I don't know what is going on with this modest sized country, and specifically the city of London-town, but there is a slew of talent, that is (and has been) taking over the industry. This comes as me paying respects of sorts to the music, but also because tonight I'm going to be attending the Lianne La Havas concert in NYC. I'm excited to see and hear her in all of her glory. Saluting my favorite artists doing it internationally right now. Can't wait to catch a few in NYC within the next two weeks.
1. the none other... Adele
2. Lianna La Havas (Tonight at Mercury Lounge)
3. New Zealand's own Kimbra (Webster Hall, March 27th)
4. my homies Foreign Beggars (Webster Hall, March 31st)
At this point it seems the whole world knows about the riots in London. I have a number of friends, both new and old, that live there and have been keeping my own eye on the situation via our news outlets. Knowing that the story is deeper than what is portrayed, I had to reach out and get the perspective from someone I know from, and living in London. They will remain anonymous, but I found the perspective interesting:
"Yeah the riots, I got a new TV and Xbox now :) ...only joking. Nah for real, It's getting crazy out here. The youth who got shot didn’t fire a gun at all, much less fire at police. That became the last straw in people's eyes – Its been bound to happen for a while now. The youth are out there like ‘fuck it’. They don’t feel they have anything, so there's nothing you can take away from them. You can see that by the way its been sparking off randomly all over the country – I've never heard of that happening. Yeah, it started in the more deprived areas, but it's spreading all out. I can see it getting worse."
I am an MSNBC faithful, and today I even had to side eye the 'Morning Joe' group today. They really said that this riot was caused by people who are bored with nothing to do. Damn near smearing my makeup all over my face I was furious as to how they just 'forgot' that an innocent man very literally got his head blown off by the cops, in the light of peaceful demonstrations. I know that's something us NYers know all too well,but we also know complacenecy all too well. Though I do not condone lighting the entire city on fire...dare I say, at least they have fire. One thing I have always preferred about Europe, to America is they are not scared of their government, and when they don't like something they take to the streets...
The images are gut wrenching. To think I just got an email asking if I was still attending post-grad there this coming Fall. A decision I postponed from last year. To all my friends out there, please be safe and keep us posted. The video below really blew my mind yesterday, as I know it's been circulating.
It took a random meeting at splash! festival for me to run into the creators of Industry #1. Industry #1 is the dopest, not to mention the most efficient, website to look for international hip-hop all over the world. One of the things these guys do, is they travel to music festivals around the world to scope out who's hot, and garner up exclusive interviews with underground artists for the website.
It's an intermational hip-hop online oracle of sorts.
They got my respect from the fun times, sneaking back stage, and conversations we shared in germany, but after scouring their site...these dudes are on their shit, and Nomad•ness has a legit UK hip-hop connect. I cannot wait to continue to build with these dudes. They're as proper as their English accents. You'll even see their cameos in the Berlin pilot episode.
Andre, Shibe, and Leon comprise this website and they're on their 'A' game. I recommend any and all hip-hop heads out there to take a look. It's an encyclopedia for your world...look out for an interview they did with me as well. I'll let you guys know as soon as it's up.
Building with the United Kingdom. Can't stop. Won't stop.
