There aren’t many places you can go for an old-fashioned dinner and dance these days, but Notts-based label / promoter / caterer Gangsta Wraps are putting that right with their Rhyme and Dine evenings...
For this first instalment, they managed to hook legendary emcee Chali 2na and breaks maestro Krafty Kuts, so the attire was more classic creps than fancy frocks.
On the road as part of their massive Hands High collaborative tour, the pair stopped in to Southbank City on a Tuesday night. Once the kitchen began to close, Krafty took to the decks to cut up some hip hop classics interspersed with ferocious scratches. With most of the crowd still digesting their rap-themed snap (think Nachos with Attitude, Notorious BLT, Pharoahe Munch, Vanilla Ice Cream and Foxy Brownie…) at the cabaret-style table layout, the dancefloor was barren by the time Chali got up on stage. If anyone could coax some footwork out of the assembled heads though, it would be these two.
The Jurassic 5 man began with a few tracks from his 2009 solo LP Fish Outta Water, like Lock Shit Down (the hook “We came to just do this for you/Sit back and just watch us bubble” feeling particularly appropriate), and the Anthony Hamilton-featuring Don’t Stop, as well as recent track Outspoken.
We then got to hear a bit of the new collaborative 7” the duo have put together specialy for the tour, Hands High – a proper boom bap banger with Krafty’s production and Chali’s urges to “Keep the party moving and throw your hands high”. Krafty’s also currently promoting an upcoming joint album with Dynamite MC, the lead single of which – It Ain’t My Fault, featuring Chali 2na – got an airing, and proved to be a surefire party hit.
Since hearing the first Jurassic 5 LP all those years ago (and subsequently bunking off sixth form to catch them play in Birmingham – sorry, tutors), Chali 2na has always been one of my favourite rappers. There’s something about that Chicagoan baritone, precise delivery and old school sensibilities that’s just endlessly endearing. So I, like a lot of those in attendance, was hoping for Mr 2na to give a nod or two back to the old J5 material too.
After rapping over a medley of hip hop favourites – CREAM, Still DRE, Ante Up and California Love (“In the city/City of Nottingham…”) – he launched into some of Jurassic 5’s most-loved singalong standards, including Freedom and What’s Golden, from the Power in Numbers LP, as well as Jayou from the J5 album.
Mr Kuts was also representing on the ones and twos, keeping the tempo going and showing off his incredible turntablism skills, chopping up everything from Kurtis Blow to Rick James, while Chali popped, locked and mugged like a consummate entertainer. By now, tummies were feeling a little less bloated and more lubricated, inhibitions a bit more loosened and the dancefloor pretty throbbing.
There was just time for the classic Quality Control and, of course, the anthemic Concrete Schoolyard, before signing off with Could You Be Loved by Bob Marley (as well as gamely sticking around to chat and take photos with every single audience member). It may have started off quite quiet, but by the end, all hands were definitely high.
Chali 2na and Krafty Kuts were at Southbank City on Tuesday 21 March 2017.
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