Starving Artists @ Gwdihw, Cardiff
Fri 21 Apr
Quality hip-hop hits Cardiff, with headliners from the highly-regarded High Focus label. The duo Strange U have a penchant for bizarre, stream-of-consciousness lyrics and surreal beats and soundscapes. MC King Kashmere is well known in UK hip-hop ever since a well received collaboration with the Four Owls’ Verb T in 2014, after which he released a string of his own albums. His style is both raw and sharp, with a touch of MF Doom’s gruff subtlety. Dr Zygote, the producer-DJ, started off releasing jungle as Ayman back in 1994; more recently, he’s gained critical acclaim for the broken-beat, sample-based club tracks he releases as the Maghreban – so his hip hop production is unusual and exciting, with hints of El-P’s production on Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein.
The pair, who worked together in the past, have re-connected for this project, bonding over their appreciation of underground 90s hip-hop and their displeasure at what they call the “bland, cough-mixture, speech-impediment rap” they hear today. Expanding the mic and turntables set up with a range of effects, microphone, it’s a unique and psychedelic live show, rinsed in dub echo and reverb.
Also featuring on the bill are Joe Dirt and O Femi, both thoughtful and well-honed local MCs – Joe Dirt’s recent Barrydockalypse LP is well worth your time – plus Starving Artists founder and DJ Mansfield Green.
Tickets: £6. Info: 029 2039 7933