Music > Live Reviews

Dead Prez at NAC

04/11/14

I was so excited for my next installation of hip hop.  So I put on my Timberland boots and joyfully skipped down to Norwich Arts Centre. On arrival, that soothing hip hop beat echoed through my bones, and I knew it was going to be a crazy night. DJ's Chrome and Just One were banging out crazy hip hop classics, getting everybody suitably pumped about what was going to take place over the course of the night. Then something happened which I think should happen at every social gathering…the break-dancing began! The crowd cleared a circle and people started stepping up to the challenge, throwing crazy shapes and pulling out crazy head/shoulder spins, it was crazy good.

 By this point everyone was hyped, DJ MikeFlo appeared and immediately started showing off his mad skills on the turntables. He was followed closely onto the stage by Sticman and M-1, who stole the crowd’s attention and took them on a hip hop adventure, touching on revolution, equality and power to the people; not all the usual hip hop guns-and-ho’s nonsense! They eased us into the show with classics like ‘That’s War’, ‘Hell Yeah’ and even surprised us with a little freestyle over Luniz’ ‘I Got 5 On It’.

Then they played that one song everyone had been waiting for…

‘Fake..fake..wreckage..wreckage...’

The mood changed. Everyone started bouncing. Even Grandma sitting in the corner with a dodgy hip got up and bounced!

THEY CALL IT HIP HOP HIP HOP HIP HOP

Then to treat us even more DJ MikeFlo stepped away from the decks and jumped on the mic and blew our already blown off socks off even further.

By the end of the gig sweaty t-shirts, smelly shoes and broken arms were being thrust at the stage to be signed. I think it’s safe to say, all us hip hop junkies who came along to get their fix certainly didn’t walk away disappointed.