Excalibah: Biography

"Excalibah was the first person to push Sway on mainstream radio" - Sway

"The Brightest Broadcasting Star of Hip-Hop in the Country" - Big Dada

Theatre:

In 2007 Excalibah made his directorial debut with Jean Genet's (infamous French writer and political activist) highly controversial and rarely performed play 'The Blacks' which he also composed, adapted and starred in. The production received 5 stars and critics choice in Timeout as well as support from the Guardian, the FT, the Observer and BBC Radio 4.

In 2003 Excalibah adapted and musically directed "Da Boyz…" which was directed by jet setting designer/director Ultz.. "Da Boyz…" was a hip-hop interpretation of Roger and Harts "The Boys from Syracuse". This was the first time in history that the rights to a Richard Rogers play had been given over for adaptation. The production included an all-star cast with artists such as Rodney P, Mystro, Black Twang, Demolition Man and Kyza treading the boards. The play was quite possibly the first of its kind, combining all the elements of a concert with the narrative and plot of the original story. "Da Boyz..." was widely recognized as a groundbreaking play and received coverage in publications including The New York Times (USA), The Guardian, Variety (USA), BBC Radio 5, BBCLDN News and The Times.

He's currently developing a musical version of Dracula as well as a new musical for Soho Theatre and a few more ideas for Stratford East. He's also worked alongside, Arts Council England, Jonzi D, Cardboard Citizens and the NAYT.

As well as currently being the youngest member on the board of directors at the Theatre Royal, in 2001 Excalibah completed the only course in the UK that teaches musical direction and musical writing. In 2005 he returned to complete the postgraduate course.

Tales from the Legend:

Excalibah kick started the radio show "Tales from the Legend" on London pirate station Juice 102.5fm in 1999. The show was nominated in the "Best Underground UK Hip-Hop Radio Presenter" category at the UK Hip-Hop Awards 2001 and 2002. In 2004 & 2005 the show was nominated as "Best Radio Show".

At 18 Excalibah was head hunted and became the first signing to the BBC's nationwide digital Black music station 1Xtra. During his time at the station he helped kick start the careers of many hip-hop artists in the UK: Estelle, Sway, Plan B, Dirty Diggers, Shameless, Swiss and Yungun to name a few. The show was voted Best Hip-Hop Show in Undercover magazine for 2003, it also came 3rd in HHC for the same year. In 2004 and 2005 Excalibah won Best Radio Show and Best Radio Presenter in most of the top hip-hop press.

The radio show "Tales from the Legend" has a format that includes commercial hip-hop, underground & Independent hip-hop as well as British hip-hop and grime with freestyles, mixes and of course Excalibah's dry sense of humour. Excalibah has presented TFTL for nearly 9 years now. Excalibah has also presented three shows and one documentary on BBC Radio One as well as filling in and guest presenting for other shows on 1Xtra, Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music; including breakfast shows, Westwood, Steve Lamaq and the legendary John Peel.

In August 2005 Excalibah left 1Xtra. See www.ukhh.com, www.hiphopgame.co.uk and www.rapnews.co.uk for the exclusive interviews on the reasons for his departure.

Excalibah returned with the all new genre defying Tales from the Legend in January 2008 on Pyroradio.com. Catch the show every Tuesday from 5pm or download it from the archive anytime.

Publications:

During his career DJ Excalibah has appeared in numerous publications including; Hip-Hop Connection (front cover twice), Rago, Untold, Rewind, Variety (USA) The Voice, Mugshot (USA), The Sunday Times, Big Smoke, Undercover, Manchester Evening Post, The Guardian, MORE, 19, The New York Times, Timeout and the international music publication Vibrations.

Excalibah currently writes columns for HHC and Big Smoke.

He has also had his own writing published in the Sunday Telegraph, Knowledge and IDJ.

Releases:

Excalibah has been producing for about 10 years now and as well as personal projects he has previously had his own production released on Ottomanelf Music ("£2" with vocals by Willo from the Colony), worked with Troy Scalpels (the National U.K. Hip-Hop Freestyle Champion 2001), Shameless, Plan B and Out Da Ville and contributed a remix to the latest LP from the Colony alongside Ghost and Evil Ed.

Excalibah has released 8 previous mix CD's. The first "Britainia Rules the Airwaves" was released with the September 2001 issue of HHC (which rapidly sold out, and is now highly sought after); the second was the Big Dada compilation "Extra Yard" released Oct 21st 2002. Following the success of these, in August 2004 Excalibah was asked to do a second mix for HHC called "We Got Next" focusing on the new wave of UK artists.

 In May 2004 Excalibah released his first official mix album through Dat Sound called "The Ex Files (Doc 1)" which garnered the respect of magazines such as Undercover and Touch (who voted it album of the month).

In 2006 Excalibah released his second mix cd on the Dat Sound label "UK Dubstate the Mixtape" which features the cream of the UK's Hip Hop scene; Sway, Plan B, Doc Brown, Lowkey, TaskForce, Lethal, Broke N English, C-Mone, Braintax, Kyza, Swiss and more all make an appearance dropping 100% exclusive rhymes on some of the biggest stateside beats.

Excalibah has also released CDs in conjunction with Dat Sound (Bless the Mixtape) Alizé (Out of the Bleu) and the NSPCC and HHC (Holla).

This year he releases his second UK Dubstate Mixtape.

Excalibah Presents:

9 years ago DJ Excalibah set up the aforementioned entertainment company. The first event held was "Live from the Legend" at (the old) Deal Real Records, London on the 11th of November '99. It was essentially a showcase held every other month. The show was a combination of PA's, Music and Freestyles.

The 4th LFTL was part of the London Hip-Hop festival which took place during May 2000 and also included Choice FM's 279 and Kiss FM's Shortee Blitz (the Chubby Kids).

More recently "Excalibah Presents" has moved into new territory, weird eclectic events in bars like The Pleasure Unit where Excalibah showcased the best in psychedelic beats and psychological entertainment (ala Derren Brown) at a night called "Mystic Rhythms".

The most recent additions to 'Excalibah Presents' are 'Tales from the Legend – Live Lounge' (this was a monthly event showcasing up and coming talent in the UK) and the 'Sunday Selection' (an old skool Variety Night with modern performers).

Club Nights:

Excalibah has held residencies at: Ministry of Sound, Fabric, TRSE, Coliseum and Scratch Club Wednesdays

Excalibah has played, and continues to play, a lot of one off club nights such as Pogo's Lyrical Lounge and Rhythmology, Lost for Words, Fabric Live, Fire Blaze, Spit kingdom (Paris), Rawganics (Cambridge), Ravers Paradise, Bugging, C'mon Feet (Manchester), Ziller (Paris), Ghryme and Tricks o' the Trade (Reading) and the Tenerife Festival of Colors.

Some of the clubs Excalibah has played at include: Ocean (Hackney) Aquarium (Southwark) Tudor Rose (Greenford), Coliseum (Vauxhall), Fabric (Farringdon), Po Na Na and Banus (Sheffield), The Level (Bristol), Toucan Club (Cardiff), The Other Rooms (Newcastle), Stratford Circus (Stratford) WKD (Camden) Bla (Norway) and the Bomb (Nottingham).

Tours:

In May of 2003 Excalibah toured the country with Titan Sounds / Riddim Killa which are the respective labels of DJ Skitz and Rodney P. Excalibah also toured the UK with the BBC working on a documentary about the independent hip-hop scene for Radio 1 and the World Service. In 2004 Excalibah toured alongside the Dat Sound family and Underground Alliance and in 2005/2006 he toured with various artists to promote his new release "UK Dubstate the Mixtape".

Organized music events, they happen everywhere across the world as a result of both small and large organizations, and 'organization' doesn't necessarily mean money grabbing capitalist swindlers looking to make a quick shilling, who dedicate their time working hard for the scene they care about and adore. Every year, for four years now, an extremely committed and diligent team of less than ten voluntary members have worked their Day-Glo socks off to bring together all the elements of hip-hop culture in Brighton in an 'organized' way for almost an entire month, let's call it a month. I'm sure you saw the HHC feature and copped the free cd a few months ago promoting the Brighton Hip-Hop Festival which, being aware that it's the UK's only city wide hip-hop festival includes, performers, public speakers and artists from across the nation. It happened across June and July but it nearly didn't happen at all! The original funding bodies and financial backers, who have remained nameless, decided that the event no longer related to them and backed away from their backing, how kind and considerate. I was at a loss when I received the email informing me that they needed to raise in excess of £30,000 in less than three weeks, the live day alone amounted to £23,000. This disappointment would never happen in America I thought! If there's one thing Americans can do right, other than export banging music and fast food products, it's their gargantuan aptitude for pushing as much cash-rules-everything-around-me-cream-get-the-money-dolla-dolla-bill-ya'll into anything they can get their own brand stamped on, anything that will double or treble their cash-rules-everythi…you get the idea. I checked the bank account to see if I had a spare thirty grand lying around, nope. I knew I should never have bought this fly iced out grill…ahem. Anyway a rosy ending was on the cards, forums and websites hosted petitions and discussions and almost at once support and donations came in from far and wide, some of the more memorable sponsors are Brighton's premier hip-hop label Zebra Traffic, free poster / magazine Don't Panic and KRS One's much-loved sponsor the Sussex Black Police Association. Let me personally congratulate the team, all the acts, panellists, work-shop leaders and artists for pulling together, pulling through and pulling off another remarkable celebration of hip-hop culture, the man will not keep us down!

Spoken word events, they happen everywhere across the world as a result of both small and large organizations who dedicate their time working hard for the scene they care about and adore. The spoken word scene actually rests on a plain not too far removed from rap, well good rap at least and this is proven by the artists that tend to blur the boundaries between the two even more, artists like Saul Williams, HKB Finn and David Grey. Recently I was privileged to be invited to provide the musical accompaniment to the UK Slam Championship held at the Theatre Royal in Stratford, East London. There were many impassioned poets and wordsmiths from across the UK, including Nicky Spesh who I mentioned as 'one to watch' in the last issue of HHC, American double act Under Da Poetry, and Manchester's Mike Garry who's pretty eminent in the spoken word scene (myspace.com/mikegarrypoet). It's no small wonder however that the 'slammer' who took the cheque the plaque and the title was an absolute b-boy through and through, all the elements in one body! His name is John Berkovitch and he won by a clear two points thanks to a humorous first piece and some awfully poignant lines in his second 'Bang, you're dead / said a six year old kid with ideas in his head / keeping it real becomes as real as it gets / as real as building a rep / as real as earning respect / as real as gold teeth and post codes tattooed on necks / as real as MTV Gangsters and the image they project / and as real as 14 year old girls shot dead.' Peep 2007's extremely unofficial Poet Laureate, see what else he's got his sticky mitts involved with and read the full piece at johnberkavitch.com.  

For the last few weeks I've been stuck in a room at the Theatre Royal Stratford East with a bunch of playwrights, producers and emcees, including Nicky Spesh, Iron Braydz, MD7 beatsmith Urban Monk and Paul Grootboom, known as the Township Tarantino, working on a project called the 'Musical Writing Workshop'. This is the 3^rd time I've attended the course, the first being in 2001 when I attended alongside old school chum and extended family member Pat Stash (of Brighton based duo Dirty Diggers) or as he was then known The Irresistible MC Skolla, he'll love me for that. The aim of the course, which is taught by two visiting lecturers from the Tisch University in New York,  is to teach the art of writing musical theatre using contemporary music styles, so think 'Billy Elliott' with beats by Wiley, or 'We Will Glock You' a musical based on the songs of 50 Cent. As you may know completing this course in 2001 allowed me and Pat Stash to adapt the classic Rogers and Hart musical 'The Boys from Syracuse' into 'Da Boyz' starring Kyza and Mystro as twin brothers separated at birth. The show also featured guest performances from Blak Twang, Champagne, Demolition Man and Rodney P, who is currently working alongside Benjamin Zephaniah on a stage adaptation of the latter's book Gangsta Rap for the same theatre. Well it's about time the Ex man, that's me, flexed his theatrical muscles once more and this time it's a little more hard hitting. It's originally an anarchic, provocative and incredibly divisive French text written by Jean Genet, a student of Sartre and friend to Malcolm X (much to the confusion of the Nation of Islam, 'Yo X, what's up with the old, French, gay, white dude?') which explores, on one level, the way that the terms black and white are shrouded in negative and positive images respectively. It was written as a response to Ghana achieving independence from the United Kingdom in 1957 and looks at the stereotypes held in the minds of the 'white man' about what Africa is and what the role of the 'white man' is / was in Africa, that's not to be confused with 'Tis Was in Africa. To sum it all up, the play proudly declares 'fuck the empire!' This time round I'm co-directing alongside Ultz (it was his idea also to stage 'Da Boyz' as a hip-hop musical) as well as handling all musical composition and playing a little role as master of ceremonies too! Plate, too much on it? Hell Yes! To make sure you've got all the info correct and stored in your blackberry-ipod-filofax thingy the show is called 'The Blacks' and runs from the 12^th of October until the 17^th of November, it features an all star cast including Tameka Empson (of 3 Non Blondes), Rosie Wilson (of the Gorillaz), Lyric L, Pesci, Carl Ramsey, World Slam Champion Kat François and possibly Kyza too. For more details on the show hit up www.stratfordeast.com.   

Whilst mentioning alternative hobbies for cultured hip-hop fans I must tell you about a show I went to see last month. It was Blade Runner; yes the 1982 Ridley Scott movie based on the Phillip K Dick novel starring Harrison Ford, but with a twist. Either side of the screen were two control areas, one manned by Mox, of Ninja Tune, toying with the visuals, blurring and distorting the images until I was forced to check my drink for traces of LSD. On the other side you had the immediately recognizable Terrah Danger, head honcho of Aftershock and all round nice guy, completely rescoring the film with his pounding dark electronica, his sound perfectly complimented the moody tone of the flick proving that grime and dubstep may very well have a future outside of the clubs and pirate radio stations across the country.

Plan B review:

 
MOVE THE CROWD

In the most opulent surroundings of the Shepard's Bush Empire stands Ben Drew at the helm of a full live band including Cassell the Beatmaker on drums and Mixologists member Beni G on deck duties. Before him is a heaving venue, four floors jam packed with eager Plan B fans; full grown men in skinny jeans, angst ridden teenage boys with fringes and women with pierced privates (I guess) are here in abundance. 'Everyday' kick starts the set which feels on the whole, in tone and sound, like folk. Flipping from hollering the hook for 'No More Eatin' to gently serenading with his tale of underage love 'Charmaine', B has the crowd in the palm of his hand, proven when he lets the all in attendance drop the punch line for the latter "Blud, that girls fourteen".

HUSH THE CROWD

To be honest, this is one of those times when there is very little to criticise. The show was on point and the crowd were with Plan B for the entire hour and forty minutes, going with him wherever he chose venture. When I arrived there were a few guys on the floor outside, not through choice but because the bouncers were holding them there until the police arrived. What did you expect outside a Plan B gig, clouds and bunny rabbits?

REAL LIVE RAPS

Plan B translated the sound of his studio album perfectly for a concert with a live band and a venue of that size. Professor Green and Example both handled their warm up slots with precision and the Heavens opened when Killa Kela joined the band on stage for the encore. His 'Reveal Your Inner Self' single complimented the mood the B had created entirely, lifting the drive of the crowd to maximum for what everyone wanted to hear; No Good. 

Another year over, another year older and the beloved UK music scene seems to have one foot in the grave whilst the other foot parades around on nationwide television clutching a BET award between it's toes. For me personally this year has been a chance to explore the various ways which hip-hop culture, and the skills I've garnered from being a part of it, can be pushed to the masses in unique and challenging new ways. So not only did I co-direct, compose and star in 'The Blacks' (5 stars, and Critics Choice in Timeout I hasten to add) but I also watched those around me take their art form to new heights. Maverick choreographer Kenrick, producer Mikey J and their dance troupe Boy Blue Ent walked away with a Lawrence Oliver Award for the groundbreaking street-dance ballet 'Pied Piper'. Street magician and ultimate hip-hop aficionado Dynamo launched his one man show at the Soho Theatre, which I was also asked to consult on, and he received full houses for it including Ian Brown (Stone Roses) Paul Kieve (illusion consultant on the Harry Potter films and Lord of the Rings stage show) and many others distinguished artists. Meanwhile up in Birmingham, Taharka created the world's first grime based theatre production, and in Brighton the hip-hop festival went ahead despite having the funding cut in the final hour. On television we saw the new series of Dubplate Drama featuring everyone from Westwood, Big Narstie, Mike GLC, Fumin, NDubz and Shystie to erm…official reptilian spokesman David Ike. Former Battlescars champion and creator of the highly controversial '9/11 Blues' track, Riz, went on to appear not only on the BBC's 'Electric Proms' but also on billboards across the country promoting Peter Kosminsky's drama 'Britz' in which he had the main role. In London Lyrikal Theatre pioneer Jonzi D became artist in residence at the Sadlers Wells Theatre, whilst on bank of the Thames Foreign Beggars beatboxer and everybody's favourite surrogate nephew (his words not mine, although I thoroughly agree) Shlomo became artist in residence at the Southbank centre. I popped along to see a documentary on his 'Beatbox Choir' recently and was absolutely blown away, not only had he enlisted one of the finest female beatboxers I've ever heard called Bellatrix, but he also recruited the classical a cappella group formed in the 60's the Swingle Singers. If Rahzel bought beatboxing to the forefront of hip-hop again in the early naughties, and Killa Kela raised the bar for technique and innovation then Shlomo has made beatboxing accessible to all, through his concerts (including Bellatrix and the Boxettes, the world's first female beatbox crew) and workshops programmed over a year at one of London's most exciting arts venues.

So while the music industry devours itself through the means of downloading MP3s, ripping CDs, and the sale of vinyl continues to drop leading to the close of our beloved shops and labels (Deal Real / Low Life) those creative souls involved in the music must find new directions & methods of delivering their ideas. A lot of us fell in love with the culture and the accompanying music when we were a lot younger, as we've grown we've seen the most amazing peaks and troughs in the 'success' of UK black music and hip-hop in particular. Right now I feel we're in a new period, a rapidly changing period of crossing and blending genres and art forms, of polarization where the middle ground gets slimmer and you're either in or you're out, only 2008 can show us where we'll end it's gonna be an interesting year.  

Excalibah Discography

Production:

·        Conspicuous The Coroner ft The Colony "Therapy Remix" from Dictionary Meaning Revisited (Ottomanelf Music) 2001

·        Willo The Wispa "£2" (Ottomanelf Music) 2002

·        Dom G "Breathe 02" (Grinnin) 2006

·        TB "No One Else" (Dat Sound) 2006

·        Shameless "Smoke In Session" (Dat Sound) 2007

·        Shameless "Some Things (Never Change)" (Dat Sound) 2007

Compilations:

·        HHC / 1Xtra / Excalibah: "Britannia Rules The Airwaves" 2002

·        "Extra Yard" (Big Dada) 2002

·        "The Ex Files" (Dat Sound) 2003

·        HHC / 1Xtra / Excalibah: "We Got Next" 2005

·        Shameless "Bless The Mixtape" (Dat Sound) 2005

·         "UK Dubstates The Mixtape" (Dat Sound) 2006

·        HHC / Alize / Excalibah: "Out Of The Bleu" 2007

If you need to send me any music, then you can either email it to me at:

Excalibah@gmail.com

or you can message me here and get a postal address.

If ya want any feedback just let me know.

Peace.