Wembley Arena
24.09.06
Jay Z is the greatest mainstream rapper alive. It’s as simple as that. So when he plays a show in London, you know I’m going to be there. Having seen him before, I knew he’d put on a great show, but nothing could have prepared me for what lay ahead. After having seen Kano rep for the UK and then seeing the crowd go crazy for latest up-and-comer Lupe Fiasco, DJ Green Lantern dropped a nice medley of Jigga songs to warm the crowd up before the man himself stepped on the stage with a casual demeanour which was his own way of swaggering.
Joined on stage by his hype man Memphis Bleek, Jay Z belted out What More Can I Say, Hola Hovito, IZZO [Hova], and even dropping AC/DC’s Back In Black as he rapped his huge hit 99 Problems. The crowd was pumped already, enjoying the music and the man himself as he split the arena in two, the people on his left being instructed to say “Jigga What” with us on his right shouting “Jigga Who” as that classic blasted out.
Personal favourite Dirt Off Your Shoulder was followed by Is That Yo Chick, with the Missy Elliott sample firing up even more cheers, and the old classic Can I Get A… brought the house down. Basically, Jay Z’s laid back flow and his calm interaction with the crowd was perfect amongst the pyro and shooting pillars of fire coming out from behind the stage. But something was coming that no-one was ready for and as soon as it happened, the volume was cranked up that bit higher.
Enter Nas. The rapper that famously had beef with Jay Z, but has since patched it up with the man who is now his boss, stepped out on stage and for a second there was silence as no-one could believe their eyes, but soon order was restored and the noise was deafening. If I Ruled The World, Hate Me Now and Made You Look were peppered at the baying thousands, before the highlight of the night happened – Jay and Nas teaming up on Dead Presidents.
After the heartfelt Song Cry, we had another special guest, with Jay Z’s current squeeze Beyoncé stepping to the stage to perform Crazy In Love, gyrating against her man during his verse. With Hard Knock Life gaining a sing-a-long, Jay performed a medley of tracks to celebrate the lives of Tupac, Jam Master Jay, Eazy E, Aaliyah, Left Eye and Biggie and ended with his encore of Big Pimpin’ and Encore. As glitter fell down on the crowd and pyro shot down from the ceiling, Jay Z told a male fan wearing a pink shirt that “you gotta be strong to pull that off”. He is a born entertainer and everyone left the Arena that night knowing that they got one hell of a show.
On Monday October 9th, The Hedrons, in conjunction with their upcoming single I Need You, are going to make history as the first British act to ever host a live virtual concert. They will do it in front of a 3-D social netword in Second Life’s fantasy land.
Bonnie Prince Billy will be coming to London in January of 2007 to play 2 special shows at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Cargo is busy at the calmest of times, but when I walked into the venue just before Kid Koala stepped on stage, I knew exactly how Japanese commuters feel when they get crammed into their high speed trains. Sardines have more breathing room than this. Soon after DJ Sparky had done his thang, Kid Koala stepped on the stage to huge noise from the crowd as a siren sounded out, beginning what is a rare occurance – A Kid Koala live show in the UK.
Count Bass D is set to release his fourth album, Act Your Waist Size, on Fat Beats. The album will feature 20 tracks which will include boom-bap hip hop, instrumentals and even a ballad! You can check out the first two singles to come from the album by right clicking the links below. The album will hit the shops in mid-October.
If you want to see some good skating, eat great food and meet gorgeous women, we suggest you try and make it to the Etnies European Open in Rome, Italy, on October 6th to 8th and watch the cream of European skate talent battle it out for €20,000!
I don’t know if we mentioned this a while ago, but one of the most stylish companies out of San Francisco looks like it’s back for round 2 – Rasa Libre!
If Ol’ Dirty Harold was still around, you know he’d be rocking one of these.
It’s been almost ten years since The Lemonheads disintegrated post Reading ’97, following frontman Evan Dando’s very public battle with drug addiction, and following a ‘Best of’ release by Atlantic, all went quiet on The Lemonheads front.
What do you get when you mix the unrivalled intensity of 80’s thrash metal with the blood-splattered gore of Dawn of the Dead? That would be Leeds based zombie crew Send More Paramedics, of course.