JASMINE’S JUICE featuring Drake and #YouthVoteLondon!


JASMINE WITH ROADMAN BOXER DEREK CHISORA.
So we’re all looking forwards to this weekends bank holiday, but last week all the hype across the UK was the arrival of the Young Money Cash Money young prince Drake, who had the biggest show of his life so far at his concert at the 02 arena. On arrival I was surprised at the very young, mixed pop crowd swarming around the venue. I wondered if I had walked into a one-direction concert on the wrong date. But after seeing the merchandise stand-selling drake clothing I reassured myself I was truly at the right show. The t-shirts were £30 whilst the hoodies were over £100! And lots of fans had bought them!. How crazy is that? In this day where people have to look after every penny £100 is deemed an appropriate price for a basic hoodie with a logo? I mean if it were designed by a designer fashion house with a label and cut that reflected the quality then fine but a basic hoodie with a logo? Drake’s team are having a laugh-with an extremely heavier and heavier bank balance. With his label Cash Money Records and EMI Music having settled EMI’s recent lawsuit & their financial disputes I guess they now have even more dollars being flung around like its Christmas at the strip club. Oh well. I guess if you’re going to buy it you’re the fool right?
Once my people and I had got over that initial shock we wondered over to Nandos for a quick pre-show chicken thigh only to see drakes record label person jumping the queue with her plea to the waitress that drake needed to eat before he went onstage and her order was worth well over £100. Oh how we laughed as we chipped in with ‘’our order for 6 people is going to come to well over £100 too so stay in ya lane’’. (Having written that now I feel that perhaps the £100 hoodie is worth more than 20 minutes in Nandos lol).
With the distant echo’s of support act Labrinth doing his thing onstage we hurried up to the Adidas VIP BOX where as usual the movers and shakers of the scene (including Olympic hopeful gymnast Louis smith) were all congregated with fancy food and beverages. In my excitement I kept dipping the tortilla chips into salsa and guacamole and accidently had it flying all over the place including my blouse and the plush carpet- which a very zealous adidas big wig immediately jumped down to wipe clean. Sorry. You can take the girl out of the hood…..
As we were getting our drinks ready and catching up David Haye’s best mate, boxer Derek Chisora walked by our box and spotted someone he knew so popped in to say hi. I was feeling very awkward. After all I –like most other red-blooded women- feel like I have a loyalty to David Haye. After all he is a fine specimen. I said hi to Derek as my mate totally threw me under the bus by exclaiming in a loud voice ‘’ooh that’s very controversial jasmine-after all you LOVE David Haye’’. awkward.com.

Once the show started I admit I was expecting bigger and sexier staging as I see Rihanna as being a female equivalent of drake in popularity and her staging at her recent tour was extremely expensive and elaborate but Drakes was very simple with a bank, DJ and lighting graphics backboard. I was also disappointed that live Drakes breath control needs a lot of work. He couldn’t keep up with his own studio vocals and was performing to a backing tape of his own vocals so often you saw the moment where his mic isn’t to his mouth but the lyrics are still heard.
The style of the show was very basic but his fans didn’t seem to mind. He staggered monotonously through song after song and of course when his big hits made an appearance the crowd was sporadically excited. I can’t really take him seriously though when I consider his middle class happy educated background and then see his stage character swear like snoop with nearly as many m****** f****** thrown around throughout his set. What’s that about?
The energy did seem to pick up in the 2nd half of the show with the lighting back board throwing out some much more dynamic images.
I know that I have a ride or die loyalty to jay z after working alongside him around the planet for so many years but I have to say it REALLY grated me when Drake started pointing out fans in the crowd by describing what they were wearing. Every hip-hop fan knows that’s a classic jay z live strand. Jay does it for 3 minutes max. Drake did it for around 20 mins. He might as well as have shouted out the pink nail polish on my feet too, I’m sure he pointed out nearly every one of the 10,000 fans in the arena.
However I did warm to him towards the end where he seemed more humble as he revealed this was the biggest show of his career so far and he had felt very nervous before going onstage.
After spending so many years watching British acts trying to be on the Americans jock strap, It was ironic to hear Drake continuously shout out UK acts Sneakbo (twice), Wiley and Shola Ama. He also hollered at Florence and The Machine twice and pointed them out watching in the central sound desk.
As we left we spotted young fans all swarming around sex tape Tulisa in the box next door to us.


JASMINE WITH ANGIE LE MAR AND JOSIE D’ARBY ON BBC RADIO LONDON.

Saturday night was spent on the radio in the Ladies lounge on BBC Radio London with comedienne and script writer Angie Le Mar where myself and TV presenter/actress Josie D’Arby debated all the weeks latest news including woman beater Denis Waterman, the Trayvon Martyn tragedy and many other subjects.

Its only a few days from the massive #Youth vote London registration rally at Ministry of Sound where thousands of young people will register to have their voices heard so they can vote on may 3rd in the London mayoral elections. so many movers and shakers have lent their support for the change.
MARK FEEHILY from WESTLIFE said, “Unless we change things, they just stay the same. Voting gives you the power to change things you care about like flaws in the education system, or a law about something that’s unfair. Stand up and be counted”. LONDON360 ambassador ALESHA DIXON enthused ‘‘this is a fantastic opportunity for young people to shape their destiny! It’s simple, come along on 14th April and get registered to vote. No vote means no voice!’’. Musician and actor Ashley ‘Bashy’ Thomas stated ‘’I think that young people are the future and one of the most influential groups in the world. Young people need opportunities, which once given are usually greeted with open arms. They have innovative ideas and often view the world from a different standpoint. Young journalists are able to give a non-bias opinion and have the skills and knowledge to engage with people their own age and older’’. West London’s finest ESTELLE urged ‘’It’s important that young people vote because again this is your life…this is your world. The world isn’t for the people over the hill, the world isn’t for the people that have passed the point and have lived their prime of their lives…the world is for the young ones. It is important that you get out there and make a decision and what your future is going to look like. It’s very important’’. UK champ TINIE TEMPAH stated ‘”Lead the change and register to vote on 14th March. Be part of the solution, use your vote – Young people are the future and have the power to make a change!”. North London’s finest WRETCH32 said ‘’ “This is an amazing chance for you to change your future. It’s easy, come along on 14th April and get registered to vote. Make sure you vote and get the chance to share your voice!”. Grime heart throb Scorcher added ‘’”I want to see young people come out on 14th April and register and then use the power of their vote to create the changes they want and need. All over the world we see young people fighting for their right to vote and have a voice. We’re so lucky to have that right and should use it to create a better future.’’ Radio 1’s DJ Scott Mills explained ‘’ “I think for me as a Radio 1 DJ, a lot of the tweets and texts we get in to the radio station are: ‘ah if I vote, what’s the point, it’s not going to make a difference, a lot of young people don’t really care,’ I think it’s important for you to care, for you to get there (to vote) it’s really easy. You’re the future, the next generation, you are, pretty much, forming how the country will run, so it’s more important than you think it is.”
New kids on the block Rizzle Kicks understood ‘’Young people aren’t engaged in politics, I think, because the involvement of youth in politics isn’t that evident, a lot of young people feel like they have no connection with politics, it’s like a grown-up thing to do and they don’t have much of a voice. “It’s quite like for a young person, it’s quite off-putting, you see these big court meetings, it seems quite dull, “Young people should vote in the upcoming election because if a certain part of society isn’t heard, if a large proportion of the voting public choose not to do so, it will become evident in who is chosen and then that could have a backlash, that part of the public might find themselves excluded or not included in the decisions that are made as a result of the voting. If they were to stand up and make a decision early on, then there wouldn’t be any dispute.”
TV and film star Ashley Walters told us ‘’Young people should vote because their votes count you know even if you don’t have an opinion or you don’t agree with whatever is there you can abstain…but I mean in it’s own right that is a vote…that is you having your own opinion, and it’s counted. I think yeah definitely if you want things to change we have to come to the table as well and you know I think young people are having an issue with the government and authority at the moment and if they want to address those issues this is the right way to do it. So go and see what’s out there for you and give it a chance, see what you think, and if it makes sense do it.’’ soon to be big Princess Nyah added ‘’I think young people should vote because it really does make a difference. I think the population of young people in the United Kingdom it’s just crazy…there’s a lot of us. And I think if we all get together and we all vote it will definitely make a huge difference. I don’t think that a lot of young people believe that their vote does make a huge difference but it’s power in numbers. You see everyday in the news a town in another country has overturned some kind of rule or you know a law that they’re not happy with and I think that young people need to understand that there’s loads of us…there’s loads of us put there and if we stand together and we all make a choice then we are definitely will be able to make a difference’’.
Magic man Dynamo urged ”come and register to vote at the rally on the 14th – use the power of your vote to make a real change. Without a vote you have no voice! i know young people can make things happen-we need to dispel the illusion that you have no power!”
Final word went to LONDON360 ambassador Noel Clarke who voiced ‘’Make sure you vote, a lot of politicians don’t tell the truth and do what they’re going to do, make sure your voice is heard at all times, its your human right, it can affect your credit rating for mobile phones and mortgages-use your vote-make a change’’.
Now I’m telling you all, we made a change in our music charts with our movement. Now its time for all the young un’s to show what else you can change for your lives! after all, if you stand for nothing- you’ll fall for anything.

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