words Kristian Dando
Hustle @ Sin City, Swansea
Sun 5 May
Sin City is a hive of club activity at the moment, and while the majority of the bookings are on a house tip, local party starters Hustle are bringing in a bona fide legend of ragga, jungle and more.
A veteran of soundsystems in the 80s and 90s, Levy had released several reggae albums before he was approached by jungle producer M-Beat to lend his unique ‘hiccupping’ stylings to one of his tracks. The result was Incredible, which would go on to Notting Hill Carnival ubiquity and ultimately go on to gate-crash the UK top 10, taking jungle overground – it’s the one that goes “booyakka, booyakka, jungle is massive”.
Levy’s an older, wiser elder than the cocky upstart who claimed to “run jungle” in a notorious interview with The Face in 1994. In fact, it’s been a rocky road back to widespread scene acceptance after the so-called ‘Jungle Committee’, a kangaroo court made up of some of the scene’s big hitters, ostracised Levy and set about a blanket ban of Incredible at raves after his gaffe in the press. But thankfully, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, and DJs can now drop Incredible without fear of reprisal. Levy, now a grandfather, is still producing new material, his latest album coming out in 2015.
Tickets: £10. Info: 01792 468892