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EVENT REVIEW: Fliptrix 'Polyhymnia' Album Launch Party
RnB/Hip Hop | Thursday 9th October 2014 | Matt
Before you read this review, look at the line up. Imagine how good that show would be. It was actually that good. It should come as no surprise that Guestlist was seriously hyped for this event, given our love of UK hip hop, and it should come as even less of a surprise that this has been on our radar for a while now. We're big fans of everything High Focus, and that made this event absolutely unmissable.
We arrived at the Electric Ballroom for about 10:30, just in time to catch the last 10 minutes or so of Edward Scissortongue's fantastic set. Scissortongue is known for his dark, complex lyrics and unusual flow over disjointed, experimental beats. This is all very well when you're chilling at home with your headphones in, but I was a bit concerned how it would work live. I really shouldn't have worried. The characteristic Scissortongue flow and dark lyrics were still there, but the production lent itself well to live hip hop, and it was a great, chill way to start out the night over a couple of beers.
Although we caught bits and pieces of Onoe Caponoe and Lee Scott with Black Josh, the next hour or so was spent in the small DnB room upstairs. It's a shame we missed these very talented guys, but we really wanted to get hyped up ready for Brothers of The Stone at midnight. The Vagabondz DJ's that were spinning tunes all night upstairs were more than up to the task of getting us going for the biggest sets of the night, which began with Ramson Badbonez, featuring Mab and Jazz T. As expected, the entire venue went absolutely ape-shit for 'Whateva Tha Weatha', as well as the other tracks from Badbonez's epic 'A Year in The Life of Oscar The Slouch'. The energy continued through a storming set from BVA MC and Leaf Dog's Brothers of The Stone project, featuring DJ Fingerfood on the decks. As good as the Brothers of The Stone material was, the crowd fully lost it when the two emcees played a selection of Leaf Dog's solo stuff, including 'Stoned, Broke, and Single', 'Some People Say', and the massive 'Walk With Me'. The set was capped off in style with a blistering freestyle from BVA, before one of the true giants of the UK Hip Hop scene took to the stage; Verb T. With a recent (and excellent) EP out, Verb was keen to showcase his new material, however he still managed to wow us all with a jumping rendition of 'Where You Find Me' that sent the whole building into a frenzy.
After this came a set from the man of the hour; High Focus head honcho Fliptrix. As is to be expected, the bulk of his set was made up of cuts from his new album 'Polyhymnia', which was released that night. The DnB room lay virtually abandoned for the next hour - this was clearly who everyone had come to see. Laying into everything from mainstream culture to the government, the new tracks went down a storm, with the furious 'Vultures' being a particular highlight. With almost no let up, out came Dirty Dike, Jam Baxter, Ronnie Bosh, and DJ Sammy B-Side. As High Focus' resident bad boy, Dirty Dike was exactly how you'd expect him to be, with highly offensive but hilarious rhymes flowing brilliantly over DJ Sammy B-Side's awesome scratching. Similarly, oddball lyrical genius Jam Baxter was a massive crowd pleaser, with 'Brains' keeping everything going in a big way. Just in case everyone wasn't somehow feeling the vibes, Dike engaged the entire building in a brilliant sing along to the end of 'Pork Pie': “I'm bored of my life, talking my shite, snorting my lines like pork to the pie!”. This alone would have been enough, but High Focus decided that along with Dike and Baxter, they'd throw in additional bars from Ronnie Bosh like some kind of demented package deal... lucky us!
No rest for the wicked, as Baxter was straight back out for a 50 minute set with hip hop super group Dead Players, featuring the mic skills of Dabbla and production by Ghostown. Although Dead Players have a host of insane tracks, one stands out above the rest as a modern classic of UK hip hop. That track is 'Yeah', and the moment that it dropped (over 5 and a half hours into the event!) everyone completely and utterly lost their shit. The lightning fast spitting of Dabbla on the first verse sent everyone into ecstasy, and was a great way to end their set.
Before the lights came up and the party wound down, we were treated to one final set, coming from beat maker extraordinaire Pete Cannon and up and coming emcee JMan. Although JMan rocked it brilliantly with a fantastic version of his track with Dr Syntax 'Weed and Ale', there is little doubt that the star of the show was Pete Cannon. In case you weren't aware, Cannon has produced beats for Verb T, Leaf Dog, BVA, Dirty Dike, and a whole host of other artists. He ended the night in style, mixing a great set packed with hip hop, DnB and jungle – an awesome end to an awesome night.
Also, big shout out to Fliptrix for introducing everyone before their set. That's a pretty cool move from the head of a label, let alone from the head of a label at his own show!
