HARD KNOCK WIFE VOL.2

‘Be there or be dry’ was the tagline attached to the invite for this intimate night at the Social in London’s West End. Situated within five minutes walk of Oxford Circus tube station, spirits were high as I gathered my peeps and zig-zagged through the backstreets to Little Portland Street. Tonight, the Social was playing host to the second instalment of ‘Hardknock Wife’. Free to get in and with some of the friendliest door staff I have ever come across when partying within the congestion zone. Tonight also boasted a top drawer line up, both live PAs and djs. Down the stairs and into the small main room, we grabbed a drink or two while Gloria Loves Valentine spun classic and current hip hop for the growing crowd.

jackson kid & lele(speaks)

First up, Lele (Speaks). Taking the stage alongside back up vocalist and sister, Jackson Kid, she launched into a heavy set of grimy rap with a pop accessability that was totally impossible to resist. Relaxed and confident on stage, one could be mislead by her delicate looks and good natured demeanor - Lele’s music comes from an all together edgier, darker place. She runs the line between punky angst and cutesy rap girl, with genuinely banging material. Here to promote her cd ‘The Mentalist Daily’, she ran through a great set of sing song choruses and shouty girl lyrics with some hilarious banter between tunes.

jackson kid & lele(speaks)

At one stage, the sisters picked out their dad in the crowd, ‘Dad’s gangsta though!’ said Jackson Kid as Lele giggled and agreed. With an almost psychotic energy, Lele jumped around the stage, busting up the growing dancefloor over rap beats, reggae riddims and grime bangers. The highlight being, for me, ‘Bloody Mental’ which has a bassline vaguely reminiscent of Dizzee’s ‘I Luv U’ track and a super catchy chorus. Donning their handbags especially for this tune, the girls mashed up the dancefloor and closed the set on a grimey high. Go check Lele’s myspace page and get the free download of her new cd.

goldielocks

More serious selections up next from the ultra-cool Papa Bear, keeping things rolling nicely as we bought another round, had a natter with Lele and waited for the next act. Goldielocks is the driving force behind the Hardknock Wife nights and she took to the stage amidst cheers and whistles of support. Opening with ‘Starsucks’, a very humorous take on her time working at Starbucks, there was an intimate feel to her performance with many members of the crowd rapping along word for word. Treating us to a new one called ‘Why Bother’, Goldielocks has a tight stage presence – confident and cool, fashionable and feisty.

goldielocks

Switching effortlessly between rapping and singing, she jacked up the levels with crowd favourite ‘Dolla Dolla’ before performing my highlight, a politically conscious sing along slice of social commentary, ‘Kids’, which absolutely tore up the Social. All the while, Goldielocks seemed to be having a great time on stage with long time friend Jackson Kid - yeah that’s Lele’s sis - spilling good vibes all around the stage and dancefloor and making the crowd smile and skank out in equal measure. A wicked set from the Croydon queen of electro/grime/pop…electronic…rap… kinda thing… she’s big, trust.

frisco

After some more great records were spun, the last act of the night had arrived. Frisco is a guy a lot of you will have heard of. Part of the Boy Better Know crew, this North London grime mc is well respected in the scene and was there to promote his new mix cd ‘Peng Food’. Accompanied by fellow spitter LaYz, Big Fris has a manner that demands respect and a flow to match his swagger. Moving between battle lyrics and more conscious stuff with his ragga-influenced vocals, Frisco showed that grime music can go deeper than the raves and is still the most vital urban movement in London. Peng Food looks to be a great cd if the material on show tonight were anything to go by, Frisco and LaYz explained they had ‘bars for days’ as they bust up the dancefloor donning matching ‘Fully Grown’ tees.

frisco & layz

Frisco has an old school feel to him, sounding like an organic mix of ragga dj, jungle mc and garage head with grimy beats and street based content. There was a ‘stand and deliver’ style to Frisco’s performance with little to no chat between tunes. Clearly an experienced mic controller, he blitzed the crowd with some big bars and was then joined on stage by Goldielocks to perform their collaboration, ‘Wasteman’. With growling bass and venomous lyrics, the two aggressively destroyed their intended targets while smashing up the dancefloor once again. An interesting collaboration of contrasting rap styles that’s definitely worth checking out, it’s signed to Locked-On records (remember them?) and will be out on 7th April so go cop that! Suicide Dogz then took over with some top quality deck work that kept the crowd buzzing till closing. All in all, a very cool night, look out for news of volume 3!





words: Jahan / photos: Gabriel