so, will Wiley be with Roll Deep in nyc friday???

petergunn

plywood violin
i hear Wiley is in like monk mode, rediscovering himself, etc and hasn't been performing live with Roll Deep much recently...

anyone with an inside scoop know if he'll be in NYC this weekend for the Roll Deep show???
 

Keith P

draw for the drumstick
Probably doing some shopping right now. Brits can't pass up the chance to go to the states. Its like us going to mexico
 

Cornflake

Well-known member
wiley will be there

from my sources there is a few of them coming including wiley...
big up to my gyall sweetz in london...

she told me that the following went to fly out this morning:

Scratchy, Trim, Flow Dan, Breeze, Roachee, Riko, Karnage & Target along with Wiley

I'll be there....reppin!
 

petergunn

plywood violin
ill...

no Danny Weed? who's gonna spin? still, if this is true w/flow dan, riko, wiley, breeze... easily the best grime talent to set foot in the USA...
 

Woebot

Well-known member
when i last saw roll deep out, at the stratford arts centre wiley didnt show up. he's a law unto himself!
 

SIZZLE

gasoline for haters
I hope he does come, he fronted on coming to berlin with JME and Stryder though. Pretty lame, they had done quite a lot of press for him around it and set up a lot of interviews and shit. I think not showing up for confirmed gigs is probably one of the worst habits a performer can have...
 

Fiddy

Well-known member
you wont be getting any of convicted skeng men so don't expect all those names you've been given to get off the plane...
 
C

captain easychord

Guest
we tried to book riko in toronto but he can't leave europe.
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
just got back from east river amphitheater

kano's set was by far the most impressive -- he really laid it on the line, totally went for it -- it was kano and some other guy, and they had their own dj -- they rapped non-stop, in that high cockney accent, clipped staccato delivery -- w/ hardcore grime stuff for the soundtrack, one track into the next -- no pauses -- again, non-stop -- i had a uk friend at my side, and he was very impressed -- said it was real-deal late night party music

sadly, nothing else about the event was good

wiley was indeed on hand -- he did about four songs with three other guys from roll deep -- i liked it, found it very rhythmically disorienting, dug the interplay among the four rappers -- my uk friend simply thought they were fucking up -- so whether it was intentionally arhythmical and disorienting, or whether they were out of time, who knows -- i'm not always the most reliable judge! -- but i was really enjoying roll deep -- BUT THEY LOST MAJOR POINTS in my book when it started to rain -- as soon as it began to rain, they called it quits -- this was a serious mistake on their part, b/c up until then it was simply too damn hot, too damn humid -- but once the rain hit, that was the moment to seize, that's when something could have gone down -- people began to loosen up, etc -- but what happened? roll deep took the prima donna route -- no getting wet in the rain for them! -- so they stopped right then and there -- again, w/ the exception of kano (and roots manuva), these cockneys don't impress me b/c they never go for it -- again, kano put it all on the line -- roll deep did the contrary

as for juelz santana -- no comment! -- yeah, he's got the one big hit, which i've heard a million times and do in fact rate -- but i'm simply not down with the hip hop hero thing, the grand entrance, the fan adulation, etc -- really, as far as hip hop pop stars go, give me nelly any day of the week (figured i take a chance to fly my st louis colors)

even more problems = i think greg poole and dinesh deserve credit for bringing over all this uk talent to the states, but they need to step back and let the real stars shine -- in this case, dj cameo was not given much chance at all to spin records -- and facts are facts, and the relevant fact is that dj cameo is a far superior dj than greg and dinesh -- i consider greg a friend, known him for about 2 years now, he's always been very cool and generous to me, etc, so i feel like something of an ass to criticize him like this -- but it was a travesty that dinesh, greg and a third guy who i imagine is connected to fader magazine were playing records for most of the event -- i mean, you simply don't have a dj of cameo's caliber on hand, and then have second-rate djs spin records the entire time! -- greg and dinesh should have played for the first hour, if at all, and then cameo should have taken over -- cameo impresses me, he's on it, plays uptempo (greg, dinesh, and the third guy played very familiar records at sluggish tempo -- and sluggish tempo combined w/ humidity is nobody's elixir!) -- and cameo also has a certain charisma -- so really, cameo should have been playing the records -- he's the guy you want pitching grime to the kids from the LES projects!!!!

now the move to have juelz santana perform was smart -- b/c that brought out people from the LES projects -- but they should have had juelz perform last, b/c by the time kano took the stage there was hardly anybody there -- i.e., first the rain chased off people, and then most everyone else left after juelz was done performing -- but again, despite having hardly anyone to perform for, kano totally went for it -- first cockney i've seen who is not a prima donna

yet another complaint -- mc chosan of the heat crew was seriously getting on my nerves -- the only thing he could think of to say was, "who's from brooklyn? everybody from brooklyn scream! -- who's from queens? everybody from queens scream!" -- and he kept repeating this over and over throughout the course of the event -- on previous occasions i've kinda liked mc chosan -- but he had zero charisma, zero style, and zero stage presence today

and then the sound engineers were utterly incompetent -- if this is a soundsystem, the music should be loud!!! -- instead, the volume kept going up and down for no apparent reason, and the system cut out entirely a couple times -- most unfortunately when dj cameo said "this is how we rock it london!" and then cuts in the record, and guess what? = no sound!!! -- it was such a bad moment that i almost cried -- i was feeling dj cameo's pain!
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
looks like Cooper went to Knitting Factory show, whereas as I (being the cheap geezer that i am) went to east river amphitheater show

nonetheless, i thought i'd comment on his comments . . . .

Cooper on his blog said:
Scratchy is the strangest one of them; this skinny blond boy with a ponytail pulled up at the back of his head, cheap sunglasses (women's?) with a fade, and this circa-1992 flourescent Nike t-shirt (Star Eyes to me: "he needs his own blacklight - he looks like somebody you'd see at a rave afterparty")

definitely! -- he's like the ringer in the group -- very freaky -- i liked him a lot

Cooper on his blog said:
wiley onstage resembles nobody so much as the RZA. He lurks at the back of the stage with a look like he either doesn't know what's going on or doesn't care, then lurches to the front, takes the mic, and becomes totally focused - you can see his eyes change, he's absolutely locked in there. But it only lasts for about 1 minute and then it's gone.

wiley was more front and center here

and just to be clear, i really liked roll deep's music -- very weird and tricky and "off"

but in terms of charisma, in terms of putting it on the line and playing for keeps -- put it in these terms and i think kano is the far superior performer

Cooper on his blog said:
Karnage is a damn good DJ - it looked like the monitors were crap but he kept mixing fast, knew his records well. Played eskimo, ice cream man, cash beat, grime, all the big instrumentals right now

tis a shame that karnage didn't get to do a set at the amphitheater

again, it should have been dj cameo and the other uk djs playing the records!!!!!

i mean, this should be obvious
 

petergunn

plywood violin
i was at both shows, thought i'd add a bit...


dominic said:
just got back from east river amphitheater

kano's set was by far the most impressive -- he really laid it on the line, totally went for it -- it was kano and some other guy, and they had their own dj -- they rapped non-stop, in that high cockney accent, clipped staccato delivery -- w/ hardcore grime stuff for the soundtrack, one track into the next --

kano was very solid, his hype man was really good, anyone know his name? he def. played his harder stuff, no r&b... trying to win the crowd over with rapping skills and energy... he did good...

wiley was indeed on hand -- he did about four songs with three other guys from roll deep -- i liked it, found it very rhythmically disorienting, dug the interplay among the four rappers -- my uk friend simply thought they were fucking up -- so whether it was intentionally arhythmical and disorienting, or whether they were out of time, who knows -- i'm not always the most reliable judge! -- but i was really enjoying roll deep -- BUT THEY LOST MAJOR POINTS in my book when it started to rain

they were only supposed to do a few songs and before it started to rain, they announced this was their last song (and then did a 10 minute medley), so i can't complain... honestly, they were tighter and more focused at the outdoor show... it seemed like at the knitting factory show, they were a little, um, "jet lagged", and by the end, wiley was slurring a little , wheras at the outdoor show, he was sharper... honestly, i thought they were great and it was a bonus that they jumped up and did a little set... (and one that was different from their knitting factory one...)
as for juelz santana -- no comment! -- yeah, he's got the one big hit, which i've heard a million times and do in fact rate -- but i'm simply not down with the hip hop hero thing, the grand entrance, the fan adulation, etc -- really, as far as hip hop pop stars go, give me nelly any day of the week (figured i take a chance to fly my st louis colors)

or as mc chosan called him: joo-elllls (it's "jools" like holland..)... he's gotten much better over the last year or two, but i'm not a big fan either. but, it was a genius move to book him, as Dipset rules NYC, as simple as that... the hip hop hero thing wasn't manufactured in this case, people love the dude... when he got off stage, the entire audience ran around the back of the ampitheatre to try to meet him...



even more problems = i think greg poole and dinesh deserve credit for bringing over all this uk talent to the states, but they need to step back and let the real stars shine -- in this case, dj cameo was not given much chance at all to spin records -- and facts are facts, and the relevant fact is that dj cameo is a far superior dj than greg and dinesh -- and cameo also has a certain charisma -- so really, cameo should have been playing the records -- he's the guy you want pitching grime to the kids from the LES projects!!!!

yeah, and you could see Cameo was NOT happy about it either... it was run kind of poorly, there was too much time inbetween acts and, yes, dinesh and greg playing old garage tracks is not the same as DJ Cameo playing Lethal B dubplates... i don't blame greg and dinesh for wanting to play at an event they put alot of work into, but yes, it would have been better had they not spun as much(and perhaps booked a better hip hop DJ to have the event be more of a balanced hip hop/grime split..)


now the move to have juelz santana perform was smart -- b/c that brought out people from the LES projects -- but they should have had juelz perform last, b/c by the time kano took the stage there was hardly anybody there --
yes, that really surprised me!!!! you're going to have some guy who's basically unknown in new york (kano) headline over the 2nd biggest member of Dipset, the group who's mixtapes sell in every single corner store in NYC????? bad move, and basic promoting: never put an out of town act headlining over a big local one...



and then the sound engineers were utterly incompetent -- if this is a soundsystem, the music should be loud!!! -- instead, the volume kept going up and down for no apparent reason, and the system cut out entirely a couple times -- most unfortunately when dj cameo said "this is how we rock it london!" and then cuts in the record, and guess what? = no sound!!! -- it was such a bad moment that i almost cried -- i was feeling dj cameo's pain!


yeah, that was really really funny... the amphitheatre sound always sucks... a few years ago when Kool Herc played there, he was FURIOUS at the sound guy b/c the sound was so quiet... he was bitching him out over the mic and saying "my music is meant to be played loud" and "next time, i'll bring my own system!"


as for the knitting factory roll deep show, they were fucking great. Wiley does indeed look kinda like RZA and does the similar "stage manager thing", i.e. making sure everything is going well.. he kept looking at the crowd, seeing if they were "getting it", i guess... the crowd def. felt Flo Dan the most, as when he'd really get going, the energy level went waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up. tho i swear he used his lines from "Big Mic Man" at least 6 times, and wiley said "i'm wiley, i'm grimey" quite a few times as well. i guess this gig really showed me the garage roots of grime, where the lyrics of the MC aren't as important as keeping the energy going on the dancefloor... it seems like Roll Deep has a bunch of routines and they kinda work off them and you'd hear verses sometimes twice in the night ("pies", "when i'm here" , "wot u call it"), just over different beats... oh and they did that new Wiley song about himself about both gigs... pretty catchy ("it's wiley!")...

interesting... also intersting to see Karnage DJ, using just blends, no cuts...

my favorite moments were probably seeing Wiley and Trim rap over "eskimo" (nice dancehall style drop out mixing by Karnage on that one... think he was using the faders, not the transformer) on friday and seeing Wiley and Flo Dan rap over "Ice Rink" on saturday, which then got mixed into Eskimo, if i remember right...

oh and for their last song on Friday, they rapped over "Golly Gosh", which i totally didn't expect... very cool...
 
S

simon silverdollar

Guest
yeah flo-dan (or 'flo-father' as he seems to have taken to calling himself!) is great live- he just puts in so much energy and he's always so on-point.
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
petergunn said:
they were only supposed to do a few songs and before it started to rain, they announced this was their last song (and then did a 10 minute medley), so i can't complain...

really? i didn't hear them say that . . . . so i had the impression they just suddenly stopped and walked off at first drop of rain

(plus my uk friend is a manc, so "we" interpret the actions of cockneys in worst light possible)

seriously, if that was all they were scheduled to do and had intended to do, then i'd like to take back the "prima donna" comment and all related remarks

hard to assess kano vs. roll deep, b/c kano was so much more hardcore, whereas roll deep was a lot more tricky and "off" -- and i mean "off" in a good way -- arhythmic, tricky music to make you stumble on the dance floor

petergunn said:
my favorite moments were probably seeing Wiley and Trim rap over "eskimo" (nice dancehall style drop out mixing by Karnage on that one... think he was using the faders, not the transformer) on friday and seeing Wiley and Flo Dan rap over "Ice Rink" on saturday, which then got mixed into Eskimo, if i remember right....

the wiley song that stands out in my mind goes "call it garage/call it 2-step/call it grime/call it eski" or something along those lines -- but i liked all the songs

and with roll deep, it's really the interplay among the four rappers that makes it tricky and "off" and therefore interesting, at least for me
 

cooper

Well-known member
petergunn said:
i was at both shows, thought i'd add a bit...
kano was very solid, his hype man was really good, anyone know his name? he def. played his harder stuff, no r&b... trying to win the crowd over with rapping skills and energy... he did good...
the "hype man" was ghetto, also late of nasty crew.
that kano show was fucking raw! bionix was djing too.

petergunn said:
oh and they did that new Wiley song about himself about both gigs... pretty catchy ("it's wiley!")...

interesting... also intersting to see Karnage DJ, using just blends, no cuts...

the wiley song is the one over "ice cream man" - "can't get along with wiley"
really? i saw karnage working the crossfader quite a lot - there were a lot of nice chops going on.
 

ambrose

Well-known member
"that kano show was fucking raw! bionix was djing too."



:O ! i always wondered what happened to bionix. he made some awesome beats a while back!
 
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boy better know

I'm Serious
I am insanely jealous of everyone who saw Roll Deep, Juelz Santana, Ghetto & Kano on one bill.

Reading this just makes me wish some (any) grime artists would come to Scotland. It's closer than America! And Germany!



petergunn said:
or as mc chosan called him: joo-elllls (it's "jools" like holland..)...

actually, it's not "jools", its "Ju-Elz". MC Chosan was correct. (DipSet, Bitch)
 
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