REVIEW: Hip Hop a Cultural Odyssey for Red Bull Music Acadmy

http://www.redbull.co.uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Event/Hip-Hop--A-Cultural-Odyssey-021243053852332

Red Bull Company LTD

Bigger Than Hip Hop

by Kieran Yates, Aug 1, 2011

On Friday night the Red Bull Studios housed the launch of the celebrated hip hop book, Hip Hop: A Cultural Odyssey- a compendium of artists and cultural figures featuring in the hip hop world over the last 50 years. The books took centre stage in the studio lounge, with people pouring in to lust after its thick glossy pages. At 15 lbs, the sheer weight of the book is a fitting representation of heavyweight influence that hip hop has had on contemporary culture as we know it. The content reads like any hip-hoppers wet dream, chock full of a cross section of hip hop culture including the often omitted graffiti artists, along with producers, DJs, and of course, some of the biggest artists in history- my favourites were Snoop Dogg in a Burberry shower cap followed by more poignant ones of Eminem looking strung out surrounded by crumpled lyric-covered scraps of paper. Beautifully shot, they show the diversity, humour and rise of a culture that was bubbling underground for many years in the US, and has re-written how we see beats, rhymes and life today.
  

Ghostpoet & Pauli Stanley-McKenzie

The night paid homage then, to the book at the centre of the hip hop storm, with Dizzee’s personal selector DJ Semtex warming the crowd up with high energy pop/hip hop injections, followed by Kayper who flawlessly mixed impressive remixes of Wiz Khalifa’s Black and Yeloow into a Tribe called Quest. Catching up with Semtex after his set, he commented, ‘these kind of events are important because hip hop is one of the most underrated art forms. People documenting the art are always needed-I’m glad to be a part of it, and we hope we get more things like this. The book’s amazing and it really puts the history into perspective.’ Other fans were Red Bull Studios regular, Ghostpoet and Pauli Stanley-Mckenzie, who I caught admiring pictures amongst the noise, commenting, ‘the book is amazing.'

Reggie Yates, Mr Hudson and Manny Norte

Next up on the decks were DJ twosome Reggie Yates and Manny Norte, who shouted and hyped the crowd while playing big bad bumper hip-hop tracks by Nas, Dre and Biggie, with the loudest cheers reserved for Rick Ross (who still continues to make drinks go up in the air). Every recognisable beat made sure I was soaked before the intro had even dropped-such is the power of bassy hip-hop legends. I wasn’t sure how more preened guests which included Gok Wan, Pussycat Doll Kimberley and Kelly Brook might fare, under a barrage of riotous skanks, gun fingers and jumps, but I can report that they were undeterred.

Hudson Mohawke

In contrast to the bangers and bravado of Yates and Norte, headliner Hudson Mohawke crept behind the decks, low-key as ever (he has no visible ego which is in my opinion the best thing about watching him perform-he always looks like a fan first and performer second) and mixed old school hip-hop from Busta and Dilla into ambient soul and jerky electronica. Despite not playing any of his classic remixes (like Tweet’s Oh My’) his set sounded fresh and clean as expected, while his blend of slow and steady broken beats were controlled and interesting enough to stand and listen with no more than a slight head bob- only surpassed by his scratching, - a delicious surprise for the audience who cheered and applauded his cross fader control - a rare treat. In fact, that’s a fitting conclusion for the whole night.