After the incredible events of Jonzi D’s Breakin’ Convention, held for its 16thyear at Sadler’s Wells, it was time for the 2019 Park Jam. The family friendly, daytime block party encapsulates the best principles of Hip Hop and Breakin’ Convention in a free event full of dancers, callisthenic workouts, live graffiti, independent stores selling books, haircuts, clothing and I Am Hip Hop Magazine issue 5 (go kop that!!), good food, good vibes and amazing live music, all stuffed into Spa Fields Park. The music stage, programmed by DJ Snuff – a certified vertebrae of the backbone of London’s Hip Hop and live music scenes – is always adorned with a huge line-up ranging from newcomers to legends. This year the stage was rammed full of talent, as has come to be expected, all held together by DJ Jazz T on the decks and MysDiggi & Mas Law on crowd control.
The day started kinda cold, threatening to rain but instead warmed up, breaking into glorious sunshine as the day went on, peaking just as the headliners hit the stage; renowned Soul star Terri Walker and the Godfather himself Rodney P, with these OGs of our scene running through solo sets of classic material. Rodney P moved through bangers like ‘The Nice Up’, ‘Holes in the Building’ and ‘Live Up’ where he was joined on stage by Peoples Army General Logic, before Terri Walker came through dropping body movers like ‘Drawing Board’ and ‘Guess You Didn’t Love Me’, taking me back to the days vibesin’ to these tracks as an adolescent. Rodney joined his sister on stage for their new fyah collaboration ‘The Breakout’ a bass heavy dub riddim, due for release on her forthcoming 2019 EP with the same name.
The headliners were preceded by the legendary record breaker Daddy Freddy, performing his new collaboration with Sleepy Time Ghost ‘Bun Dem Out’, and a dope performance by one of London’s best lyricists Reveal from Poison Poets. The stage was also blessed by 3x EOW England Champ Gee Bag with DJ Downstroke (and his daughter), ragga singer K9, specialist sheller Janset, R&B songstress Vanessa Jamie, poet I.Am.Shaheed, ill emcees Eerf Evil, Verbz and Kieron Boothe, a showcase by the young talents of Breakin’ Convention’s Future Elements, as well as the immense talent of house bands Nihilism and Hypernova. The show ended with a crazy open mic cypher, held together by an ever-changing lineup of members of each band and emcees including Oliver Sudden and Skandouz of FRSHRZ.
It was another beautiful Park Jam event, with legendary Hip Hop heads popping up throughout the whole day, many with their kids, really showing how united good vibes can make people. Take a look at our playlist of performances below, it’ll be enough to tie you over until Park Jam 2020!
Footage by: Apex Zero
Photography by: Paul Hampartsoumian
