Volume Control #2

For the second edition of Hyperfrank's Volume Control series, Griminal hit the booth with producer SNK Beats to bring us "Talkin' About".



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OFWGKTA

The majority of my Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook timelines are occupied by OFWGKTA videos.
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All are a young collective from Los Angeles,California. The Crew recently appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show and their avant-garde performance has re-established the Horrorcore sub-genre of hip hop, first introduced by artists such as Gravediggaz and the Insane Clown Posse.




Wolf Gang!

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It's Footsie Again.

Volume Control #1

Check out Edition One of Volume Control, brought to you by Hyperfrank, Roundhouse London and Boxfresh Clothing.

If you don’t know about Volume Control, sort yourself out and visit www.hyperfrank.co.uk

Devlin 28/10/10

Devlin

Underworld, London, 28/10/10

At 21 years old Devlin has already released two well-received mixtapes, clashed Wiley and was the only unsigned artist to be featured on the BBC’s Sound of 2010 list alongside the likes of Marina & The Diamonds and Ellie Goulding. After making serious waves in the grime scene for nearly five years, rapper Devlin has most-deservingly been signed to a major record label and has embarked on a UK tour.

Camden Town’s Underworld Club played host for his first headline gig, complete with a live band. Ed Sheeran, a 19-year-old singer-songwriter from Framlingham, Suffolk, opened the show. Ed’s soulful, streetwise yet sweet lyrics provided a nice transition from the bass-heavy sounds of the warm-up DJ, to the hard-hitting lyrics of Devlin himself.

Hailing from Dagenham, Devlin began with London City, a song wherein which he pays homage to ‘the best city in the world’. After running through numerous tracks from his debut album Bud, Sweat & Beers including Brainwashed and Community Outcast, just over half way through, Devlin asked the audience “who watched the MOBOs?” Now I personally didn’t watch the awards ceremony, but had heard about an epic performance from Tinchy Stryder, Giggs, Professor Green & Tinie Tempah, so immediately began to speculate as to what was about to happen. Much to mine and everyone else in the audience’s enjoyment Devlin called for reinforcement in the form of Ghetts, Giggs and Tinchy Stryder to perform Game Over, a track which represents the quality and alliance between this new wave of mainstream UK talent.

The show was closed by Devlin’s latest and arguably most popular track, Runaway. Joined on stage by singer Yasmin, Devlin was almost inaudible as the audience sang along, word for word. Considering the majority of the audience was comprised of teenagers aged between 14 and 16 years old, Devlin was on top form and gave a performance that remained authentic and appealed to every member of the audience, regardless of age.

Bud, Sweat & Beers is out now.

Words: Elissa Bradley

Mos Def 29/11/10

Mos Def

HMV Forum, London, 29/11/09

In recent weeks, London has been spoilt for hip hop choice; Oakland, CA natives Souls Of Mischief played an intimate gig at the Carharrt Store in Covent Garden and Dead Prez performed at Camden Town’s KOKO. But top of that list is Mos Def, one of hip hop’s most astute rappers, who flew into London to play a one-off sold–out show at Kentish Town’s HMV Forum.

The atmosphere outside the venue was near-chaotic as fans queued in the rain and HMV Forum staff almost lost control as they tried to differentiate between the numerous queues which had formed. Once inside, the omni-present buzz of excitement continued as the crowd waited for the lyricist to take to the stage.

Mos Def’s two accompanying DJs, Preservation and Gold Medal Man (who happens to be his younger brother) began the show, spinning records onstage, allowing Mos Def to slip on unnoticed by some of the audience. Dressed like somebody you might meet on the tube – very ordinary grey blazer and black hat – he began with a drum solo, nothing special, but very good nonetheless. The rapper then moved smoothly through songs from his fourth and latest album, The Ecstatic.  Auditorium, Life In Marvellous Times and Casa Bey were the stand out tracks from the collection of pure innovative hip hop. The crowd were warmed up nicely, but really quite tame – Mos Def’s reputation is for poetry and his crowds tend to listen to the words. He then played from his older works where hits like Close Edge and Umi Says were the obvious crowd-favourites as was, Definition, from Black Star, his collaboration with Talib Kweli.

One of the great things about a Mos Def show is how he makes sure his audience understands where the inspirations for the songs he creates come from, as, prior to performing many of them he pays tribute to the original of which he samples. Tonight was no exception, and he beautifully crooned his way through Aretha Franklin’s One Step Ahead before mixing into his classic Ms Fat Booty, which contains interpolations of Aretha’s rare recording throughout.

Carrying on until well past HMV Forum’s curfew of 11pm (some say this was to compensate for his last London gig at The Shepherds Bush Empire in 2007 where he kept fans waiting for over two hours and performed for only an hour) Mos Def put on an excellent show, clearly enjoying himself as from start to finish he wore a genuine smile that rivaled a child’s on Christmas Day.

Words: Elissa Bradley