Lokerse Feesten - day 1: Hip Hop baby!

click pour le live report en Français + photos

When Chronyx sent me to Lokerse Feesten to write a live report about The Opposites, Wu Tang Clan and Dizzee Rascal, I was very exited! I had never seen any of those groups perform live, so I was all for it. My first time as a real reporter and my first time to Lokerse Feesten. An evening of hip hop in the planning. This had to be good.

As the website of the Lokerse feesten already mentioned, the location of the festival is indeed very easy to reach. Only a 5 min walk from the train station. I saw no signs, so I just followed the crowd. I had read that there was a fair right in front of the festival, so that's the direction I followed. Through the fair, passing a long row of all kinds of food tents for the hungry stomachs and right in you go. I had to keep walking, to find the press entry. After a bit of a search to find out how to go from backstage to frontstage, I finally claimed my spot. Front row on the left of the stage.

19h50. The mainly younger public was patiently waiting for The Opposites to come on stage. They were exactly on time (nice work ethic hehe) and opened the evening in 'The Opposites' style: loud and energetic
It was very clearly they felt really good on stage and partied with the crowd for a full hour. Big2 and Willy made the people jump, sit down, jump up again and sing along their biggest hits. Big2 even took off his shoes when they performed their 'Kom niet aan mijn Nikes' (don't touch my Nikes). As a statement, I guess. And yes, he was wearing Nikes.
They thought the crowd about 'heuken' (a Dutch 'farmer' expression for partying really hard), and they showed a lot of love to the Belgian crowd. They even asked the crowd for requests. Then their time was up, but they didn't feel like leaving the stage. After a last shout-out to the Belgian crowd, they were gone.

By the time The Wu Tang Clan was supposed to start, you could see Wu Tang T-shirts everywhere, worn by a somewhat older crowd. It was clear what a lot of people came here for. Almost a half hour late, they came on stage and the crowd went wild.
Unfortunally no Method Man, no Ghostface Killah, no RZA. Rumor has it that they missed their plane twice on half a day. What are the odds? The rest looked tired and they didn't seem to really feel like performing at first. After U-god told the soundman to play the music louder, they got more into it.
They were basically doing the show they had been doing over time and time again. They did show the crowd love by shouting 'Brussels we love you!'. First time is a mistake, second time too, but after 45 min it just got funny. If you're not sure about the city you are performing in, just stick to the name of the country. But they are the legendary Wu, so they are forgiven lol.
One of the - for me personally - highlights in the show was Mastah Killah's 'Hip Hop is' mix of rap and spoken word. That was deep.
Inspectah Deck and U-God pulled the crowd, Raekwon did his thing every now and then and the tribute to ODB had the public keeping up their lighters and cellphones. They basically performed their biggest hits, but the show was lacking a few great tracks. And energy. They wrapped it up with 'The Gravelpit' which made U-god and Raekwon have a party on their own on stage.
The Wu hand signs were in the air the whole time and as some point the people were rhyming louder than the rappers.

Only 10 minutes after the WU left, Dizzee Rascal ran on stage with the energy that the Wu was missing. Heavy bass pumping through the speakers and with the typical London style, he immediatly set the tone for the rest of the show. His flow with that famous London/Brixton accent sounded amazing and it was very clear that he was ready to make the people go crazy. Watching him going back and forth on the stage would make you think that he was born on there. He is most definately born to BE on stage. With his song 'Bonkers' there was not 1 person that wasn't jumping and partying. Even though I personally prefer the real hip hop of The Wu, Dizzee Rascal proved that he is an amazing performer.

All by all, it was a great hip hop night with a fun crowd and great performers.

Oh, and a big shout out to Lien, Wesley and Stijn, the tattoo loving hip hop heads from Torhout who were so friendly to give me a ride home. We'll stay in touch, no doubt. West Flanders rules!

Styles P ft. Lumidee -- End of Time

Having Styles P. and Lumidee featuring? Hmmm. It sparked my curiosity. Good thing my hopes weren't up too high, or the disappointment would have been too much.

The storyline/video is cliché to a painful extreme, and it feels like a desperate attempt from Lumidee to get back in the spotlight. Why does she still sound exactly the same as back in 2003?

I respect Styles P. but he should stay away from the whole 'love song rapping' thing. It's not your thing, no matter how much money you get paid for it. I got the feeling that they didn't even work on the song together. Styles sent in his part of the track and the video, and she did the rest. They're not even really in the video together. If you want a come-back, at least act like you mean it

But to end on a positive note, Lumidee's looking hot in that yellow dress!

Hip hop is ...

Hip hop is the source of inspiration
It is what helps me chase my dreams
It is what makes me stand tall after every fall
Hip hop is what keeps me pushing when others no longer believed

Hip hop is not just a life style
Hip hop is live
It's the water for a thirsty soul
The cure for a broken heart
The strenght for a wounded spirit

Hip hop is love
Hip hop is me

And i am hip hop

(skit for the new album from the rapper B Elect from Nigeria - dropping early August)

Plotting and planning (Beat The Streetz newsletter)

!! Due date design contest: August 15th !!

A new logo. A new website. A new blog. A new year.

Yes. A lot of new things. Almost sounds like christmas huh? Well, we don't have any presents for you (aaaaaaaaaw), but we have some great new stuff to share (yeeeeey!)

- First of all: The new logo. Thanks to Nielsen Ramon, our super webmaster. I like it. It's fresh, it's clean, it speaks for itself and it says 'hip hop'. So big ups to our designer! In due time, you'll be able to order merchandise with the new logo on it.

- Second: A new website. I don't know if you have checked www.beatthestreetz.com yet? We're switching from the 'boombox' website to another lay-out, which will be easier to use, very clean and simple. You can find all the info you need on there. You can become a member by simply sending the form directly from the website and there will be a few other features on there that should make the website 'users-friendly'.
--> Talking about membership. Now is the time to subscribe! We're offering the first year FOR FREE!!

- Third: Beat The Streetz finally claimed it's spot in the blog world. Bookmark http://beatthestreetz.blogspot.com and keep an eye on us. As we'll be keeping an eye on the (Belgian) hip hop scene. CD - party - concert reviews, street fashion, tips, artist promotions, online contests and anything hip hop related. Follow the blog and feel free to contribute (by sending your article + photos + video to this email address)

Beat The Streetz Agenda

* August 12th: Vierwerk, the hip hop edition at Jeugdhuis Paravang in Middelkerke (Westendelaan 38) - Walter Ego, DJ Tong and Vizzle will be performing (you saw him setting the roof on fire at First Fridays in May) and DJ Ubuntu will be on the 1's and 2's after the live shows. Aug. 12th is Beat The Streetz' founder's birthday, so come and celebrate with us!!

* Sept 4th: Beat The Streetz @ Villa Pace - Sint Niklaas with 2 graffiti workshops (by Los Flammos) and a beatbox workshop (by Devoo). You can find us at the World Market - Castrodreef - Sint Niklaas

* Sept 11th: Beat The Streetz XL @ Cinepalace - Zwevegemsestraat 13 - Kortrijk
Demos: graffiti (Los Flammos) - breakdance (Total Madness Family) - beatbox(Devoo) - beat battle (Beat M Up - Rotterdam)
DJs: Grazzhoppa - Supafly - Ubuntu - Nicodemuz - Lil C
Live shows: Expa - Mr. Vizzle - De Rijmtechniekers - Flowlife Bumz
Throughout the day: hip hop photography and graffiti exhibition.
Doors open at 18h. Yes, that's right! 12h of hip hop for a louzy € 5. The impossible made possible. Order your tickets now!

In the mean time, we are working hard on next year. We have unique workshops, movie evenings and several big events planned for you. We are ready. Are you??

Review: Gtronic Radio

You can only download so many songs on your pc and you can only listen to the same songs over and over again for so long. After a while, you just want to hear something else. I'm no fan of downloading podcasts. Youtube playlists are cool, but they don't provide exactly what I want.

So...long live internet radio!!! Yep, I said it. Internet radio.

You just gotta love Itunes for providing long lists of internet radios per music category. No need to google. It's all right there, easy access. Just the way I like it.

After getting fed up though with some so-called hip hop channels, repeating the same old songs every single hour, I finally found the god of hip hop internet radio (in my humble opinion)



G'Tronic Radio plays my shit!! That real hip hop. That oldskool and underground hip hop, 24/7. The rare tracks of big artists. Those old tracks that make you remember, back in the day. A walk down Memory Lane. And then again you feel like you're in Hip Hop class with the masters and the teachers.

These people know how to please hip hop heads. No commercials, no overactive radio djs screaming in their mic and breaking off the tracks way too early. All they give you is 100% hip hop. From the first till the last tone. The way it's supposed to be.

Before writing this review, I checked their website . There's hardly any information on it. But who needs a lot of talk when they have a 'now playing' feature on their homepage, showing the artist, track, year and even the album cover? I mean, what else do you want? I dont know who's behind G'Tronic, but I just LOVE them for their love for hip hop.

I'm a loyal fan. Yup yup!

Review: Frietboer - Iamabletonow release 17th of july

When I saw the album cover, I liked it, but couldn't see a connection with hip hop/ beats. Then I checked the tracks of the Iamabletonow release and suddenly it all made sense. Heavy bass, crazy arrangements that make sense. Kinda stressy, yet relaxing and laid back.You can feel the urge of Frietboer to put the story in the music. The need to make you dance. He cooked up beats you can feel in the core of your soul, with a wink to the '80s and '90s every now and then. Not your usual '13 in a dozen' hip hop beat, but original shit that make you nod your head. I like I like! :D

A lifetime of hip hop

For 20 years I stood by hip hop's side. Through thick and thin. I've witnessed inner city warriors make war against any negativity that seemed to be automatically connected with their people. I saw their children glorifying bullets and blood. And the generation of today seems to be blinded by money and bling and superficiallity. Great men preached that hip hop had finally died. The men in the street debated. Many agreed, many others were offended. They kept talking.
Hip hop always had it's own way to make the people think. It's own way that would make people discuss subjects that weren't supposed to be brought out into the light.

Hip hop has always been that rebellious teenager who would grab any chance to confront society with the faults in its education and parental skills. Hip hop is the thorn in the eye of those who preach righteousness and just straight out lie. Hip hop is the truth and the truth is hard to handle.

Hip hop isn't dead. It beats in the heart of every single head that's nodding to the beat. It flows through the veins and the ink in the pen of every single MC, poet and rapper-wannabe. How can hip hop be dead and still be expressed in the moves of the battling bboy? That freeze is not a memory of hip hop. It's a dedication. Hip hop didn't stay behind in the past. Hip hop breaths life through the brick stone canvas of the graphic spray can artist. Hip hop is everywhere

Hip hop is the rawest form of love. Hip hop is life