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| Inkrument Live - Photo by Dan Lord |
Art and rap go together like cheese and beans. But the wildstyle graffiti backdrop of Lee Quinones is usually conjured up when you think of hippedy-hop, rather than Diane Arbus' monochrome photo portraits.
But such was the case when Inkrument hosted a free party to launch their debut LP at Nottingham Contemporary. Well, I tell a lie, the night was actually held in the swish cafe downstairs (Cafe Bar Contemporary) and some of Inkrument's closest industry pals were there to support them.
Beatmasta Bill and Kumarachi set the tone on the decks before Inkrument DJ supremo Dan Rattomatic took over with an abstract mix of boom bap, breaks and dubstep. Next artist to exhibit: people's champ Karizma. If you're from Notts and you're not familiar with this guy's skills, then try to catch him whenever you can. Freestyles, grime MCing and a real personality that lives up to his name. It's just a shame the sound levels weren't quite there by the time he started.
After Karizma's encore with Foz, the curators of the show were on. Consisting rapper Samwise, Foz the beatboxer and DJ Dan Rattomatic these guys could only be more hip-hop if Flavor Flav had been there body-popping and scrawling 'P.E. 4EVA MATE' on the walls. With all the fun of Ugly Duckling mixed with MOP, their set was a great advert for UK hip-hop. They played classic tunes like the imposing Walk On By and the title track from new album 'Rrrare' (sample line: "You know what's rrrare?/ Rubik's cubes and old Care Bears are both quite rrrare").
But where the Inkrument lads really excel is in their live shows. There was audience-wide beatbox tuition from former UK champion Foz, the diverse flow of Samwise on tracks like the anthemic ABC and Dan Rattomatic's precise scratching providing the perfect flourish. Add to that an interactive guess-the-tune, cameos from Karizma, acoustic guitar and even a Britney cover. And they said variety is dead. Come to think of it, they said hip-hop was dead too. All that excitement and there was still more to come. The Elementz, the super producers who mixed and mastered 'Rrrare', ended the night with a dancefloor-shattering DJ set. Top party!
Inkrument played at Cafe Bar Contemporary on Saturday 21 August 2010. Their debut album 'Rrrare' is out now on Dealmaker Records.
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