Rinse FM played host at London’s hottest club last Friday with its huge grime based and dubstep takeover as it sold out to a immense number of people all their to celebrate the pirate radio station’s 15th birthday! Can you believe its been an amazing 15 years since Rinse FM first polluted the airwaves as the flagship pirate radio station that has, in recent years brought dubstep to the masses? No we can’t either which is why we were lucky to get tickets as topping the bill alongside some of the most influential acts on the scene was grime gang Boy Better Know, dubstep legends Skream, Benga and Caspa and funky house newcomers Crazy Cousinz. The night sold out to a whopping 2600 music lovers all there for the best in underground music which has in recent years engulfed our music scene in some of the best clubs in the UK and abroad.
Rinse first started out as a jungle station which then went on to become the most integral pirate radio station in the creation of grime and dubstep. Without the station perhaps the dubstep scene wouldn’t have reached the international stage that it has now, which is clear to see as the genre has this year hit some of the best clubs, been played at some of the best festivals and has flowed through some of the best holiday hotspots in Europe. Rinse has always been ahead of the game dominating the underground scene from dubstep don Hatcha to grime god Slimzee right up to the UK funky house godfather Marcus Nasty. It has also helped launch the careers of artists such as Dizzee Rascal and producer Skream and has in recent years been seen applying for a legal broadcasting license hoping to become this generations Kiss FM. So if you add London’s top club, the cream of dubstep and grime, some MCing legends and 2600 stylishly dressed punters ready to skank out and the mood inside Matter was celebratory, to say the least.
Outside the club and a queue was already forming when we arrived and whilst a small group of what must have been students gathered by the Thames selling alcohol, a mix of people from both sexes piled excitedly at the front doors. The music inside was already pumping through the main doors as we entered, and of course we headed straight to the heated dance floor where a group of excited lads crowded by the stage, which is opposite to the DJ booth where most of Matter’s acts DJ. The stage was set up with mics, DJ decks and enough room for the Boy Better Know gang to jump around and get the crowd hyped up later on in the night! Dizzee Rascal’s latest production The Newham Generals were already performing their newest tracks on stage such as ‘Hot Like Pepper’ to a packed out dance floor which was filling up by the minute. The group made up of grime veterans D Double E, Footsie and Monkster have a regular slot on Rinse and warmed up the crowd brilliantly with their experimental sounds which could properly be best described as industrial grime meets dub.
As we moved on through to the second room, which is a lot smaller than the main room, you could tell it was absolutely packed out as the younger elements of the crowd raced through to catch a glimpse of DJ Slimzee. And the grime god didn’t disappoint either as he played old skool grime songs to the real grime fans in the crowd setting up the night in true Rinse style. Throughout his set, people piled in the room to get a sense of the radio station’s heritage whilst the cooler music lovers pounded around excitedly as Slimzee dropped their favourite tunes! Most of these people symbolized their love for music through their fashion, representing the DJ’s and MC’S branded tee’s from their record labels and ones they simply make for the music scene.
Still early on in the night Ms Dynamite crashed onto the main stage hyping up the crowd with her garage classic ‘Booo.’ Fans at the front of the crowd were especially hyped up as she bounced around with some sexy dance moves MCing into their camera phones. As the DJ dropped in the most recognisable funky and garage beats everyone cheered and danced along whilst a small group of girls danced amongst themselves clearly impressing those around them. Shortly after Ms Dynamite’s explosive performance the anticipated wait for Boy Better Know hit the stage like a storm as they jumped amongst each other gearing up the crowd shouting ‘BBK’ down the mics! The influential gang which was made up of Shortee, Skepta, JME, Frisco, Jammer and DJ Maximum performed a brilliant, hyped up 45 minutes dropping in some of their most recognisable and loved tunes such as ‘Too Many Man’, ‘Look Out’ and ‘Madness.’ The unforgettable performance left the crowd gagging for more and as many piled back to the second room to catch a glance of Crazy Cousinz funky house set, you could see the crowd were definitely enjoying themselves!
The funky house got everyone dancing with tunes that have been storming the charts recently such as Kyla’s ‘Do You Mind’ and ‘Bongo Jam’ and the Crazy Cousinz didn’t disappoint as they mixed in some of their recent tracks from their chart topping album ‘This is Funky House.’ Back to the main room and Skream and Benga performed back to back to create a set of some of the darkest, grimiest dubstep around to date. After seeing Skream three times I haven’t really enjoyed his mellow dubstep sets, but with Benga on his side and Caspa dropping his dirty tunes also throughout the night, the dubstep went from grimy to grimier as the crowd skanked out on the dance floor. Plastician’s grime/dubstep set also hyped the crowd as he delivered a set especially made for the night. Skream and Benga performed in the caged DJ booth proving their dub background as they switched the tempo and style easily mixing between tracks for a dubby and dirty feel to the night. The wobbly dubstep also played throughout the club and as the second room caught on to the dubstep theme, most of club were skanking in time to the beats. Although Rinse has taken on dubstep in a truly inspirational way, not everyone in the club was feeling the dark side of the music as friends I were with who are true grime fans left shortly after Boy Better Know’s performance.
However this didn’t stop the night becoming a success and hopefully Rinse will have more big nights like this to come, especially if they set them in a club as massive as Matter! The sound system, like always was immense, the stage was set up brilliantly for the MC’s performances and as for the dubstep, it played out right up until dawn, showing that it is one of the best genres around today. All in all a quality night at one of London’s top clubs, with none of the attitude you’d expect to see at a grime night, as everyone was there for the music and artists! Check out the latest Rinse podcasts at www.rinsefm.blogspot.com and read the blog to find out more about your favourite dubstep, grime and funky house artists! And keep your eye on funky house as it is definitely one genre which is set to be massive this year!
Kayleigh Bell
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Comment by GUEST on 2009-08-10 16:03:32 impressive videos
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