The crowd chants Kweli, Kweli, Kweli whilst right hands are waved. You might be excused for believing that you’re at a religious meeting or in 1930’s Germany. Unless, you took a closer look at the crowd, which consists of Indian, African, Asian, European and American youths high on life.
Kweli has given us his second encore, and the spirits are high, since A-grade hip hop has been on our collective menu for a couple of hours. It’s Sunday evening at the Shepherds Bush Empire, and this is just so much better than watching the weather on the news.
We rock up, after the usual problems by the door, just catching a glimpse of Lethal Bizzle. It is a bit of a bummer, however, the Mattafix soon smoothes things over and then some. They are a multi talented act, including a steel drum, singers, drums, a bass, guitars and an organ along with a talented lyricist. Their music makes sense on a bigger scale and their words shoot straight into my mainframe. If they ever change their name they are destined to plague us all over the airwaves. This night I could not care less about all of that, as I am drifting away on Caribbean flavoured hip hop.
Kweli is a new acquaintance of mine, introduced to me by the Professor. I thoroughly enjoy his set, his approach to performing and the openness of it all. It’s a mixed set with old and new songs, with a DJ set as well as break dancing on stage by audience. When the lights come on we’re all smiles and a content bunch of concert-goers. Thanks Kweli and thanks Mattolladew for saving me from the weather report or possibly another boring space launch.
Karl
Review London September 2005
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