Thursday 28th September saw a charity event at Brixton Jamm set up by the straight talking London rap veteran Logic & The People’s Army.
All proceeds from the event, including a raffle for Caribbean meals at the delicious Turtle Bay restaurant went to the One Love Therapeutic Center in Ethiopia, a day care center that provides pastoral, educational and medical services for vulnerable children with disabilities, all in a country that still has within it a culture of turning a blind eye to such children.
On the bill was a feast of music well worthy the £15 ticket price, including Kingpin and Frshrz, Rodney P, Mighty Mo of Heartless Crew fame, Amy True, and Maverick Sabre. Headlining the evening’s entertainment was the powerful duo of Skibadee and Harry Shotta, powered by the quintessential jungle/DnB selection of legendary DJ Congo Natty.
The Thursday evening got off to a slow start, though with around 200 tickets sold in advance the full festivities were bound to start at some point. Jazz T as always held it down on the decks before things got moving, spinning a nice selection of old sku tracks including Das EFX’s ‘Real Hip Hop’ and a couple of classic Gangstarr tracks.
First of the live acts to bless the stage was Kingpin, who spat a handful of verses warming up the mic for guests Frshrz who impressed with a couple of tracks in promotion of their new self titled EP, a record that features not only Rodney P and Logic by also Si Philli of PLC / Philli n Dotz fame.
RU1FAM affiliate and Peoples Army soldier, Amy True took the stage shortly after, with her delicious vocals and positive lyricism set things up nicely for guest Maverick Sabre. The crowd was summoned to gather by the front of the stage for a short and intimate acoustic set from the Hackney born Irishman, famed for his excellent covers and features with Chase & Status. The room fell silent while he proceeded to enthrall the huddled crowd with a short selection of songs that wouldn’t have been out of place at a folk/roots festival including a sweet performance of ‘We Don’t Know’.
Next up was legend of the scene and original UK splitter Rodney P, with Logic backing him up for a brief jaunt on stage that included a rendition of ‘Peaches’ and the bouncy good vibes of ‘The Nice Up’ and ‘Live Up’. Swiftly afterwards, Mighty Mo & Dj Steady stepped up the tempo and came through with some bars backed by bigger bass, a fitting prelude for what was about to come.
Congo Natty had discreetly stepped up behind the wheels of steel and lit a stick of incense whilst Skibadee and Harry Shotta took centre stage. Congo continued his wonderful tradition of playing a couple of Bob Marley songs at the start of his set, with Redemption Song and One Love being the songs of choice on the evening, encouraging a further sense of unity between members of the crowd as many bellowed out the well known lyrics.
And then, before we even knew it, the whole room was thrown into a feast of furiously delivered British club lyricism, lacing the classic jump up DnB / Jungle riddims expertly selected by Congo Natty. For the last hour or so of the evening everyone was getting properly stuck in, with two of the most celebrated MCs of our generation smashing it out as they always do. Combined with Congo Natty, a true guardian of the Jungle / Jump Up scene, the trio couldn’t fail to set it off and get Brixton Jamm rolling. Everybody went home happy, and all in the aid of a good cause.
Big Up all the performers and the crowd for making it a wicked Thursday night dance.
