skepta

Last week, the good folk at the BBC treated some under-paid, over-opinionated members of the press to a night of entertainment and booze to showcase the delights of their digital radio station 1Xtra. We journeyed to west London’s Notting Hill Arts Club to check out the likes of Skepta, Yasmin and Ed Sheeran over a glass of wine… or few.

“Who’s that dickhead attempting a three point turn in the middle of the road?” a disgusted Kaydine asks fellow Punchbowl writer and equally confused Archna.

That dickhead would be I… oops. Anywhoo, luckily for me, my shambolic driving skills were only witnessed by Punchbowl staff members as most of the revellers at BBC Radio 1Xtra’s press gig were still inside schmoozing with journo contemporaries, some of the UK’s finest urban talent, and a selection of 1Xtra’s very own DJ luminaries after what was another successful night for the urban digital hub.

Radio legend Trevor Nelson intro’d the evening’s festivities with a recap about exactly what 1Xtra is about. Whether it’s breaking new talent such as Ed Sheeran and Yasmin, helping the cream of the UK underground such as Jessie J and Chipmunk crossover to the mainstream or continuing to support some of the finest names in urban music such as Jay-Z and Beyonce, the self-proclaimed ‘best in new black music’ is going from strength to strength … and that’s with a growing digital listener base that is more than a lot of the finest stations on the DAB dial.

The night began with wild haired, guitar strumming, beat boxing Ed Sheeran, who in our eyes was the standout performance of the night.  The Norwich native’s You Need Me, I Don’t Need You performed in trademark Sheeran style using a loop pedal and guitar. Starting with the sombre, shelter home inspired A-Team, Ed got brave and finished in the middle of the crowd. I’d like to tell you what he did there, but to be honest I couldn’t hear him from where I was stood. Shame that.

Between acts, the granddaddy of hip hop Tim Westwood spun more tunes that 1Xtra were renowned for, before the likes of Twin B, Gemma Cairney and Vis introduced the performers. The beautiful Yasmin proved that she really could sing with stripped down versions of On My Own and her new Labrinth produced single Finish Line.

Guitars it seemed were the motif for the first three acts as half English, half Irish Maverick Sabre delivered in his unique voice, the playlisted Look What I’ve Done, before making the cardinal sin of asking for crowd participation from an industry crowd made up primarily of journalists… sorry mate, but there weren’t enough free drinks in circulation for that to go down. Having said that, the song in question, Run To The Roof from the free download The Travelling Man Mixtape is pretty epic.

The second half of the night was completed in more tradition fare with up-tempo sets from jungle escapee Aggro Santos who recited his hit Saint Or Sinner, Lethal Bizzle who gave a mini breakdown of some of his career defining moments including the More Fire classic Oi! and the grime monster Pow (Forward), before Diddy’s buddy Skepta closed the night with the monster that is Mike Lowery and his new single Amnesia.

Posted In Music | tagged bbc 1xtra, Ed Sheeran, Lethal B, Maverick Sabre, skepta | Leave A Response