Mac Miller – Live At The HMV Forum, London: Review!

Defying Tradition.

If there’s ever an artist to defy the traditional route of making it to the top of the charts, then Mac Miller’s your man – proving you don’t need a big label in order to reach the dizzy heights of success. While the twenty-year-old Pittsburgh native may be considered a newbie in the rap world, having only one official album under his belt, Malcolm McCormick gained legions of fans worldwide, after releasing seven mixtapes over the last five years. And the hard graft paid off, because the young wordsmith’s debut LP ‘Blue Slide Park’ became the first independently released record to top the Billboard charts in over fifteen years. So when the rising hip hop star brings his ‘Blue Slide Park’ tour to the UK, it’s no surprise Miller’s Brit fans turn up in their droves for the occasion.

It’s one of the hottest days in the year and just one glance at the audience outside the HMV Forum and you can feel the jubilance and excitement in the young crowd. Once inside the insanely hot North West London venue, the atmosphere is electric – even before the main man’s hit the stage. So when Miller arrives, there’s no surprise pandemonium erupts as ecstatic fans fist pump and go crazy for their idol.

Dressed in a white “I LOVE LDN” T-shirt, jeans and hat, Miller keeps it simple, with no gimmicks. Taking rap back to its essence, the US star is simply joined on stage by his DJ and hype man – the show is purely about the music. “Yo London, make more muthf*ckin’ noise,” he confidently declares, before spitting verses from his debut LP and numerous mixtapes – showcasing an impressive catalogue of material for such a young artist (Miller released his first mixtape at the tender age of fifteen).

Songs such as ‘Loud’, ‘Party On Fifth Av’ and ‘My Team’ has sweat-drenched revellers energetically shape-throwing, whilst rapping along to every word. Miller’s live delivery is precisely sharp and stage presence incredibly strong. Current radio smash ‘Frick Park Market’ raises the temperature, but it’s tracks from the K.I.D.S. mixtape that are the highlight of the night, with the likes of ‘Knock Knock’ and ‘Nikes On My Feet’ causing frenzied applause.

Feeding off the crowd’s infectious energy, Miller even provides some dance moves – showcasing his humorous side. The hour long set also includes tributes to Michael Jackson and the late Beastie Boy, MCA. And saving the best for last, Miller closes the impressive hyperactive show with his smash and fan favourite ‘Donald Trump’.

The name Mac Miller may still be unfamiliar to many, but it’s only a matter of time before this young contender starts to really rival some of hip hops heavy players.

Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne, 02 Arena, London, Live Review!

Six months after completing the US leg, rap royalty Jay-Z and Kanye West finally bring their highly anticipated Watch The Throne Tour to UK soil. And it’s undoubtedly worth the wait.

It’s not hard to see why Yeezy and HOV refer to themselves as “The Throne”, as cocky as it may be. Jay-Z, an emerging billionaire, has more US number one albums than Elvis Presley, with a successful career spanning over fifteen years. And his protégée Kanye West is close on his heels. While at times it’s easy to dislike Mr West, the flamboyant rapper’s musical genius often overrides his ego-fuelled gaffes. So it’s no surprise the rap juggernauts joint show is the hottest ticket in town, with celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessie J in attendance.

The 20,000-strong crowd patiently waits as the reigning monarchs of hip-hop are fashionably late to hit the stage at London’s O2 (as part of five consecutive shows at the Greenwich venue). But fans are unfazed by the 45 minute wait, as the anticipation only fuels excitement. Suddenly, the music dips and the venue erupts into frenzied applause, as the superstar rappers emerge. Sticking to their “all black everything” motto, both are decked out in black clothing from head to toe – with West donning what appears to be a skirt over his leather trousers. And in an intriguingly unique entrance, West, 34, and 42-year-old Jigga enter the stage on boxes from opposite sides of the venue, spitting back and forth with one another, opening the historic night with ‘H.A.M’.

Both stages slowly rise, with images of barking dogs and wildlife projecting from each, as the duo performs tracks from their smash hit joint album. As the intro to Otis Redding’s ‘Try A Little Tenderness’ plays, Jay sprints to the main stage to join his collaborator, and the pair break into the LP’s leading single ‘Otis’. Accompanied with a giant American flag draped at the back, it’s at this point the show really gets underway.

The tour may be called Watch The Throne, but both MCs – to the delight of fans – play numerous tracks from their impressive back catalogue of hits. Jay-Z’s ‘Jigga What, Jigga Who’ and ‘Big Pimpin’’ takes older fans back to the Roc-A-Fella heyday, while West’s ‘Can’t Tell Me Nothing’ and ‘All Falls Down’ garners rapturous screams and excited shape-throwing gestures.

Showcasing their natural stage chemistry, Yeezy assists Jay during a rendition of ‘99 Problems’, while HOV returns the favour on West’s ‘Gold Digger’. A personal highlight comes when the pair takes it down a notch, grabbing a seat, whilst casually conversing, reminiscing about earlier days –which proves a great intro to Jigga’s breakthrough 1997 single ‘Hard Knock Life’.

Despite its wide success, some critics have questioned the ‘Watch The Throne’ album, claiming the record’s over-the-top boasting of wealth, designer garments and private jet lifestyle, in a time where most are feeling the pinch of the credit crunch, suggests the rap icons are slowly losing touch with their original hip hop fanbase. And while elements of that cannot be disputed, the albums triumph (both commercially and within the hip hop scene) proves rap fans (and pop fans alike) are very much so onboard with the duo’s “luxury rap”. And The O2 gig is a testament to that.

The US stars close their breathtaking two-hour set with an extended version of ‘N****s In Paris’ – which is reloaded an astonishing FOUR times, providing a perfect encore to what is quite frankly an EPIC show. Jay and Kanye are well and truly sitting on top of the hip hop throne, with no contenders remotely insight of knocking them off anytime soon.

Words by Vanessa Laker

New Music | Rita Ora | Party And Bullsh*t!

She’s currently number one in the UK charts featuring on DJ Fresh‘s smash hit single “Hot Right Now” and now Rita Ora has finally revealed her new solo single over in the States.

Jay-Z accompanied his protege to Z100 radio station yesterday, where he introduced the west London singer to US audiences, unveiling her first solo record “Party And Bullsh*t”. The uptempo track has a somewhat Katy Perry esk sound to it and is ideal for the upcoming spring/summer.

It’s not quite what I expected from Miss Ora, but she’s a very talented girl and I strongly  believe 2012 will be a big year for 21-year-old rising star. I look forward to hearing the album.

Don’t Get Caught Up In No Throne | Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) “N****s in Poorest”

Like a lot you, I was happy when I got the news that Jay-Z and Kanye West would finally be bringing their Watch The Throne Tour to the UK. I’ve been a Jigga fan since I can remember. OK that’s a lie, more like since 1997 – which is a damn long time. And Yeezy has been doing his thing for quite some time now, so the chance of catching these two rap Juggernauts live at the same time, is something most  rap fans won’t wanna miss (including myself).

But while I’m excitedly anticipating the show – which will hit London’s 02 Arena on May 20th – I have to admit I was very slightly disappointed with the lyrical content of the Watch The Throne album . This may sound hypocritical as I casually blast “Otis” loud on my iPod, but as much as I love HOV and ‘Ye, the lyrical content for this record is very questionable. But like a lot of today’s hip-hop music, we tend to over look lyrical content in favour of a nice flow or heavy bass.

This is why I was so happy when Yasiin Bey (formally known as Mos Def) dropped his version of the pairs widley poppular “N–ggas In Paris”, titled “N-ggas In Poorest”, where the Brooklyn native ‘keeps it real’ in a candid, raw, politically charged and some-what controvesial video/song about what’s happening in many parts of society.

I say controversial beacause he constantly echoes the lines “Don’t get caught up in no throne” – which is a clear reference to Jay and Kanye. And even more interesting is the fact that Mos Def Yasiin is signed to Kanye’s G.O.O.D record label. Awkward!

Not that I’m knocking Mr Carter and West, because I’m genuinly a HUGE fan of them both (HUGE I tell you, Huge), but a lot of mainstream hip-hop lacks purpose with regards to lyrical content. I’m not saying MC’s should become all political on us and start preaching (we damn sure don’t need that), but some of their songs should have more substance. Hip-hop used to be able to really talk to people. Yes we all like those club bangers that can get us on the dance floor, but there’s got to be more.  There has to be a limit to how many times you can talk about your new Rolex or that “other other Bentley” you just purchased. Especially in these hard economic times when most of the world is feeling the true brunt of the repercussions of the recession.

To be honest I don”t expect much change in mainstream hip-hop anytime soon – especially if  many people (including myself), happily purchase such records reguardles of what we really feel about the lyrical content. Like I said at the beginning, I’m happily waiting for the Watch The Throne show to come across the pond.  This is why we have to Salute artists like Yasiin Bey for being bold enough to put out something so real in a genre where ‘really keeping it real’, doesn’t get you the type of recognition and accolades you deserve. “N*ggas in Poorest” may be a little bit too real for some people, but hey, more power to you Yasiin. Hip-hop needs people like you to keep the balance in a very unbalanced genre. And on that note I’m gonna stop my rambling and let you listen to the song. It’s a very powerful message.

RIP Malcolm X

Chris Brown Accused of Stealing Fans iPhone!

I don’t how much weight this story has, as I know TMZ really don’t like Chris Brown. But the 22-year-old R&B singer doesn’t seem to be doing himself any favours. The US celebrity website is reporting Brown angrily snapped at a fan for taking a picture of him outside a night club, then snached her phone and sped off in his Mercedes. Oh dear.

Here’s what TMZ is reporting:

Chris Brown has been accused of angrily snatching some girl’s iPhone outside a nightclub in Miami this weekend … and driving off with it — law enforcement tells TMZ.

A rep for the Miami Beach PD tells TMZ, 24-year-old Christal Spann filed a police report Sunday for “robbery by snatching” — claiming she followed Chris and rapper Tyga out of Cameo nightclub early in the morning (see photo above) … and snapped a picture of Chris getting into his Bentley.

Christal told cops … Chris flipped out when he saw her camera phone– then grabbed it through the car window, saying, “Bitch, you’re not gonna put that on the Internet.”

According to the police report, Chris then rolled up his window and drove off — $500 iPhone in hand.

A rep for the Miami Beach PD tells us, no arrests have been made and no warrant has been issued yet. We’re told the incident is currently under investigation.

It’s not looking to good for CB…

Emeli Sande ‘Annoyed’ By Brits Snub!

While we’ve all been going crazy about Adele‘s acceptance speech snub at the Brits (which was damn right rude), we totally forgot about another Brit star who was also ‘subbbed’ by the ITV-screen award show.

Scottish singer Emile Sande – who’s debut album is currently number one in the charts – is “annoyed” with the Brits for preventing her from picking up her Critics Choice gong onstage at the Tuesday 21st ceromony.

The 24 year old was chosen for the honour by a panel of experts and like previous winners such as Jessie J and Ellie Goulding, the bleached haired Heaven singer was expected to pick up the trophy during the London ceremony.

But due to “time constraints” Sande was not asked to go onstage to accept her award and was therefore left hurt by the snub.

A fan asked Sande on Twitter:”Did u get ur (your) award… the camera only went on yea (sic) for (a) sec (second).”

Sande replied, “Yeh… kinda Annoying. But it’s on top of my piano now!”

A source tells The Sun newspaper:

“She’d been looking forward to it for months and was really disappointed when her win was not properly recognised. She’s worked incredibly hard over the last year and what she has achieved has been phenomenal.”

Oh ITV, you really did mess up this year, didn’t ya?!

President Obama sings the blues with Mick Jagger & BB King!

Obama’s seriously eyeing up a recording contract…

After singing some sweet notes of Al Green at a recent fundraiser in Harlem, President Barack Obama showed the world that he has a rather good voice.  So last night during a concert at the White House in honor of Black History Month – which featured musicians Mick Jagger and B.B. King – the smooth taking Commander In Chief took to the mic once again, this time to sing the blues.

During a performance of ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ Buddy Guy pointed to President Obama and said ‘I heard you singing Al Green, so you done started something, you gotta keep it up now.”  Although he was hesitant, The Prez grabbed the mic and got his swagger right before singing “Baby don’t you wanna go? Baby don’t you wanna go?”

How sexy is Obama? He’s so much cooler than David Cameron.

Pregnant glamour model walks the runway naked at London Fashion Week!

I’m all for pushing the boundaries in the name of fashion, but having a full nude runway show in order to promote hats just seems  a lot a little far fetched and more about ‘shocking’ people and gaining cheap publicity rather than  being primarily about the designs.

Glamour model and former Miss Wales Sophia Cahill appeared at Welsh milliner Robyn Coles’ debut show wearing nothing but a series of striking hats.

She took to the catwalk at the White Rabbit Studio in Shoreditch, east London, with four other nude models, including actor and comedian Jeff Leach.

Coles, 31, from Pontypool, South Wales, said she wanted to include Cahill, who is a friend from home, because it is rare to see pregnant women on the catwalk.

‘She was one person I knew would be more than happy to get her kit off. I thought it would be nice she would be pregnant for the show. You never see that kind of thing in fashion.’

Coles said it was important for her to use models of different shapes and sizes in her show, but admitted her main motivation for getting them naked was for publicity.

‘As an unknown designer you have to find ways of getting people to your show. I wanted to use different models and different sizes. I’m a big believer in that. With accessories like hats it doesn’t mater what size or shape you are.’

In the show Cahill sported three peacock blue hats, all with blue and maroon adornments.

Coles said: ‘All the hats are felt for autumn/winter so they are ideal for winter weddings and races. Winter hats don’t have to be monochrome.’

The designer would not confirm if her future shows would feature fully nude models, merely saying: ‘I’ve got loads of stupid ideas for next time.’

Well the publicity stunt seems to have worked, as it’s made all the fashion headlines. But now let’s see if the publicity translates into hat sales….

The Brit Awards 2012: Best & Worst Dressed!

OK, so now we know who won what, the other exciting part of the awards is who wore what? And watching the stars hit the red carpet, seeing who’s  a style  hit and who’s a total miss.

Not content with stealing the fasion show at last weeks Grammys, Rihanna‘s gone and done it again, looking ultra sexy and  fabulous in this demure gold stud Givenchy dress.

Check out some of the other stars who also worked the red carpet last night in true style…

Best dressed…

Adele looking divine in black.

Kylie looks old skool glam in this fab blue number

TOWIE star Lydia bright looks demure in Peach, while Caroline Flack shows off her toned pins. 

Jo Whiley and Lana Del Rey both looking classy and sexy.

And those who didn’t quite get it right….

Cher Lloyd and the usually stylish Florence Welch both looked a little scary.

Emma Bunton and Emeli Sande’s oufits were rather unflattering

Jessie J’s see-through red sheer Scarlet gown is daring and ambitious, but for me it’s more of a miss than a hit.

Plan B looked a little disheveled.

And The Male Awards Goes To…

One Direction: Those handsome younglads sure do scrub up well…

Shakira signs to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Label!

If you thought Jay-Z‘s label was strictly “urban” , then think again. Where as Roc-A-Fella may have been straight up hip-hop, HOV’s branching out to all genres of music this time around. The rap mogul has just signed Shakira to his Roc Nation imprint. XXLmagazine reports that the Colombian superstar - who has  two Grammys and eight Latin Grammys under her belt -  is now label mates with the likes of Rihanna, J Cole and  Santigold.

Shakira, Shakira! She’s throwing up the Roc. The superstar Colombian singer has signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation for management, XXLMag.com has learned.

With worldwide appeal, Shakira has sold more than 60 million albums and won 12 Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight Latin Grammy Awards and two Grammy Awards.

With the signing to Roc Nation for management, Shakira joins the likes of Rihanna, Wale, Santigold and Melanie Fiona, who are all signed under Roc Nation’s management umbrella. Managed producers under Roc Nation include Jahlil Beats, No I.D. and S1.

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Jigga may not have been the most valid boss when he was head of Def Jam, but the On The Next One MC is really making his mark with his current label as he continues to take Roc Nation to new heights.  He’s definitely got his eyes set on becoming a billionaire – and soon.