It's Mr Wolf's
and it's 8.30 in the pm. It's surely gig time. But alas, no, it's sound
checking and it's ongoing. Do these people realise it's a school night?
They surely do. What I don't realise, however, is that where I'm stood,
it's written “skool.” Not a frequenter of much live hip-hop, I was to
be educated by the nocturnal ways of the genre. And let me inform you
// step, one two, one two // that dem beetz was sic.

Up first were Qeld!, two young, local lads with smooth backing
sounds underpinning original rhymes. I was dubious when the word “yo”
was repeated as the set began and whether what ensued would carry or
halt the motion, but my nerves were calmly replaced by the slightly
monotonous nodding of my head. Responding as an affirmation to the
vigour that these two had, it was easy to appreciate that there was
very little clashing between them. The mutual respect between them (and
by that I mean how they observed the doctrine of call and response,
rather than call, call, and call some more before waiting until your
next turn to call again) was palpable. I'll level here, I don't like
group rap over another’s musical ideas that becomes a racy collection
of misogynous demands, but there was real lyrical clarity and
intelligence here. Even though matron always said that swearing shows a
limited vocabulary, their effort and commitment was commendable.
Between the hip-hop clichés, “brap brap brap” gesticulations and
unsettling, sexual demands, there was a lot to be enjoyed and I
honestly believe that at a late night, weekend venue, these two could
generate a significant amount of interest and bounce. Certainly, an
avid local following. If this is your scene, this duo is worth a
look-see. On congratulating one of the band members, he offered me a
CD, “Quel est la date.” I speak a little Spanish, but this is possibly
old-skool (!), grimy Latin, meaning ‘Qeld is the shiz.’ Believe.

You can read the full review here, including a review of Syte and the Sound who performed after us.


I've also uploaded some pictures from the gig which you can check out here.

Peace. Jenre