anyone he could see that was still seated. Drake has often been criticised by fellow rappers for being too soft, but on stage he was confident, cocky energetic, nonchalantly charismatic and super-sweary as he introduced himself to the crowd by saying “I go by the name of Drizzy Mother f***ing Drake” and asking the crowd “How the f*** are ya’ll feelin right now?”

What I personally loved about the show was the overall atmosphere and the energy. In many ways it united so many different people from different backgrounds who would never be found under one roof and one time. The diversity of the crowd was not what would typically be expected from a  rap/hip-hop artist.

At one-stage the super-trim looking Drake held up a shot glass and toasted to his sell out show and encouraged everyone to have a drink and have a good time. That is exactly what everyone did.

Everybody in the arena, whether it was a mum accompanying her young teenage daughter, a group of love struck teens coming to watch their first celeb crush live, a group of hipsters from Shoreditch or a hip-hop and rap fans; everyone under that roof was on their feet for the entire 1 hour 30 mins and singing every single word.

There was clearly one purpose and one purpose only that night, to have a good time. That night Drake proved to me he is the voice of youth Culture.