Jasmine Dotiwala OBE

JASMINE WITH LEADING BUSINESS WOMAN AND ECONOMIC HONOURS COMMITTEE MEMBER- YVONNE THOMPSON CBE.

WANT AN MBE/ OBE/ CBE?
When you watch the Prime Minister or the Queen distribute honours like the MBE, OBE, CBE each year, do you look on at ‘’them’’ and imagine if that were ‘’us’’? Well guess what? The honours system is not an upper class, Caucasian award only for those connected, famous and in high places. It’s possible for anyone (yes, that you and me), to nominate anyone else (yes, that’s you and me too!) right now there’s a campaign being led by cabinet office that’s encouraging more nominations by and for women and minority communities.
Have you ever wondered why or how some people receive a MBE, OBE or CBE honour from the Queens New Years or Birthday Honours List. How do you nominate, someone to receive this, and do you know someone who deserves to be nominated?

As part of a Black History Month road show to encourage more minorities and women to be nominated for the honours, I was invited to attend a presentation to help find out more about how the system works, entitled Demystifying the British Honours System.

Dr Yvonne Thompson CBE was recently appointed to the Economic Honours Committee, one of the nine committees which endorses nominations to be passed by Prime Minister Rt Hon. David Cameron to Queen Elizabeth II for her approval of investitures, either for the Queen’s New year’s Honours List or for the Queen’s Honours Birthday List.

On joining the committee, one of the first things she recognised was the lack of nominations from women and minorities, and immediately made a commitment to help the Cabinet Office to spread the word that the system is open to nominations, not just from the perceived great and good, but for anyone seen to be carrying out supportive work in their community beyond the call of duty, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
Yvonne explained that white men currently dominate the system. What she referred to as ‘’male, pale and stale’’. She added that there is a lack of nominations by and for from women especially from the BAME community. Is it because we’re not as good at supporting each other?. Yvonne said ‘’People think it’s much more difficult and don’t know the process. There’s a lack of knowledge. That’s why we’re doing a roadshow that goes across the UK so people from women’s and BAME backgrounds, disabled backgrounds and youth can know that we want them to be a part of the honours system. ‘‘When you nominate just go to the honours website and fill in a short, very simple form about your nominee. What are they doing outside their day job? Talk about what the impact has been on the community, length of service and change. It must be someone that is still doing that role. We are interested in increasing diversity in all areas’’.

it’s a well known fact that poet Benjamin Zephaniah and theater artist jonzi d rejected their honours for a number of reasons. Yvonne acknowledged this too ‘‘we have had discussions about the use of the word empire. From my personal perspective I’m honoured to have been asked and those that have been touched by what I do makes me acknowledge the award with grace.
Some people turn it down cos they think they should have a higher award. There will always be a debate about the word “empire” especially whilst the queen is around. Currently there are no plans to change the word “empire”. There is a cross section of community who are awarded these honours, from foster carers, head teachers*, police, dinner ladies and more, it’s just that the media, for obvious reasons, focus on the celeb stories’’ so there you have it readers. You can nominate! What are you waiting for?

JASMINE WITH (L-R) PR LADY JODIE DALMEDA AND PRECIOUS AWARDS HOST JESSICA HUIE.

PRECIOUS AWARDS- WALDORF HOTEL

I attended the annual Precious Awards, which celebrate and honour women in a variety of categories at the Waldorf Hotel. Founder Foluke Akinlose told me ‘’at the core of our awards is our commitment to giving a platform to women of colour in business and leadership’’. Foluke launched precious magazine in 1999 as there were no digital platforms for women of colour in the UK ‘’it was as if little girls like me were invisible, I had to look at American publications to read positive stories of black achievement. Women of colour are still generally ignored by the mainstream, the standard of the ‘’class of 2013 was high and choosing our winners was difficult but deep down all our finalists are winners’’.

JASMINE WITH PRECIOUS AWARD NOMINEE HOPE DAVIS

The night was very elegant and intimate. A very specially chosen select group of nominees and press started with a champagne reception and then a sumptuous sit down meal. At my table were two very impressive nominees. One of them was Hope Davis- who founded the hope school of dance, which offers classes specifically for children with special needs.

Hope herself is a trained dancer and has overcome many physical and medical challenges in her own past which inspired her to help others. She and her partner Ivan were very good company at my table.

Also at my table was the founder of ROCKSTAR STARTUP LOANS who are the UK’s largest entrepreneurial mentoring organisation.

The awards were hosted by my friend, founder of Colourblind Cards and PR lady- Jessica Huie. Her co-host was life coach and motivational speaker Rasheed Ogunlaru. Both did a brilliant job in guiding us through each award. It was fascinating to hear of and see so many amazing women who have set up their own businesses and are doing so well.

The big head honcho of this very newspaper- George Ruddock- also attended to hand out the award to the man of the year. He whispered to me ‘’I cant believe it, all these very talented, successful women everywhere and I get to give out an award to the only male winner-that’s not fair!’’ lol

GOOGLE BHM EVENT- (all pics by SAI Photography)

Finally I attended an event titled Inspiring Minds: Community, Choices & Legacy at Google’s London office. Google UK were celebrating Black History Month for the first time and developed a calendar of activities, lead by the Black Googler Network (BGN) to; engage Googlers, develop pipeline and show their commitment.

STRATFORD THEATRE CHOIR PERFORM AT GOOGLE

The event was for 150 external guests in their London office where they brought together professionals, students, community leaders and employees for an evening of discussion and entertainment to honour Black History Month. In the house were faces like actor/presenter Kat Boyce, music lady Cookie Pryce, hip hop act Akala, Flava Magazines head lady Annika Allen and more.

AKALA AT THE GOOGLE EVENT.

ANNIKA ALLEN (FLAVA), ANGIE LE MAR, JAS, GOOGLES ADRIAN JOSEPH.

The pre event reception was in a huge stylist space where waiters handed out drinks and snacks and clearly no expense was spared. We were also entertained by a very impressive performance set by the community choir Stratford East Singers.

The main event paid tribute to the exceptional talent and recognised the outstanding contribution that the UK Black community plays in modern Britain.

GOOGLE EXEC ADRIAN JOSEPH

It kicked off with a welcome speech by Google exec Adrian Joseph, who had us all sitting tall in our seats. It’s so refreshing to see a top exec at a company not just give a welcoming speech and then leave. Adrian was engaging, fun and inspiring with his demonstration of Google’s technology possibilities today, how it had helped keep the world informed, why it was the planets biggest and best search engine and most impressively, why it was the company’s mission to be the leading tech company in diversity areas by the end of 2014! By the time he had finished speaking I wanted him to be my boss!

THE GUARDIAN’S JOSEPH HARKER

Speakers included; Joseph Harker, the Guardians assistant comment editor. He was also a former editor at the weekly newspaper Black Briton and The Voice newspaper. Josephs speech was beautiful. A really passionate speaker, who had us engaged about his own experiences and his journey to the top of the print press game.

GOOGLE PANEL

Next, a panel debate was hosted by my surrogate big sister, (not mother or Angie will kill me!), comedienne and actress Angie Le Mar. panelists included Dr Yvonne Thompson CBE, Matilda MacAttram, Pablo Reid and Vanessa Sanyauke. All of the speakers impressed with their insight on the topics of legacy and as the CHOICEFM name change to Capital Xtra was topical, Yvonne enlightened us by saying ‘’Choice had to be sold but it left a legacy, by training younger djs who went on to more mainstream stations, to spread the professional black story. It did what it had to do’’
Matilda MacAttram from the Black Mental Health organization really impressed me with her speech in which she educated us about the story of David Bennett who was killed after being restrained by medical staff. She told us ‘’Nurses held him down for 30 minutes. His final words were ‘’I can’t breath. I can’t breath’’. The nurse’s words were ‘‘calm down boy!’’ this example typifies mental health in our community’’. Matilda had both us and herself I tears by the time she had finished speaking about the work she does. (Has she got an honour? can someone who knows her please nominate her?)

MISHA B PERFORMS AT GOOGLE.

The main event closed with another musical performance, this time by X Factor act Misha B, who sang with gusto and passion. A networking reception followed with culinary delights including fried plantain balls, lamb patties and tamarind balls which I had to pick at discreetly so as not to be seen to polish of two trays full.

GOOGLE LAMB PATTIES.

Over the month of October Google have raised the visibility and awareness of Black History Month and the Black Googler Network internally, and gained new members to the group.

AUDIENCE GUESTS AT GOOGLE

Adrian finished by reminding us of Googles commitment to the diversity cause both in front and behind their online platform. He urged me to tell you all about Topblacktalent.com which engages great talent from the BAME community. Yearly Applications close in November so check it out and get on board life’s winners train today!

GOOGLE RECEPTION

ACTOR/DIRECTOR FEMI OYENIRAN AND JASMINE

This week has been about colliding genres in the worlds of film, debate, art and sport. I love it when genres collide.
To start off, I attended the film premiere in Leicester square, of the latest movie to come from #teamuk actor/director Femi Oyeniran, titled ‘’is a lot’’.

It has a storyline about young students making a fake charity up for bone marrow donation and gave the ACLT (African Caribbean leukaemia trust), a big mention throughout the narrative. Femi also revealed that 4% of all profits from the film will go to the charity. That’s a big gesture that puts his money where his mouth is. Many celebs (including actors that star in the film) told the london360 news reporters on the red carpet, that they still hadn’t joined the blood register. What is it about our culture that stops us doing anything charitable until it affects us? I know we’re not that selfish as a people, so what’s the answer?

JASMINE WITH ACLT’S ORIN AND BEVERLEY.

The night saw a number of stars turn out to support Femi’s film. We spoke to Beverly and Orin who run the ACLT who were still in shock after comedian Felix Dexter’s death and said

‘’ In an honour to Felix, it’s a case of continuing the work of the charity to get more donors on board, to have more laughter, he would be saying, you guys push on, try and find donors, he tried to help Daniel, he joined the register in 1997 himself to help Daniel, he would want others to now register to help other people. So everyone can go to the shows and have a laugh and come to nights like this and relax and chill because that’s what Felix was about, having a good time with a serious message below the surface. And that’s what the ACLT’s about. And that’s what the film is trying to say as well, a mix of the seriousness and also the laugher on top, which is of course what everyone wants’’

JASMINE AND WRETCH

Music star Wretch32, Rizzle Kicks, Broadcaster, MOBO host and now actress Sarah Jane Crawford, Eddie Kadi, Krept and Konan and Adam Deacon all excited the paparazzi on the red carpet.

COMEDIAN EDDIE KADI AND RIZZLE KICKS ON THE RED CARPET

Also in attendance were director Darwood Grace, actress Roxanne Pallet, DJ Tim Westwood (or Tim Whitewood as he was known in the film), Roxie Sternberg, Red Mandrell, Jack Doolan and Jazzie Zonzolo.

JASMINE WITH SARAH JANE CRAWFORD

Kojo who plays the headmaster said

‘’ to be in a movie, and get the message across in a movie, is very unique, I’ve not seen it done’, “I think more pressure should be put on celebrities, there’s a black guy sitting in the White House based on celebrity help”

LONDON360 REPORTER MARVIN INTERVIEWS RIZZLE KICKS

Director and actor Femi urged ‘

’ If this film does really well 4% of the box office is going to the ACLT…If the film does well, the ACLT will financially benefit from the movie. I’ve not told anyone that, so you’ve got the exclusive there, Let’s narrow the gap guys!’’

A great juxtaposition of the worlds of film, charity and youth!

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DO WOMEN RULE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY OR…?

An overflowing room of ladies, both from the music industry and many others that want to be a part of it, gathered (not just for an evening of cocktails and to compliment each others latest music signings and PR success’s), but to debate about whether women ruled the industry. (As we didn’t already know the answer to that question). Taking place at THE OTHER CLUB –a pop up members club in Kingly Court, the night was titled; Do Women Rule the Music Industry Or…? Attending for the panel were singers Katie Melua and VV Brown, DJ Goldierocks, music artist manager Cassandra Gracey from Turn First Artists, and the panel chair- Krissi Murison – a British music journalist and former editor of the NME.

The debate explored a women’s place in the music industry. Its scary when you break down music industry stereotypes where men take all the A&R jobs and record label head roles, whilst women stick to more female friendly areas of PR, marketing and styling. Former NME editor Krissi told of episodes where female A&R’s at the side of the stage were often mistaken for groupies on the road. Considering the music industry is made up of 30% women, Katie said it was better than many countries she had grown up in, and especially when you consider how quickly women have fought for a right to other areas of equality, I.E its only been 95 years since women in the UK have been able to buy property.

Lara Baker- Organiser of the AIM Independent Music Awards blogged ‘’ Statistics consistently show that women in music earn less than their male counterparts. Despite the music industry signing up to UK Music’s Equality and Diversity Charter at the beginning of 2012, there is little sign of things improving. UK Music’s Equality and Diversity Charter is a really positive step, but whether the many organisations and companies that signed up to it will actually take action, I’m not sure. PRS for Music have been active in organising events for women in the industry, and a number of informal networking groups have become established. The 30 Percent Club, whilst not focused on the music industry, is working hard to get more women onto corporate boards, with some exciting initiatives underway to make this a reality’’

VV Brown told us that she had just set up her own label and suggested that whilst it could be frustrating for some that female music stars were often judged on their dresses instead of their musical talent, she was grateful to the part fashion had played in her own career path

“fashion played massive part in my career. At one point I was doing more M&S ads than music and it kept me out there and paid my bills”

However, the conversation became heated when they opened up that topic of “do u think being beautiful helps or hinders your career? It was inevitable that Miley Cyrus and Rihanna and their consistent pornograph-ication of teenagers would come up. VV stated,

“we have a responsibility to other younger women and having thousands of Disney fans who adore you and follow you means that the twerking episode was just not cool. If you have millions of Disney fans, and then you’re on a wrecking ball suggesting you’re giving a blow job it’s just not on ”

The question was asked as to whether Miley and her ilk should take responsibility for the way they dress? Katie disagreed “I don’t think they should. My only responsibility is to make music that I love” Katie added “I found Sinead O Connors letter to Miley condescending”
DJ Goldirocks was clear “as women we have a responsibility full stop, when female pop stars do sexy shoots are we advertising that we don’t take our music as seriously?’’
VV agreed “Overtly sexual images dilute the music” this point was underlined as an audience member reminded us ‘’ the two biggest female acts in recent history, from the UK in the USA are Adele and Sade. They didn’t have to get their kit off’’, others added ‘‘if u feed the public the dress/naked shot, that’s what they’ll write about.

Joy Lo Dico from the Evening Standard newspaper diary pages informed us all ‘

’It’s much easier to get a female music act press in paper than a male. Here is where females do have an unfair advantage!’’

Next everyone debated about how much Miley and Riri have a say in what they’re doing? Some said none-it was all male record label heads encouraging flesh and sex themes, others disagreed vehemently and said the girls knew exactly what they were doing and are much more smart and clued up than we’d like to believe. Cassandra who looks after Ellie Golding and Rita Ora said she was happy for her clients to do sexy PR shoots if they’re comfortable with it.
Suggestions to move females up higher in the industry included starting a mentoring for females in music organization, and a few suggested women who wanted to go into the radio world should join organisations like Soundwomen.org

I personally found the whole evening slightly disappointing. The idea to empower and bring together professional women was a great one, but the result was a room full of women resigned to the fact that men ran this industry. All their experiences seemed to be negative and as an aside-I was one of only 3 non-white women in the room.
My personal experience in the industry has always been very positive. I got a foot on the ladder as Channel 4 was looking for a female to present a music entertainment show. Whilst at MTV all my senior mentors except one were powerful, strong yet feminine women like our Senior Vice President Fleur Sarfaty, Harriet Brand and Heather Jones. I think your experience as a female depends on your employer as a brand. MTV and Channel 4 were always very proactive with diversity initiatives and championed women at all levels of the workplace.

Instead of conforming to the cliché of women gathering to discuss business, but then the majority of the conversation dwelling on sexuality and fashion was poor. Why not ask questions like; what does the unequal balance of male female stats in the music industry mean and how does it affect us? What have our experiences all across the industry been- not just as performers and artist managers? Why weren’t women that should’ve been on the panel like one of the UK music business’s few truly powerful women, AIM Chairman and CEO Alison Wenham, who received an OBE recently for services to the creative industries? How about Fleur Sarfaty? What about Lee Ellen Newman- Vice President, International Promotions at Universal Music Group, MOBO CEO Kanya King, Senior press officer at Warner music- Taponeswa Mavunga, former music artist now music marketing specialist Cookie Pryce? Why do women drop out at a certain age? Is it as simple as leaving to focus on building a family, personal reasons or deeper reasons of being over looked professionally? Also, there should’ve been a man on the panel- a head that has a strong line up of females in his team like Mervyn Lyn (former VP strategic partnerships at Sony Music Entertainment UK)

Music is an industry that’s always been maverick and never played by the rules. The men at the top fear women of a certain age in case they want maternity leave; they let guilt ridden female HR departments often carry out their dirty work. Women who go off to have families are carefully demoted and treated like 3rd class citizens on returning to the workplace. Will this ever be anything more than the old boys club? Only if we fight for our positions at the top, call out all injustices in diversity, champion women that need a hand up the ladder and if we ever reach the perilous heights at the top, reach down and help pull another sister up!

JASMINE WITH PREEYA (WHOSE NEW TRACK HAS A COUPLE OF BANGERS THAT COULD BE MY THEME TUNE LOL!)

A busy fortnight with the recruitment of the brand new London360 team starting at Media Trust! We’re on series 5 and raring to go!. Previous reporters from our past 4 series have gone on to work at ITV News, MTV, Sky, BBC, Livity, Shine, Radio 1,MOBO and more! This series the reporters are stronger than ever and about to hit the big time! Want to know more? Stay tuned!
This week, London town as ever had celebs from Rick Ross to Britney Spears to Jay Z passing through, and film and video sets were chock a block full of talent. We attended set visits for actor/director Noel Clarke’s latest film and actress/musician Preeya Kalidas new music video, where a group of her flyest girl friends were in attendance to join her onscreen. I also trotted down to Hammersmith Apollo to watch Russell Brands show ‘’MESSIAH COMPLEX’’- it was absolutely brilliant. He is a different level of comic genius!

THE THOMSON REUTERS PANEL L-R
Jasmine Dotiwala, Executive Producer, Media Trust, // Jo Welch, Creative Skill Set//, Marcus Ryder, Executive Producer, BBC//, Chair: Axel Threlfall – TV Anchor Reuters

THOMSON REUTERS
Next I was a part of a panel at Thomson Reuters in Canary Wharf. The debate was a PANEL DISCUSSION titled DIVERSITY IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY. WHAT HAPPENED? Our esteemed Panel Chair was Reuters news anchor Axel Threlfall. My fellow panel members were Marcus Ryder, Executive Producer, at the BBC and Jo Welch from Creative SkillSet. A recent Skillset Employment census reported that over 2000 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employees have left creative industries (television, radio, animation, facilities, interactive media, computer games, VFX, corporate production and film) between 2009 and 2012, a decrease of 1.3%, against the backdrop of an increase in industry employment of 2%. Even more surprising and disappointing, considering 18% of media students are from BAME backgrounds. The turn out at the event was very heartening with an impressive group of young people keen to get into the industry with great ideas, minds and networks that are so unified and strong they will change the media staffing landscape within years.

Kojo Capital Xtra radio presenter and Neil Kenlock Choice FM founder and former Black Panther 2

BRITISH BLACK PANTHER EXHIBITION
One of the highlights of my week was attending the British Black Panther exhibition: Famous in the US, what many people don’t know is that London had branches too. For black history month an exhibition in Brixton pays tribute to their legacy. Fifty years ago America was changing – the civil rights movement was forcing the country to rethink its attitudes on race. At the forefront of this was the Black Panthers – a group of political activists- who knew?

Former British Black Panther Darcus Howe giving a speech

The exhibition at Photofusion Gallery, Brixton shone a light on the legacy of the British Black Panthers and Black Power Movement during Black History Month and runs from 16-26 October featuring works by Organised Youth – a group of local young people 13-25 inspired by the youthful activism of the British Panthers.

Former British Black Panther Farrukh Dhondy giving a speech

After gaining access to the Brixton based Panthers, Organised Youth photographed each Panther member inside their home and recorded a series of oral history interviews, they have produced a documentary film and a limited edition book about the project called The British Black Panthers and Black Power Movement.

Akala hip hop artist next to portrait of former Black Panther Altheia Jones-LeCointe

A private view for the exhibition was attended by former British Black Panther and members of the British Black Power movement as well as acclaimed hip hop artist Akala, Capital Xtra radio presenter Kojo, Comedy outfit Mandem on the Wall, photographer Charlie Phillips as well as Sky Drama Commissioners who are working on a new series depicting the life and times of the British movement. On exhibit were a documentary film, a living room instillation, interpretation protest banners, limited edition exhibition books and a great turn out of black panthers and youth. Do check it out if you can.

WEST LONDON LADIES- ESTELLE AND JASMINE.

ESTELLE NEW CARTOON CHARACTER
Finally look out for our very own west London songstress Estelle who is the voice of a brand new cartoon character!
Steven Universe is about the misadventures of a boy named Steven, the ultimate “little brother” to a team of magical guardians of humanity-the Crystal Gems. Steven (voiced by Zach Callison) is an energetic, lovable, half-Gem of a boy who is still trying to figure out his powers to become the true hero he is destined to be. With one foot in the human world and another in a magic world, sometimes his mortal quirks disrupt Gem missions and Gem magic can crash into his everyday life. But no matter what happens in a day, Steven has a smile on his face, a ukulele in his hand and a joke to crack!
The Crystal Gems, the self-appointed guardians of the universe, are as much a family as they are a team. Garnet (voiced by R&B singer-songwriter Estelle) is the mysterious and powerful leader of the group. Featured voices also include: Sinbad, along with special guest star Nicki Minaj.
Estelle told me ”i use my usual, regular English accent for my character.(Its always interesting hearing people change their regular voice to character voice at the drop of a dime. ) I based the look of my character on my video for Freak”. Revealing her plans for her new music she stated ”my New EP-the third and final installation of love and happiness “how stella got her groove back” is coming soon and my Album is coming 1st quarter next year. I’m workin on it as I type! LOL!”.
I quite fancy being a cartoon charcter- then i would stop buying up everything in the Disney store that features Aladins Princess Jasmine!

VANNESSA AND OKI’S FIRST DANCE!

Imagine your perfect wedding day, the venue, location, guests, visuals, entertainment, fun barometer and more. Whatever you imagined, it’s pretty much bound to have been summed up this past fortnight, with the wedding of the year!
The great and the good of London town and Nigeria came out to honour PR maven Vannessa Amadi’s wedding to her best friend, Oki on a beautiful sunny Saturday.

The invitation stated ‘’11am prompt’’ so most of us turned up around 10.30am in order to park in the surrounding 2-hour maximum limit zone, wander up to the most gorgeous intimate church chapel in Hampstead and find a seat. Well imagine my horror, when stylist extraordinaire and fellow guest Vernon Francis whispered to me on the sly ‘’I don’t think Vannessa is turning up until about 12noon’’. Huh? But that would mean if the ceremony and photos lasted longer than an hour we would all get tickets or clamps on our cars! Furthermore the overly impressive church programme running order clearly showed it was a lengthy ceremony. (The programme like the invitation was one of the most impressive I have ever seen for a nuptial. Both were silver grey, very classic and screamed ‘’money!!’’)

MOTHER OF THE BRIDE GETS HER DAUGHTER READY.

The invite was a hardboard silk covered inscribed and finished off with a blinging clasp. The programme listed the ceremony running order, photos of the happy couple, a personalized service script and even a credit list like the end of a movie! Yes, a credit list naming the main players of the day, bridesmaids, groomsmen, pastor, wedding dress maker- Vera Wang as if you couldn’t guess, and more.

So being an always prepared, extremely resourceful girl scout, I called up my assistant who lives in Hampstead, who popped by speedily with 4 resident parking permits that would save our cars. After slipping on my flats to leg it to our vehicles and back we settled down and gossiped for a whole hour before the brides arrival. Myself and other industry ladies, Jodie Dalmeda, Kanya King, Jessica Huie, Taponeswa Mavunga and Paola Lucktung had to laugh.

MUSIC INDUSTRY LADIES KANYA, TAPPY, ESTELLE, JAS, POALA, JESS.

The wedding party arrived at 12.30pm and then the day was well on its way. Vannessa runs her own PR Company so looks after music and showbiz clients who end up becoming tight friends. 2 of these include music stars Estelle and Keisha Buchanan, who were in friend mode for the morning ceremony as bridesmaids.

MUSIC STARS ESTELLE AND KEISHA EXCITED TO WALK VANNESSA UP THE AISLE.

Vannessa’s family turned out in their full, beautiful African regalia and the service with its harp quartet, female priest and choir was magical.

The reception was at west London stately home Syon Park in an outdoor marquee. It kicked off with a huge drinks reception where many, many more guests from Vanessa and Oki’s world turned up. Once the guests were seated at over 40 tables, all the African aunties accompanied by drums danced from the rear along the central aisle to the stage area.

THE AUNTIES DO THEIR THING.

Then the host asked us to be upstanding for the first formal introduction of the new happy couple- MR AND MRS OGBONA. Now THIS was an exceptional moment and my favourite of the day. A white curtain at the rear of the hall parted, to reveal a white film screen adorned with the couples monogrammed logo. Then a spotlight flashed on and popped, at the same time as Robin Thickes ‘Blurred lines’ roared out. The light showed Vannessa and Oki’s silhouettes behind the screen posing in classic wedding poses and dancing before dancing out to us, along the aisle and to their spot at the front of the room onstage.

The guests were delirious with surprise and joy and sang and danced along with them. Thereafter followed a lovely schedule of traditional African events like the cracking of the nut and speeches followed by more speeches, before we tucked into a never ending buffet of Caribbean meets African food.
Other highlights of the night included of course, the throwing of the bouquet (I kept well away!), there was also loads of extra fun stuff like a group photo booth, an ice ream cart, a sweetie confectionary table and more.

The classic first dance which Keisha Buchanan from Sugababes sang the Natalie Cole song ‘’Inseparable’’.

KEISHA SINGS THE 1ST DANCE.

Later we had music chart stars Estelle perform a short set on a raised round platform stage in the party area, followed by D’Banj who led the whole wedding procession around the marquee at one point too! I was embarrassing myself by mostly taking photos of the stylishly chic monogrammed dance floor-the first time I’ve ever wanted to snap floor pics!

CHECK OUT THE FLOOR!

TABLE 32!

I was sat on table 32, which was obviously the loudest, most glamorous fun table. Joining me at the table was Adidas honcho Paola Lucktung, PR mavens Jodie Dalmeda and Jessica Huie, warner music’s Taponeswa Mavunga, and actress Preeya Kalidas.

JODIE, JASMINE, PREEYA.

Also in the house were African superstar actress Genevieve Nnaji,MOBO CEO Kanya King, Captal Xtra DJ Manny Norte and breakfast show host Kojo, comedian Eddie Kadi, blingtastic business guru Alexander Amosu. Dolce & Gabanna PR girl Ruth Buttah, sprinter/ athlete Jeanette Kwakye, designer Wale Adyemi MBE, singer Roses Gabour, glowingly beautiful pregnant business woman Becki Fatemi, PR lady Fiona Ramsey, Cultural integrator, activist and writer Rozan. Journalist Sarah Tetah and a very happy Radio 1 DJ Reg Yates with his ultra stunning lady Tia Ward.

CONGRATULATIONS MR AND MRS O!

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GYPTIAN

Next I caught up with reggae superstar Gyptian who was in town promoting his latest music and forthcoming live dates.
Like the few standout reggae icons, Gyptian has brought a new flavour to the genre, with his power and vitality to steer reggae in a new direction. Still in his twenties his past hit “Hold You” has been a constant on DJ’s playlists at parties and summer jams repeatedly, and brought a breath of fresh air to the genre.
His albums My Name is Gyptian and I Can Feel Your Pain, have captivated fans globally and his work ethic continues to make inroads into the mainstream. His presence and voice has not faltered. His soothing vocals have carried his bold views from the island of Jamaica to the world. His recent Single- vixen he tells me excitedly is of course about and for the ladies. ‘‘Anything I make for the ladies to enjoy-the man enjoys as a sidebar too!’’ I laughed at the fact that so many acts from the Caribbean always rub their god weather in our faces by showcasing their beaches all the time. He laughed and retorted ‘’riding a horse on a beach-that’s a typical Jamaican date, that’s what we do!’’.
Of course whilst Gyptian was in town the whole ChoiceFM death scenario was being played out. He said it wasn’t anything new and shrugged his shoulders ‘’the white middle class corporations always take over our black brands and make them white and more digestible. Reggae is off most playlists on commercial radio, Why aren’t there more reggae labels? We have David Rodigan in the uk but where are the young reggae djs?’’ I didn’t have the heart to tell him that was our own fault as the radio gatekeepers never developed any young, hot reggae djs.
Gyptian added ‘’the Big always suck out lil ones, the power shifts, we need to see each other more as one, but you cant kill reggae it will go underground, we still perform all over the planet – they cant hold us back for ever!’’
Asked who the top 3 hitters are from the modern reggae scene Gyptian immediately cited ‘’me Gyptian, Shaggy and Sean Paul, numbers don’t lie’’
==================

ACTORS FEMI AND RICHARD AT THE HIPHOP SHAKESPEARE JAM.

Finally I went to check out the London date for the latest hip-hop Shakespeare show by Akala’s team. Akala and his brilliantly doubly talented actor rappers performed the story of Richard ll at the Islington O2 Academy. The iambic pentameter of Shakespeare was translated into hip-hop verses and the acting by the whole cast-including main man Bashy who played Richard 11 was amazing.
All the acts including Akala, Bashy, Lady Leshurr & Josh Osho told a compelling story. The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company which was launched by Sir Ian McKellan and fast had Ed Sheeran on board now has legions of fans that rap along to the performance word for word.
Akala told us ”“Richard II is a tale of greed and power, family rivalries and corruption. It is also a story about human beings and what unfettered power does to their souls, it contains some of Shakespeare’s best verses but is not as well known as many of his works. For all these reasons I thought Richard II would be perfect material to inspire The Hip-hop Shakespeare company on our first national tour. We have rewritten the play as a concept album with a full live band, whilst keeping many passages from the original text to move the narrative forward. We can’t wait to share this with more audiences.”
In the house watching this new genre of hip hop performance were music industry bigwigs as well as acting world hot shots like Femi Oyeniran whos own film ‘’Its a lot’’ premiers in Leicester Sq this coming week!

Also this fortnight, is the huge Superstars of Hip Hop” show, at London’s Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith on Saturday November 2nd featuring Busta Rhymes; Method Man and Redman. Isn’t London the greatest city in the world? Work hard, play hard!.

This past week, much of the nations black music lovers and music industry has debated about the sudden; shocking (to some) news that Choice FM was no longer. It has been rebranded by its owner GLOBAL, who also own Capital Radio, and been resurrected with great imagination, as Capital Xtra.

During its early years, CHOICE FM held a very special place in the hearts of the black British community when it made history in 1990, becoming the first licensed 24-hour independent black music radio station. The then Brixton-based station covered south London and eventually spread to Birmingham and north London, amassing followers and awards alike. It moved to borough High Street a few years later, but controversy struck the brand when a decade ago, in 2003, it was taken over by Capital Radio Group, and moved from south London to Leicester Square in London’s West End.

At this point I agreed with many of their changes to the DJ line up. Many of the DJ’s were so disconnected and inarticulate; some could barely string a coherent sentence together, whilst others mispronounced the names of artists, and other more cringe-worthy mistakes regularly.
Today’s very pro-urban music generation across London have been brought up by Choice FM, but its owners now want that audience to be a lot younger-preferably teenagers. Of course music brands have to reposition themselves to keep their current listenership fresh and youthful but is Choice FM changing its name, and playing a playlist that’s already all over the UK, in hundreds of different stations the way to go?

ASHLEY TABOR. GLOBAL HEAD HONCHO.

“The launch of Capital Xtra is a great moment for listeners, for commercial radio, for the DAB platform and for our team here at Global,” said Global founder and executive president Ashley Tabor. “People right across the UK will now get to enjoy a truly national station in Capital Xtra – the only commercial station to play urban dance music nationwide. “We’re taking the best presenters and shows and building on that by adding even more new talent to the line-up and we believe Capital XTRA has a very bright future.”

XTRA name
Firstly, they’re calling it Global Radio’s latest brand extension” – as far as I’m aware, this is Global Radio’s first ever brand extension if we’re talking about new sub-branded stations. However, can it be a good idea to align yourself with the Radio 1’s brand extension? The word Xtra is so aligned with Radio1Xtra its crazy that Capital has jumped on their bandwagon. It makes the Global creative team look weak, lazy and unimaginative. With all those creatives working at Global is that all they could come up with? Piggy- backing another rival brand?
A prominent industry insider stated ‘’

I think the short-sightedness even from a commercial point of view spanks of incompetence. Why even try to compete with Kiss, with this ‘urban dance’ stuff when the market is crying out for a credible, representative outlet for Black music? I don’t like or use the term ‘urban’ because its adaption signalled the mainstream demise in terms of budget and coverage of music stations like this were set up to play in the first place, namely Hip Hop, R&B, Dancehall and Reggae’’

With the black music community’s disappointment, It’s not just the human-interest side of this story that’s intriguing, but social branding of the new name- Capital Xtra is bizarre. Radio1Xtra staff are amused, and ready to welcome all the new listeners, that will no doubt migrate across to the BBC in Choice’s absence. The debate over black music radio station Choice FM having its name changed to Capital Xtra has divided fans. Some feel Choice was a worthy, boring, more community name and Capital packs a stronger punch. Others feel Capital has never had a history of championing black music, and their back-story with their former R&B DJ Simon ‘school boy’ Phillips years ago, was testament to the fact that Capital did indeed jump on the black music bandwagon extremely late.

Someone not afraid of the change is long time music manager of acts like Laura Mvula – Kwame Kwaten – who told me ‘’

Its hard on some but every station has an evolution. Maybe the name is a little close to home with regards 1Xtra for many who remember Choice FM as Choice FM . But this is Choice FM’s chosen evolution. I have seen the reaction on Facebook and social networks and people are probably more reacting to a part of their childhood and adolescence that they feel is disappearing. Others are fine with it. My view is we can’t stop time. We can find new alternatives and new stations if a station has moved on …Maybe there will be a new Choice FM who knows but there are also many new Choice fans that love the new station and its outlook and it is to these people that Choice is making the change. So that’s the future…I don’t fear the future’’

Grime music leader Wiley tweeted ‘’

The new word for urban radio is #Xtra..So there is a main station for everyone and the #Xtra bit is the urban part of the station for us .

’’

DJ’S DISRESPECT
Awkwardly, it’s the latter part of Ashleys statement above where the Choice FM family has had a knife plunged through its creative talent pool’s heart. It’s been a car crash management of a rebrand that needn’t have gotten this messy and left a bad taste in its listeners and fans mouths. ‘’ We’re taking the best presenters and shows’’…. it’s not unusual to have a cull of radio personalities. In fact, over the years I’ve often noted how poor, many of their past broadcasters were, in terms of articulation, black music knowledge or simple facts about the music stars they were talking about. But the way in which they have kicked their staff to the music street kerb, has been unprofessional and callous. It also speaks volumes about the brand, since they were bought by the Capital/ Global group.

Throughout the years every DJ on a variety of stations has been ‘let go’ or ‘stepped down’ gracefully, with both sides managing the ‘situation’. However, notoriously at Choice FM throughout the years, ever since Capital took over, loyal hardworking DJ’s have been unceremoniously given the boot; told after their last show that their services are no longer required and they shouldn’t come in next week. In fact, there is a list longer than my arm, of disgruntled DJ’s from Choice that have been treated horrifically. It’s a wonder nothing tragic has come back to bite the brand in the ass, in some way. No one is denying that change must come, and Choice have needed a new shot in the arm for years, the situation should be managed with grace and sensitivity. You’re dealing with people’s livelihoods and music lover’s favourite personalities.

Nearly a year ago, former Choice DJ Jerry Bascombe told THE VOICE newspaper ‘’

“I have nothing bad to say about Choice FM. They wanted a new target audience and they got that. They now appeal to the 13-23 year olds and that will make them money. The younger audience is easier to manipulate with the music, so if that means repeating a song 10 times a day, that is what’s going to happen.”’’

Last month there was a big outcry when BBC Radio 1 announced, that Tim Westwood was leaving the station to be replaced by Radio1Xtra’s Charlie Sloth. Charlie is liked in the industry. He’s fresh, well-mannered and very talented. Clearly Tim had a plan up his sleeve. He’s a survivor, and he’s connected. His long-time mentor and first boss Richard Park who had hired him for his Saturday night rap show on Capital in the 80’s brought him to Choice FM- the station that Tim dissed viciously over the years. The irony.

TIM WESTWOOD

It was clear that if Westwood went to Choice things were going to get very ugly, very quickly for the hip-hop stalwarts already there.

DJ 279

DJ 279 (who has been at the station over 20 years), and Tim Westwood have had a long running, extremely bitter beef for 2 decades. Insiders say that Westwood would block any music stars coming to 279’s show, and block live shows that rival DJ’s tried to promote, and threaten labels with a black-out of their artists if he didn’t get his way, causing much frustration and tension over the years. Westwood’s one-time colleagues told me that death threats that were made to Westwood over the years had been traced back via police rival DJs. Who knows really what’s what. But clearly the hip-hop music industry wasn’t a healthy place behind the scenes back then.

This past week, apparently this is how things played out; THE VOICE NEWSPAPER (Britain’s biggest black newspaper), broke the story of the rebrand, before Global were ready to publicly announce their plans. I imagine feathers were flying around the Global offices, and they hurriedly sent out a big group e-mail to staff, stating that DJ 279 was ‘stepping down’’. Minutes later to the whole group, 279 replied ‘

’I’m not stepping down, I’ve been sacked’

’.OUCH.

THE Choice brand used to stand for community in a unique, underground, connected-to-the-streets way. ChoiceFM always had the potential to be the UK’s version of New York top urban music station- HOT97 ,the leader across the nation in the urban black music realm. Alas in the battle between trying to stay grounded to their roots and becoming commercial, the stations been confused for over a decade. The DJs who used to have unique, opinionated voices, that represented their listeners have been replaced by great, young broadcasters who are practically spoon-fed their whole shows, which is just as disrespectful to listeners.

The playlist is extremely limited; a couple of years ago, the Choice FM playlist changed to directly reflect Kiss FM’s. Next they let the entire music specialist team go, and replaced them with many who are faces but not music connoisseurs.

I listen to the station now, and DJ’s still often mispronounce artist’s names, song titles are often factually wrong and don’t even consider that they know NOTHING about the history of black music.

For a broadcaster that claims to be the nation’s first national, commercial urban dance music station you’d think their DJs would not only know about the history of the music they play, but actually conduct the best knowledgeable interviews in this city. There are urban music bloggers conducting more interesting, newsworthy and ground-breaking interviews with urban music stars than the radio station’s DJs! When pop stars openly cringe around the industry and whisper behind doors that they ‘have to go to Choice for the usual wishy-washy nonsense’ you know there’s a problem.

How many of Choices DJ’s are simply allowed to play music off the main radio playlist? Barely any. Where does this leave new, underground acts? We already have Kiss playing exactly what the newly-named Capital Xtra intends to play – urban dance music. So I guess moving forwards, Radio1Xtra and stations like Rinse FM will lead in the black music field.

Where Capital succeeded in their first takeover a decade ago, was by keeping music genres, but they failed in putting the right gatekeepers in place. So for example, whilst Choice listeners love reggae and soca, their DJ’s were out of touch and also blocked younger, fresher names from coming through. Reggae as a genre has become much more dancehall focused so they should have brought in and properly developed younger, street connected names to be the face of modern reggae.

This week Global swiftly chopped the station’s reggae, soca and gospel slots. Of some of those specialist DJ slots, an insider (that for obviously reasons chose to remain anonymous) said ‘’

those guys became lazy and clearly complacent. One was yet another example of a failed gatekeeper like Westwood, in terms of hating on others, and trying to block the progression of certain DJs, and not championing the cause using the position they had’’

.

DIVERSITY
In recent years the staffing of urban music radio stations all across London has seen them cull a lot of BAME production and behind the scenes staff. Black music has cultural sensitivities. Black music acts talk to their peers in a very different way. I know this. I’ve observed it over 2 decades in my own role behind the scenes. That’s just the way it is. Would it be accepted for the majority of staff at the Asian Network or Sunrise NOT to be Asian?

The gentrification of Choice isn’t a shock. Similar black music brands have laid the path before this. World renowned reggae DJ David Rodigan refused to stand by and be side-lined into the twilight hours and said this as he resigned from KISSFM on Nov. 22nd 2012:

I write this to inform you that today I have resigned from my position as a broadcaster on Kiss FM. I’ve been with station for 22 years, shared some wonderful times with many fantastic artists and members of staff and it’s with great sadness that I’ve come to this decision. Due to their continued marginalisation of reggae music into the twilight zone of radio scheduling, it has left me no option but to make a stand for my passion and the music I love so dearly.

As Bob Marley famously said “

the stone that the builder refused will be the head corner stone.” Reggae was originally played on the streets, not on radio, and Kiss’ refusal to schedule the only reggae show on their network to a socially accessible time has resulted in this decision. Reggae is worthy of more respect and so are the fans and lovers of this music.

Whether Capital Xtra will be a good move or not remains to be seen. Perhaps it will surprise us all by going back to the original promises made to OFCOM. OFCOM say…

‘’ We expect the two Choice FM analogue licences to continue to comply with the current published Formats of these licences. This obviously includes the localness obligations, such as the delivery of local news bulletins, in addition to reflecting all aspects of the ‘Character of Service.’

Below the published formats

A TARGETED MUSIC, NEWS AND INFORMATION SERVICE PRIMARILY FOR LISTENERS OF AFRICAN AND AFRO-CARIBBEAN ORIGIN IN THE BRIXTON AREA BUT WITH CROSS-OVER APPEAL TO OTHER LISTENERS WHO APPRECIATE URBAN CONTEMPORARY BLACK MUSIC. SERVICE INCLUDES 21 HOURS PER WEEK OF COMPLEMENTARY SPECIALIST MUSIC.

A MUSIC, NEWS, COMMUNITY NEWS AND INFORMATION SERVICE PRIMARILY FOR LISTENERS OF AFRICAN AND AFRO-CARIBBEAN ORIGIN IN THE NORTH LONDON AREA BUT WITH CROSS-OVER APPEAL TO OTHER LISTENERS WHO APPRECIATE URBAN CONTEMPORARY BLACK MUSIC. SERVICE INCLUDES 21 HOURS PER WEEK OF COMPLEMENTARY SPECIALIST MUSIC.

Yes business is business. But so was the slave trade. In other words that doesn’t mean things should remain the same, or continue to happen because it it’s the ‘norm’. Kiss was hailed as a new dawn and for a while it was. With its sales to EMAP/Bauer it was clear black music and audiences weren’t part of the agenda. Choice FM, with all the jokes about its ‘cab office’ HQ in Brixton, did for a while anyway, try to serve the community for which it was created. It was dry and we complained as it didn’t quite do the job – so we didn’t really listen. By the time Capital bought it, it wasn’t the community’s anymore.

And 1Xtra? All I know is when the station launched over a decade ago it proudly called itself a ‘ Black music station’. Black music lovers will now NO DOUBT switch back to the old way of enjoying their genre- pirate radio. With most radio content now being digested online, maybe this is a great opportunity for a new black music brand. Any takers?

PRINCESS NYAH, TAMAR AND JASMINE AT THE RED BAR, WOMEN OF EMPOWERMENT COCKTAILS!
(ALL PHOTO’S COURTESY ROMAIN KEDOCHIM)

The first time I met Tamar Braxton was 15 years ago when I interviewed all the Braxton sisters (lead by Toni), on a grand London hotel bed, which we all piled on, for my column in the infamous black music magazine TOUCH. Back then she was happy to let her sisters lead, speak and take control of the media.Today she is totally in control. A pretty big reality TV star in the USA with her family reality show ‘’Braxton family values’’, which features her daily run ins with her family, sisters, husband and life. The show was so popular she and her husband Vince have been given a spin off series titled- Tamar and Vince! Quite unnervingly for a stranger to stranger chat, Tamar is happy to screamfrom the rooftops, about her still deep love for her other half ‘’I am still and will forever be so in love with Vincent. He’s my best friend, he’s the reason I now speak to my dad and he wont ever let me stay down, he’s my rock!’’

TAMAR WITH THE LOVE OF HER LIFE- VINCE!

The Braxton family have never been short of tabloid headlines from sister Toni’s infamous boob job, to her multi award winning music career. Tamar looks back on the early years with a level head ‘’ there was never any resentment on my part during the early years when Toni was very famous, I was the youngest and when Toni went solo I was happy for her. The only tough thing was once I finally came out as a soloist myself it was hard for the press and public to stop the connection and compare us constantly until we made ‘’Braxton family values’’

VIVIAN SCOTT CHEW-OWNER TIMEZONE INTERNATIONAL, JASMINE AND JAY DAVIDSON -BBC MARKETING.

Tamar’s early career saw her work with two huge names in the industry. Jermaine Dupri and Tommy Mottola. Of JD she says ‘’ I agree he’s really underrated but he’s an amazing human being and now he enjoys djing all over the country so he’s having fun!’’ For a lady that’s been in the music game 20 years, she’s still very excited about her new album LOVE & WAR which includes titles like ‘’pettiest girl’’, ‘’stay and fight’’, and the one’’. I’ve been listening to the album all month and it’s a really strong classic piece of work reminiscent of the greatest R&B albums of the eighties era. She told me ‘’I’ve been singing all my life. This albums really all about my personal life andexperiences- most of which the public already know due to the TV show. The TV show actually made it easier to bring out new music, as I don’t need to get people to get familiar with me, they already know me. We have our dramas in the show, but that’s reality, there’s nothing wrong with being real about our ups and downs’’

A WEALTH OF MEDIA AND MUSIC INDUSTRY LADIES-SEE WHO YOU CAN SPOT!

Even though she was the baby sister of the Braxton family watching her siblings careers grow, by 2004, Tamar was signed to Tommy Mottola’s reactivated Casablanca Records- there was a lot of talkabout Tommy and his hard-core business sense- what was he like to work with? I had to enquire about the powerhouse that is Tommy to see whether Tamar had experienced any of that much spoken of ‘’racism’ he’s been accused of by many. ‘’I worked with Tommy very briefly, he once told me I was very talented and that my music back then reminded him of Mariah’s ‘’music box’’, which made me so happy as she was my idol’’.

Tamar’s TV show see’s her vulnerable, warts and all, attempting to make sense of her life. She laughs at any suggestion it is ever fixed, scripted or hyped up ‘’there’s certainly no hype, the only thing I regret showing is my potty mouth, but when you have lots if sisters, managing all those relationships can be tough’’

The reality show is just one of many family focused shows in the USA and Tamar welcomes them all not seeing any ratings competition with her fellow Kardashian camera lovers ‘’there’s never any thought of competition, they’re all beautiful women and entrepreneurs, and my show is about sisterly and husband and wife unity and music’’

Tamar isn’t camera shy though and sees the 24-7 intrusion as oddly cathartic and positive ‘’there are a lot of frustratingly wrong media stories that come withy the territory, but reality TV taught me you cant care what anyone thinks or it will hold you back’’

Not only does Tamar share her TV life with her family, but also her music career and life on the road. When I catch up with her in Sony music’s London office she reveals that she’s brought the whole Braxton clan on the road with her. Her much adored husband Vincent is looking after their 3-month-old new baby son Logan, her mothers around to support and she’s even invited ‘’the rest of the girls’’ out.

She’s still in the first throes of baby love and admits ‘’motherhood is amazing but actually I had wanted a girl so I could have a Tamar junior. Logan’s nothing like me, he’s like his daddy, a total drama freeze, totally chilled out’

TAMAR’S HUSBAND VINCE WELCOMES US ALL AND SPEAKS ABOUT HOW TALENTED HIS LADY IS…

That same night, Tamar hosted a women’s only empowerment cocktail party at the red bar in the Grosvenor house hotel. She’s passionate about sisterly unity. ‘‘Women, period, have it tough in the music and fashion industry- look at Naomi Campbell’s recent campaign to support and champion more females of colour on the catwalk. I was bullied at school and it still makes me insecure. We women should compliment each other!’’

We discussed the difference in fan access now that the universe has twitter. Tamar laughs’’ it’s a blessing and a curse. Artists get frustrated and say what we shouldn’t. In the past we were very protected but now fans wanna get to know you. I thinksocial media helps to sexual young people way too early. So many kids now have fake twitter and facebook accounts that are clean just for their parents and a whole nother account for other stuff. I think though that if the children’s grounding is in the church then they know right from wrong. You just have to trust them!’’

MORE SISTERLY LOVE

There was a real sense of female love and empowerment in the room, akin to a hen party with whoops and hugs all round. Tamar worked the room. As a testament to the respect that other artists have for her singingtalent other singers were in the house praising her talent too. We had Denise Pearson from 5 Star, Terri Walker, Princess Nyah and more, proving that Tamar inspires multi generational respect!

SINGER TERRI WALKER AND FRIENDS

Princess Nyah said ‘’Tamar’s event was an exceptional meeting of the minds, with an exceptional bunch ofbusiness moguls! I love Tamar’s attitude, her style and Family values. Her album is a MUST have, my fav is Hot Sugar most deff!’’

So a big night with limitless champagne and cocktails with lovely nibbles, singers, media moguls, record label ladies and many other female movers and shakers! No war- just love!

JASMINE WITH KREPT AND KONAN AT THE BBC.

I’ve spent most of the last fortnight interviewing new young reporters for series 5 of London magazine TV show, London360. We had so many applicants it was tough to make a decision on the final in house team as they were mostly very strong, but I think we’ve made the best decision.

BARKING IN ESSEX
Things that are labeled incorrectly or in a misguided way have always irritated me. You know when you pick up the Honey Nut Cheerios in the supermarket, to get them home to find out they are in similar packaging, but this is the fake, cheaper, funny tasting version? That. So I keep seeing these poster promos for a new theatre show in the west end, called Barking in Essex. With my love of all things TOWIE- or more realistically- laughing at their desperate, mentally challenged fakery, I think I want to see this. It promised to be a ‘’riotous comedy’’. It sounded funny! A laugh a minute! I expect Essex stereotypes caricatured to intense proportions. I want anyone with an Essex postcode to laugh and cry at his or her community’s eccentricities.
So we pop along to the Wyndham Theatre, just off Shaftsbury Avenue- a small but beautiful old English theatre. The show starts with its expected visual of a typical Essex home. All the crass, blingtastic, opulent, over techy interiors you’d expect to find are on show. We are introduced to the main family of characters who swear a lot, and typically haven’t the greatest grasp of grammar and muddle up words and phrases continuously. Every other word is the C or F word. This is only funny up to a point. The narrative engages you all the way to the interval. Local gangsta Algie is coming home from prison and expects to find his ill-gotten gains of millions waiting for him, except his wife and mother have spent it. The audience is gagging in anticipation of meeting Algie throughout the show. With comedian Lee Evans playing Algies son-in-law and Sheila Hancock playing his wife, you’d expect the comedy timing to be brilliant, but it just feels humdrum and tired. Written in 2005 means the writer Clive Exton had a vision of TOWIE before TOWIE happened. Sadly, this potentially hilarious vision felt like exactly what it was- eight years too late. It’s a very dark comedy juxtaposed with a lot of tragedy. Nothing wrong with that, but the poster and trailer are branded so that it feels like TOWIE on speed. That’s what I would’ve liked!

KREPT AND KONAN
I tell people not to sleep on things. (If you think I mean lying horizontally and resting you’re the wrong generation for that saying. it means jump on board something whilst it’s still hot!). For the past 4 months someone has been trying to get me to meet a South London rap duo Play Dirty, who are made up of two young men called Krept and Konan. I have had too much on to pop them into the diary, and lo and behold last week, they made history by entering the UK music charts at number 19 as an independent act. That means that with no record label backing, no big promotion opportunities, no publicity, just their own heat on the streets, and with their millions of young fans across the UK they broke down that music chart door, and claimed their spot. Of course, next came the mainstream print press stories in the Guardian and Independent, and I sat back and kicked myself for not having penciled that diary date in earlier. So here I am, jumping on their already rolled off bandwagon.

The UK music scene is moving in a new strong way. Artists didn’t understand how to play the game in the past. Some didn’t understand the importance of clean and dirty versions of their songs. Others wouldn’t turn up on time for interviews. The game has changed; Krept and Konan are proof of that.

23 year olds Konan hails from South London, Thornton Heath, Krept’s from Crystal Palace. Konan smiles ‘’we had mutual friends, we had a huge group of mates that did music but we both filtered off and wanted to make it to the top together, our school teams played each other at football, and we were called Konan and Krept before we even met each other’’. Their names easily flow off the tongue. Krept ‘’I loved trainers, sneakers, Kreps so people called me Krep and kept missing the t off-it stuck, Konan was running around causing a madness like a wild child, so he was always Konan the Barbarian and our nicknames were born’’.
Listening to the duo’s very strong mix tape, it’s clear both MC’s are equally gifted on the mic with punch lines and metaphors beyond comprehension, They tell me that’s healthy and means no ego’s or unhealthy competition ‘’We’ve never had any major fallouts, petty arguments but nothing major, just the smallest of things but we always come to an agreement’’
Their vocals have a powerful, passionate clarity which will no doubt resonate with listeners, and lead to success if managed properly, ‘‘we don’t wanna get money and blow it all. A lot of people let fame get to their heads, we would never do that, people you diss on the way up will be there waiting on your way down’’. Smart lads.

My heart breaks listening to their tracks ‘‘my story’’…and ‘’other side’’ which are about the murder of Konan’s stepfather Ned, who was murdered at home protecting Konan and his mother after a gang came for Konan. ‘’I was determined to turn this negative into a positive’’. My Story talks about the night of the murder and how the duo consequently dealt with their grief and kept focused on the positive side of life. Konan revealed ‘’at the time it was make or break for me, the police took my clothes for forensic tests I was left with absolutely nothing’’

Even though TeamUK acts have their own movements and cliques, its unusual for so many mainstream acts to tweet and champion a new act the way in which they’ve embraced Krept and Konan. Everyone from Tinie, to Chip, to Wretch and more have shown the boys love. Konan ‘’This industry is usually competitive and people don’t want to promote each other but we’ve been lucky enough to make some big strong, real connections’’. The boys have songs featuring all the big current acts like Chip, Tinie and Giggs, ‘’we were around at Chips house the other day just reasoning and I’m still surprised cos we grew up seeing him doing ‘’oops-a-daisy. Even Tinies manager told us that Tinie never does verses for other acts, but he collaborated with us so we are truly humbled’’.

Konan adds ‘’I was friends with Funky D who used to show me how the scene operated, and then our first big break was the Otis cover we did, it got 3million views, it made people talk, but Jay Z;’s record label informed us, via e mail to Krepts phone, that we were infringing copyright! We were going through a tough time with the ‘’our story’’ situation and we were just about to go onstage on Skeptas tour-it was hard to deal with. Next the Otis heat turned into a negative, cos people accused us of fiddling our viewer numbers on YouTube, so we carried on working and then our mix tape charted at number 19, so I think that was a big moment too. The tough times were hard, but our manager Vash told us often things backfire but we needed to buckle down and focus, he taught us a lot and we will now use that education to play the game properly’’.

The duo’s mix tape is unique in that it sounds big, filmic and panoramic. They give the credit to their team ‘’we have our own movement called ‘’play dirty; our in house producers are ADP and Adot Skitz who give us our unique sound’’. The duo is achieving fame and success quickly but it’s important not to forget they’re very young. A track on their mix tape is titled ‘’ ‘‘Too young’’ and speaks about being too young to be rushing things in life like women and relationships. We briefly discuss social media and platforms like instagram where young ladies upload scanty photos.

Krept laughs ‘‘everything evolves around social media, you can meet your next girlfriend online, I have! I have cousins with instagram who are 10 years old. The porno-grafication of young people is going to get worse, we cant do anything about it, you can put bars on computers, but better still you have to educate them about life’’. Talking about the trend for young women to take numerous scanty photos of themselves and pop them online Krept states ‘’you wouldn’t want your wife putting out naked pics of herself, I will like it and maybe even follow them back on twitter, but that girl could never be my wife’’.

Speaking of the ladies, we touched on the recent Naomi Campbell campaign to use more women of colour in the fashion and entertainment world. The boys said they were doing their bit ‘’ we always make sure that in our videos we use models of colour and are inclusive, we made sure there was a black girl and white girl in our videos’’

The boys have been nominated for a MOBO for best newcomer alongside Etta Bond, Fuse ODG, Shakka and more. They reveal ‘’we’ve been getting our fans to vote; we have a big fan base so we hope they come through for us. I was watching Kanyes speech’s at awards the other day, so I’m getting inspired to win. We need the MOBO’s cos they highlight the urban scene, when the Brits turn their back to us we still have the MOBOs. My favorite MOBO memory is So Solid Crew coming down from the ceiling and stuff- I’ll never forget it, it was crazy!’’

Their new album is coming in 2014 no title yet but tracks starting to take shape. ‘‘We only hope we can not repeat ourselves and keep our lyrics fresh and real, we don’t ever want to lose who we are but understand that we have to play the game and make music that the majority might want to hear as well as mix tapes for our fans. Its not selling out, its selling out stadiums!’’
The fact that these two little-known MCs galvanised teenage music fans, to buy their music in a world where everything is now downloaded free, must mean they are worth a listen. If you don’t know, get to know.

BUFF FILM FEST

photo courtesy of David J Bevan.

Over 1000 people attended the BUFF FILM festival, (sponsored by Jilali Argan Oil UK) over 4 days at Channel 4, Odeon West End, Oxford House (Bethnal Green) and Genesis Cinema. Actress Zawe Ashton (‘Fresh Meat’ & ‘Dreams of a Life’) hosted the opening night gala in Leicester Square, which was also attended by actor Andre Royo (Bubbles from HBO’s ‘The Wire’) for the UK premiere of ‘Calloused Hands’ in which he stars and co-produced. Actress Anjela Lauren Smith (‘Babymother’) hosted the closing night UK premiere of ‘Bloody Lip’ – an award-winning mockumentary about boxing, from the Genesis Cinema in Whitechapel. Also in attendance during the festival was Cass Pennant (on whom the movie ‘Cass’ was based on), actor Nicholas Pinnock (Top Boy) and David Essex (musician and actor) whose movie ‘Traveller’ received its’ world premiere at BUFF in Whitechapel starring his son Billy Cook, Lois Winstone & Jason Maza. The festival is now in its 8th year and is currently in discussions with Channel 4 about a broadcast partnership in relation to its’ selection of short films from this year’s event.
I particularly enjoyed the film The Fade, about men’s barbers across the world by documentary filmmaker, Andy Mundy-Castle. A doc about the culture of the barbershop, the male relationships forged via the intimacy of male hair care, the artistry it forges (not just on the scalps of the customers, but with the ambitions of the barbers too). Uniquely, Andy structured the doc to trace the route of the Transatlantic slave trade, so it features singular stories (with their narratives inter-cut) of barbers in Ghana, Jamaica, America and the UK. I loved that it included musicians among the clientele – Aidona, Elephant Man, Pharrell, Jay Sean, DJ Envy and Joe Budden. All give testimony about their relationships w/ their barbers, the importance (and competitive nature of male grooming) esp within the music industry.

STRICTLY COME LAUGHING

Comedy nights at Hackney Empire are in my heart, blood and funny bone! I’ve been attending them regularly for the past 2 decades! It’s a brilliantly consistent venue for urban comedy, and does well by engaging the local community, as well as a multi-cultured audience from far and wide. Last Sunday was one such event with a twist. A regular evening full of great urban comedians but in aid of a Ghanaian village which the strictly come laughing brand have been supporting for 10 years now!
The evening was like a BBC Red Nose Day show, hosted by the elder statesmen of comedy (they wont like me saying that!), Eddie Nestor & Robbie Gee, with comedians Slim, Axel, Glenda Jaxson, Richard Blackwood, A Dot, Kane Brown, Kat, Stephen K Amos and dame Baptiste. We also had musical performances by gospel Jermain Jackman, onstage set accompaniment music from DJ Abrantee, and a special guest appearance from Lenny Henry.
I’ve watched many of these acts come up, and their development and stage confidence has grown leap and bounds. Even the younger acts content is now very distinct, and they are laying their own style and flava ground. I recall when Kane Brown first hit the scene; he was a nervous stilted comic, now he’s on fire! This 39 old comic had us roaring at his old skool vs new skool jokes where he compared crisps brands like Pringles vs Golden Wonder and cars with chokes! Former CHOICEFM and MTVBASE host Kat played a black Puck character in his green tights and red codpiece adding a pantomime silent clown character to the night.

Eastenders legend Rudolf Walker, talked about the Ghananian charity Friends of Tafo, which is a charity that aims to empower as well as help the people of Kwahu-Tafo, an impoverished rural town in Ghana, via responsible giving that generates a capacity for self-development in education, job-creation, and quality of life and infrastructure.
They work in close partnership with the community of Kwahu-Tafo to ensure that the projects chosen and the resources allocated reflect local needs and priorities.
Friends of Tafo was founded in 2001 by the friends and family of TV Producer Humphrey Barclay, after his installation as Nkosuohene (Development Chief) in the ancestral home town of his friend, the late Ghanaian actor Gyearbuor Asante, who played the African eternal student ‘Matthew’ in the Channel 4 TV sitcom Desmond’s. Humphrey spends three periods of up to two months each in Tafo every year, working with the Progress Council and documenting progress.
Humphrey along with his co-producers Beverley & Paulette Randall and Sarah Moore of GeeStor Productions have produced Strictly Come Laughing! (Formerly THe Empire Strikes Black) for the past 10 years and have to date raised over £100,000 for Friends Of Tafo.

Next, comedy Newcomer south London’s Dame Baptiste sounded nervous for about 2 seconds, before getting into his groove and killing it, with his very new original style and content.
Comic Quincy is a big guy and bounded onstage with his longer than long locks. He had us roaring as he acknowledged that singer Jamelia had been stating publicly, that there should be more black faces on UK TV, and here she was, on a show called ‘’I love my country’’. He then extoled the power of Levi Roots brand now that there were Reggae Reggae crisps. He said ‘’we all know he just mixed ketchup and pepper to make his sauce and now he even has a crisp line’’ We were rolling!
I bought a few raffle tickets, as the prizes were great! Amongst the things I could’ve won were tickets to the royal variety performance and x factor, but what I wanted were the Eurostar and 3 nights in Paris. I didn’t win, but Strictly Come Laughing did make a grand total of £ on the night. Great example of arts making the world a better place.

LONDON’S BIGGEST BREAKFAST

NEIL FOX, BORIS JOHNSON AND JUNIOR MASTERCHEF FINALIST TJ DOBSON

I ended the week with a 7am breakfast at City Hall where Magic 105.4 and The Mayor’s Fund for London, were broadcasting live in aid of London’s Biggest Breakfast. Their aim was to raise awareness to expand the Breakfast Club project and feed thousands more school children across the City.

Many children come to school too hungry to learn. Currently 1 in 4 school children only have one healthy meal a day (school lunch) and 32% regularly miss out on breakfast.
It’s a campaign that has seen Magic FM and the Mayors Fund come together to deliver 10,000 daily breakfasts to 50 primary schools across seven of London’s most deprived boroughs, feeding nearly 2000 children each morning! One headmistress at the event told me that families are so poor nowadays, that often the parents join their children, for this daily essential at her school.
Transmitting live for the first time from the rooftop-London’s living room- were Magicfm DJ Neil fox. Joining Neil to perform live with his band was Westlife’s Shane who did a great job entertaining the 50 young school children from a nearby school.

WESTLIFE’S SHANE SINGS FOR THE BIIGEST BREAKFAST.

Also in the house was TV Chef and London restaurateur Cyrus Todiwala– the very cool ‘’spice man’’, who told me he likes to cook a spicy breakfast like a chili omlette and had us taste one made by Barnet school boy – junior master chef finalist- 12 year old TJ Dobson. TJ’s mum told me it was his grandma that encouraged his passion for cooking at a young age when she allowed him and only him from their family to watch her make her secret BBQ sauce. TJ told me he loves making BBQ chicken with blue sauce and crème brulee!

WESTLIFES SHANE, JASMINE, TJ DOBSON AND CELEB TV CHEF CYRUS TODIWALA.

T J told me “I know that I and my twin sisters would find it really hard to concentrate at school if we didn’t have breakfast in the morning. All we’d hear is our tummies rumbling! I’m excited about giving the Mayor some good cooking tips too.”

TJ DOBSON WIT HIS MUM, GRANDMA AND SIBLINGS.

Boris Johnson told us: “It’s unacceptable that many of our young Londoners are going to school hungry. I hope that London’s Biggest Breakfast on 12th September will encourage more people to get involved so that this initiative can reach more children across the capital.”

Neil Fox added “My three children always go off to school with a good breakfast inside them, but not all kids are so lucky. London’s Biggest Breakfast will help pave the way to healthier and happier children who are ready to learn at the start of their school day.”

Cyrus Todiwala OBE said” A nutritious breakfast is key to the well being of our minds and bodies and especially for school kids who need to start the day fit and ready to concentrate on their lessons. Not just parents but kids themselves have to learn the value of a good, balanced breakfast and it should become part of their cooking repertoire, cooking being an indispensible life skill. You don’t have to be a trained chef to prepare a nutritious breakfast. London’s Biggest Breakfast is a great initiative to support the healthy future of London’s young people.”

The positive impact of the Breakfast Clubs is clear with 93% of head teachers saying they result in increased concentration and energy amongst pupils. Lets ensure that our nations youth leave home daily with a healthy meal inside them. A happy tummy equals a smart functioning brain!

JASMINE WITH SO SOLID CREW AT THE MOBO18 NOMINATIONS LAUNCH.

Many businesses’ don’t last a decade, let alone 18 years, so salute and applaud the brand that is MOBO, who celebrate their 18th birthday this year!

MOBO CEO KANYA KING WITH JESSIE J

Their annual nominations launch party this week at the Grand Connaught Rooms, was the best one ever in my humble opinion. Its true there have been launches in the past with more car crash celebs in attendance, but this year really upped the ante in all areas. The ballroom was set up like an awards show, with beautifully dressed tables. Each table had bottles of water, wine and champagne.

GRAPHICS HEAD HONCHO TROY DAVIS, PHOTOGRAPHER PAUL H AND TALENT MANAGER/PHOTOGRAPHER RICHIE P ENJOY THE SWEETIE CORNER!

In each corner of the room was an exciting thing to engage with. In one corner, a sweetie station with old skool sweets like cola cubes and sherbet spaceships, in another, a giant group sized photo booth by the Phototainment Company which had the best instruction video with poses that had party goers shrieking in delight. Everyone passed through the Guest Stars photo booth and had their MOBO 18 pictures printed and tweeted throughout the night.

Copious amounts of mini food platters like fish and chips and mini burgers and beverages galore were served on silver platters. I have been to every MOBO launch party and can tell you, the mainstream most certainly takes the scene more seriously now!

A LADY THAT BROUGHT UP A GENERATION OF YOUNG TV VIEWERS ON PLAYSCHOOL- FLOELLA BENJAMIN!

Everything about this years launch felt different. Media and celebs were scanned in using HTC One devices, which were also on display throughout the venue. The tables were well decorated with Table Art coloured pixels tubesThe glamorous set up, the stage running order which saw a gorgeous Sarah Jane Crawford from Radio1Xtra hosting, a speech by long time UK music manager Kwame Kwaten, an introduction by CEO Kanya King, a totally surprising performance by So Solid Crew which brought the house down, and a similarly great set by newer act Fuse ODG and Jahmene Douglas!.

THE FUSE ODG DANCERS BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN-THEIR HAIR WAS AS SLICK AS THEIR MOVES!

The vibe in the room felt VERY positive. Hilariously, this night always see’s people in attendance that slag off the MOBO brand all year round, but kill themselves to attend the evening. As Kwame mentioned in his speech, it can’t be everything to everyone at all times. The public vote dictates who wins.

UP FOR BEST ALBUM- ANGEL!

As many a black music act from Jazzie B to Tina Turner, to Destiny’s Child and Fugees, reflected in their MOBO speeches many years ago- MOBO was the first brand to award them recognition, even after they’d been in the industry many years.

FORMER KISS100FM RADIO HOST-NOW RADIO1XTRA- CLARA!

Mainstream brands like the Brits have years when urban music is in favour, and others where it isn’t, so we always need MOBO to be the stable brand that supports year in and year out.

THE MAN MAKING MOST OF THE CURRENT TEAMUK HITS- NAUGHTY BOY!

People I spotted or caught up with in the house included a lady that brought up my generation-national treasure Floella Benjamin with her very handsome distinguished hubby, Sway, Fuse ODG whose dancers had us all mesmerised (we wanted dance classes with them!), Kanya King in a foxy red frock, Adam Deacon trying as usual to stay understated but being mobbed by fans wanting pictures.

KOJO IN ‘THAT’ LEATHER LOOK VEST!

Also spotted- ChoiceFM breakfast show host Kojo in a leather look vest which I kept teasing him about, music industry legend Mervyn Lyn ( Puffy, Alicia Keys), Paul H- the only photographer to the UK urban scene, Paola Lucktung- the go-to-lady at Adidas, Kwame Kwaten- one time member of music act D’Influence, now music manager of acts like Laura Mvula, Taponeswa Mavunga from Atlantic Records, old skool singer Gabrielle who is being brought back with a fresh sound by Watford super producer Naughty Boy, Baby Blue looking sweet in her dress and having fun in the photo booth, Kel Le Roc looking as usual, red hot in a body con dress, Richie Pascoe- the only photographer favoured by young sexy chicks wanting foxy pics LOL, DJ Dave VJ, Radio1Xtra breakfast host Twin B, A&R Benny Scars, Island Music’s Darcus Beese and many more.

A VERY MUSIC INDUSTRY CLIQUE- INCLUDING REMEL LONDON, TROY DAVIS, RICHIE P, DAVE VJ, PAUL H, COOKIE, LINDSEY WESKER.

Backstage, I managed to have a nice catch up with So Solid boys Harvey and Romeo, where we discussed their current life situations and music news. Both seemed older, wiser, and more level-headed and very happy with their now, much more settled lifestyles. A touching moment was when we spotted Harvey welcoming new younger acts, and giving them tips and advice on his regrets in dealing with business. Lisa Maffia wasn’t in the house due to other business commitments so I attempted to make my pitch to fill in- alas, not sure if the boys took me seriously! So Solid really needs to be praised for their contribution to the UK urban music scene. They were the first act that really caught the nations youth up in excitement, and represented the British youth lifestyle and experience.

ADIDAS BIGWIG PAOLA LUCKTUNG AND RICHIE P WITH JASMINE.

It’s hard for some of you to imagine the climate of UK black music 18 years ago. Nowadays its normal to see acts like Tinie Tempeh, Wretch32, N Dubz and so on in the national tabloid press, invited onto mainstream TV shows and charting well in our music charts. 18 years ago this was practically unheard of unless you were Sade or the like. Acts back then just weren’t taken seriously by the mainstream or broadcasters playlists-thankfully we’ve proved them all wrong. Black music teams were uninspired by mainstream rejection, and many of us who worked in the industry, were determined to fight and make the change to see a genre that we loved make it big. MOBO is just one of these brands that fought to make the urban lifestyle scene today what it is, and for that we are applauding it!

ADIDAS VIP HIP HOP KARAOKE AT CONCRETE/ SHOREDITCH!- #unitealloriginals @adidasuk @adidasoriginals

THE BEST HIP HOP KARAOKE ACT OF THE NIGHT- ATHLETE JEANETTE KWAKYE WITH HER SONG PARTNER SINGER JACOB BANKS.

The very next day the industry was still abuzz as adidas dropped its new social soiree- hip-hop karaoke at the Concrete venue in Shoreditch. Adidas always pushes its social engagement both with the public and street corner pop up sports events, as well as industry engagement, with parties and fun. Usually I wont let go of the mic at karaoke but was feeling wary of this hip-hop karaoke as I usually sing (tine deaf kill an animal with my shrieking type attempts). But this time there were only rap songs on offer.

JAS WITH PRINCESS NYAH!

In the house on the night were most of the London urban music industry from djs, to record label staff, to music bloggers,to PR, to Adidas associated athletes, to real rappers and stylish fashion folk. On arrival I wondered if it would be a success, as even though the venue was full, we- the cynical, cutting industry heads- were all apparently too shy to add names to the performers list.

ROLL DEEPS MANGA KICKED IT ALL OFF!

However as soon as our DJ Target kicked the night off, with the gold jacketed, pretty eccentric hip-hop karaoke host, it was a non-stop rap fest. Manga from Roll Deep kick-started the sets and did really well, then a couple of younger dandy’s showed their skills, before rappers Wretch32 and J2K did their version of Kano’s P’S&Q’S to the crowds delight!

WRETCH AND J2K DO KANO’S P’S & Q’S

Gorgeous young thing-the foxy Princess Nyah, jumped onstage to help with a version of So Solids 21 Seconds- no pressure but Romeo was also in the house!.

NYAH HAS 21 SECONDS TO GO…….

DJ MANNY NORTE JOINS J2K IN A DUET

JEANETTE AND JACOB- STARS OF THE NIGHT!

My favourite moment of the night though was undoubtedly when athlete Jeannette Kwayke and singer Jacob Banks jumped onstage together for ‘Ni*&* in Paris’. The venue went wild and the high was non stop from there on in. everyone attending agreed that Adidas has to make this a regular event- its nice to see each other at awards and shows but having a function where no ones working and all are simply enjoying themselves is key to a successful music community! So two brands that I adore, made this fortnight a better place for all involved! kudos!

THE ADORABLE WRETCH CHILLING OUT AND HAVING FUN AT THE ADIDAS HIP HOP KARAOKE EVENT AT CONCRETE-SHOREDITCH!

JAZZIE B AT KEW THE MUSIC 2013

So the last of the summer music festivals is approaching and I’ve done a few this year. I can honestly say the best in terms of new, fresh crowd, musical experience and overall enjoyment was Soul to Soul and Leona Lewis at Kew Gardens for the annual Kew the Music stage. Wireless used to be great, but alas has turned into a London version of the worst of Aiya Napa meets Ibiza, with cheap sleazy audience in a giant car park. Glastonbury see’s its usual die hard camping fans try and out fashion Kate and Cara.

But Kew Gardens was uniquely the new best-kept secret this year. Thousands of very classy people, bringing picnic blankets, candelabras and champagne, set in a stunning, natural venue with amazing acoustics. The event planning is extremely well organized, with great views from all across Kew Gardens. The stage is flanked by breath taking lakes and foliage whilst the food was in a league of its own. It’s the only festival I’ve ever attended that doesn’t sell chips! It does however, do copious amounts of pink bubbly, steak and roasted veg, gourmet burgers, falafel and posh coffees. Juxtapose that with Jazzie B and his crew and it’s the menu for an unforgettable night out. See you there next year!

So here we are, September 2013, the end of BBC Proms territory. Whilst the Royal Albert Hall in West London plays host to the biggest names in classical music, Channel 4 have begun airing Series 2 of Top Boy- their gritty drama about inner city street life.
On one side, press and pro social groups slam Top Boys violence and glamorization of gangs and drug culture. Critics call for a balance in programming.TV picks up formats that are brought to its attention. There ARE balanced stories out there, but not everyone knows where to find them, or how to tell them.
Top Boys critics say ‘’why aren’t there any positive stories about the black community? Why are we only shown in a negative, criminal light? Well, there are positive, soaring stories; it’s just that commissioners and TV don’t seem as interested in them, or only want to perpetuate the stereotypes of what black music and culture’ is. (Stand up Miley Cyrus!).

There are thousands of young music lovers who appreciate classical music. Instead of a TV show that makes us all feel like the great BBC has charitably extended its hand and opened its doors to urban acts (FAZERS URBAN SYMPHANY), why not champion and highlight black role models who are leaders in their fields of work in classical music? Youth want to see leaders like Jay Z who are winning in their chosen fields. They don’t like charitable hands reaching down to help them. Tell them about winners in classical music so they too can aspire to be like them. This is the hip-hop generation – they are aspirational, they want to see winners.

JASMINE WITH SHIRLEY THOMPSON

Winners like Shirley Thompson who’s a rarity in this country: A black composer AND educator at the University of Westminster. Make a TV show and include people like Shirley instead of ‘’poor inner city youth who need to be lead to the classical music well to drink’’.

Shirley is warm, driven, approachable and ageless. She recalls being intoxicated with the sound of the piano from the age of 4 years old, in a little box room, in her Jamaican parents East London home. She recalls ‘’it was normal to have a piano in the home in those days. My mother did whatever she could to help us progress and develop as human beings. There was always soul, gospel and reggae music playing in our house, I saw classical music as the same, I came across classical music in TV and films. I loved pop music as a child, Sounds of Blackness and Marvin Gaye, Al Green, very classic soul voices. I was always into local music festivals. I started the violin at age 11, which is late in that world so always felt as if I were playing catch up, but my area-Newham- was musically creative back then as it is now with grime and classical talent’’.

Shirley left an extremely successful performing career to pass on her passion to younger students ‘’I’ve been teaching at Westminster Uni for 10 years-10 years ago recorded music was seen as the most important aspect of the music world instead of live performance. Nowadays its all about the live performance-its changed phenomenally. My students come from local state schools to public schools. A lot of them want to be singer songwriters and music producers in grime, classical, rock, hip-hop and indie’’.

SHIRLEY THOMPSON MEETING THE QUEEN.

A big moment for Shirley was in 2002 when she met the Queen after creating a symphony for her with a 200-piece orchestra. Then In 2007 Shirley was commissioned to compose music for the opening of the Parliamentary exhibition The British Slave Trade: Abolition, Parliament and People, which marked the 250-year anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic trade in enslaved African people. It’s of course an honour to be asked, but like many from the BAME community, Shirley has had to fight hard not to be pigeonholed by her skin colour. ‘’I resisted with institutions like the Arts Council who wanted to dub me a ‘’black composer’’, my culture has made me who I am but I don’t want to be pigeon holed and objected to that. Being Jamaican has given me that extra edge, my ancestors were very driven persistent people, so I love that, but I don’t want to be labelled like that’’
In 2010 Shirley was announced in the Evening Standard’s “Power List of Britain’s 100 Most Influential Black People 2010” ‘’it meant a lot to be acknowledged by the community and that classical music was being considered to be important in the community, I’d always struggled with being taken seriously in my community as they said classical music was a white persons game. I’m interested in finding a channel for my talent…the bible says that if you have been given a talent you must use it well’’

Regards her future ambitions she smiles ‘’I’ve got lots of operas and orchestral works still to come, my symphonies for the Royal Albert Hall and more!’’
So there you have it TV commissioners. The stories exist. Do you have the teams and the balls to make them?

He’s going from deadlines to headlines. 28 year old Shahid Khan, is the tall, big built, chubby cheeked, infectiously excitable new #TEAMUK music star that goes by the stage name Naughty Boy.

JASMINE WITH SHAHID KHAN, AKA NAUGHTY BOY!

In a quiet ground floor studio in the leafy suburb of Ealing, a young Asian man is making music history, and breaking cultural stereotypes simultaneously.
In a world where the biggest celebrities have always had big talent, coupled with a big personality- Naughty Boy is about to join the ranks of those grand players on the list.
The talent of frank Sinatra, Richard Branson, Kanye West and their ilk cannot be denied, but what takes them to transcend their specialist boundaries into household name forte, are their larger than life personalities. NB is very enthusiastic, likable and has a huge personality for a relative newcomer to the music industry.

He’s young, understatedly dressed and grounded but already showing serious signs, of Roc A Fella legend boss, Dame Dash style opulence that threatens to sweep him off his feet.
One of the first things that happen, as I am welcomed into the music-making den, is an ‘extremely important telephone call that NB has to take’ from his sister. He politely explains ‘’excuse me-this could be god news. I lost my diamond ring earlier today, at my mums in her bidet in the toilet, so my sister said she’d search for it’’
Ten seconds later he breathes a sigh of relief and reveals ‘‘that’s amazing, she found it, that’s saved me 10k’’. As I stare open mouthed, he attempts an explanation that still gob smacks me, ‘’I can’t wear gold so I waited until I could afford diamonds’’. That’s cleared that up then.

NAUGHTY BOY MAKING THOSE HITS!

During the 10k diamond ring call, I take it all in. his Ealing film studio based lair, a tiny all black studio, dark walls, sofas, totally cluttered with creativity. A multitude of sights hit you all simultaneously. A large colourful fish tank where previous piranha fish have been overfed leaving just goldfish, a fluffy tiger print cat called Bob, who chills out sedate, whilst all around him the buzzing bee colony works, a lone Emeli Sande plaque for a million sales on one wall, a table over flowing with favourite water to the stars- Figi water, piles of Musicweek magazines which mention NB and his worldwide chart positions (‘’ I’m No 1 in Poland and top 5 in 20 countries!), a remote control helicopter (has rapper DMX been here? That’s a different story!), a piano, numerous computers, flickering screens at various stages of ‘download complete’, left over take away food and a cross trainer right behind the producers chair ‘’I like to hop on for 20 minutes daily to keep myself healthy and give myself a break’’.

NB’S STAIRMASTER AND FISH AQUARIUM.

Stacked up all alongside one wall ,are boxes piled high of Nike sneakers, which also trail along the studios exterior wall. It’s the sponsorship freeness that comes with success.

As he welcomes me to look around, and gestures for me to take a seat, NB proudly states ‘’look! I’m posh, eating bread and olive oil’’. A statement that tells us a million things in eight words.

NAUGHTY BOYS STUDIO TABLE, CHAOS!

It’s clear that whilst he still lives at home with his parents in Watford, this studio space is his first home. Bottles of moisturizer, body wash and scented candles are piled onto the sound desk, muddled with notes about his work with his now colleagues and friends including Alesha Dixon, JLS, Lily Allen, Alexandra Burke Jennifer Hudson. Professor Green, Cheryl Cole, Tinie Tempah and more.
Just a few days earlier, taking my place on the same sofa were American singer Britney Spears, as well as her new albums producer William Orbit ,who NB says he’s always been a fan of ‘’ I’m a fan of Ray of Light which he did for Madonna, so was very excited to have him here at the studios’’. These should be dizzying heights for the new boy on the scene, but he’s taken to it like a fish to water.

Noticing me smiling at the Figi water bottles, he states ‘’oh I like Fiji water because when I went to see Simon Cowell, who said I was a music genius, he had lots. It’s now on my rider along with Grey goose vodka. Oh, and chicken wings’’.
However on the subject of his chicken wings, he’s quick to chortle ‘‘Emeli and me rejected a black card from Nandos (which celebs get free meals with), because you practically have to sell your soul to get one, and then you have to promote it all day long. I personally believe, that once you make a success of yourself, you can pay for your own chicken, and don’t need to pimp yourself out for a free dinner’’. Very admirable. A young star with strict morals, clearly in the game for longevity, as opposed to selling his brand cheaply to anyone who wants a part of him.

NAUGHTY BOYS PARTNER IN RHYME-EMELI SANDE SITS PROUD ON HIS STUDIO WALL.

The ‘’Emeli’’ he refers to is the one and only songstress Emeli Sande.
NB is the mad wizard character behind Brit success story Emili Sande. Whilst Emile seemed to fly constantly into our reality around the Olympics, appearing on every live show and TV set, NB was quietly rubbing his hands with glee at their success. I myself was one of the cynical journo’s that was sick over being bombarded by Emeli during that time- until I met NB and heard their story. Now, I’m respectful of their tenacious journey.

The story of how NB met Emeli, and bought her down from her hometown of Glasgow, to record in his little Ealing studio, is now legendary in music circles.
Both were young and struggling. Emile had plans on becoming a doctor, whilst NB had dropped out of a marketing degree, was working as a pizza delivery guy and at his nearby Watford Hospital as well as at the Townhouse Studios as an apprentice, where he would learn to use the equipment when he wasn’t making Elton John and others cups of tea.
After dropping out of uni in 2005, he did two things that both bore fruit. He applied for a Princes Trust grant that funded him £5000 for equipment. Speaking to the Watford Observer in 2009 about the opportunity at the time, NB said “The Prince’s Trust has a scheme where they want to help people who they feel can set up their own business. I wanted to make music but I didn’t have any equipment. They said they wanted to help me’’. He also applied to appear on Noel Edmonds Deal or no deal, where he won a mind blowing £44,000.
With these funds he was well on the way to building his Ealing based music studio, to replicate his mum and dads shed where he usually worked, and spotted Emile singing at industry showcase event ILUVLIVE and from here they gelled. NB put her up in a nearby hotel whilst they made music. The first set that made it successfully to the publics ears, were hits for Chipmunk ‘’Diamond rings’’ and Wileys ‘Never be your woman’, both featuring, a then unknown, Emeli Sande.

Thereafter they continued to make music together, resulting in Emeli getting a record deal with Virgin Records, and subsequently NB song writing and producing the majority of her debut album, Our Version of Events.
With Emeli’s star rising ever higher, record labels wanted the money maker behind her too, and so In 2012, NB signed a three-year publishing deal with Sony ATV, as well as a recording contract to release one album on Virgin. That album ‘Hotel Cabana’ is released August 26th 2013. ‘’Hotels intrigue me cos they’re bad places. I love the idea of what goes on at luxury hotels. Affairs, the fact that they’re designed for sex. Sexually themed. That’s what inspired me. I’m fascinated by it. My album is one man’s journey into Hotel cabana, a fantasy world’’
NB’s debut album features a stellar line up of UK music names. Of course his muse Emeli features, as well as chart topper Tinie Tempah who introduces the album playing the Justin Timberlake role to Jay Z’s Magna Carter. Ed Sheeran also takes part AND NB exclaims incredulously ‘’I’m bringing back Gabrielle!’’ (She of ‘Dreams can come true’’ nineties fame). Everything about NB is different. Even his music marketing. The album already has a trailer hosted by future star George the Poet. Like Jigga famously said recently ‘’New Rules’’

During our chat, NB isn’t alone. I’ve walked in at the end of an all day session he’s having with two young, Caucasian men, Moos and James, who go by the producer duo moniker Mojam. I nod a perfunctory greeting, as NB reveals Mojam are now signed to him, but used to be a part of the huge rabble of young, chart topping boys from Chingford, Essex called Blazing Squad. Suddenly I’m more intrigued! Both seem much more grown up and wizened since their hip hop boy band days, and are clearly a good duo for NB to bounce off daily in the studio, as they banter amicably together throughout our chat.

Whilst there is laughter, whoops and shrieks as well as regular booming music from the speakers, Bob the cat is unusually chilled. NB laughs and tells me Bobs used to it ‘’ Bob is my and Emeli’s cat, we got her as a kitten to keep us company in the early days. He’s the most pampered cat alive. We regularly take Bob to Harrods animal spa where he has blueberry facials. He has many personas. Sometimes he’s Bobby Brown, other times he’s Bob Marley and on occasion Michael ‘’Bob’’ le!’’. With that last statement NB is clearly made for this business and already tiptoeing into Mariah Carey pet decadence areas. (It may amuse you to know that, in disbelief I googled blueberry facials for pets at Harrods and they do exist!). He continues “I welcome and embrace the good life, why not?,I grew up on a council estate. My dad’s a taxi driver’’.

NB clearly wants the best for his cat and himself. Defending his decision to pay exorbitant rent in a location as coveted as Ealing Film Studios he justifies ‘’ it is expensive rent but what’s money compared to such an inspiring location? I see them filming Downtown Abbey here, Madonna shoots videos here , I walk past Rowan Atkinson often- it gives me bigger ambition’’

When I probe as to whether he see’s himself as a new producer turned artist like Timberland, Scott Storch and Kanye West before him, he shakes his head violently ‘’Me and Emeli signed to Virgin at same time. I always saw myself as a producer, not producer/ artist. I had an idea for a hotel inspired concept album. So I made it’’.

He loves the music rock and roll lifestyle, but doesn’t like his face to be too prominent, preferring to remain slightly mysterious. Whilst I’m with him, he plays me the then as yet unreleased video for his latest single ‘’lifted’’ featuring Emeli. Neither appears in the video except for a cameo in a picture frame. He is familiar with the concept of over saturation in the media already. ‘’ I’m not rushing in and rushing out of this game. I want longevity. I wanna bring something diff to this generation, I want people to connect to my name. I love art; I could be the Banksy of the music world. I’m excited about art and Banksy. Banksy excites people, I wanna excite people’’.
With this statement, the verbal peddling just rolls faster and faster down the mountain with all of NB’s enthusiasm for life spiraling out ‘’ I also have an alter ego… not a messiah but a naughty boy. I’m cheeky but not bad, I’m mischievous! I couldn’t believe when I did a phoner interviewer this week for an Australian radio show and they swore and said pussy on air!, I’m saving to move my family out to Dubai!. I also want a property in Kensington!. I’m No 1 in the UAE! I’ve gotta get in with the Qatari Prince, that would be a good look!’’

Clearly NB knows who to connect with and who the next new stars will be, months before we do. I ask him to name some. He champions ‘’ a new singer called Charlie- she’s really good, a band called Chasing Grace and a rapper called Mic Righteous’’

NB WITH HIS CAT-THE INFAMOUS ”BOB”

Guts, sweat and years of hard work and skills, have poured the cement, for Naughty Boy to forever stand tall in the walk of fame. He has a firm grasp on what’s new, and more importantly; what’s next. According to the diary on his studio wall, where August 26th is a circled reminder for his albums release to the public- he is!

JASMINE WITH HER OLD NEMISES- GIGGS!

Next it was off to see my old mate Giggs who had invited me to a screening of his brand new video for his Mark Ronson single ”Is it gangsta-yes yes yes”
Directed by Amy Winehouse’ one time boyfriend-the actor and director Reg Travis- the video was like a mini movie and really showed a great new side to Giggs…the actor!
The short film was shot very well, in a classic Only Fools and Horses style where Giggs is seen as an intense, broody character at a card game that gets caught up in a beef but ends up slipping onstage to join his band at a big live performance just in the nick of time. The ending is classic comedy gold!
In the house for the very special east end cinema screening were influential faces like CHOICEFM’s Manny Norte, actor Femi, music manager Trenton, a very suave looking Reg Travis and more.
Giggs and his business partner Buck were both very professional suited and booted slickly,they welcomed us all, thanked us for coming and introduced the film to us very eloquently.
SN1 presented a film and asked ”is it gangsta?”. It most certainly was!

JASMINE WITH HER FRIEND- MOBO CEO- KANYA KING.

I ended the week at the Grand Connought Rooms in Holborn, for the annual MOBO nominations panel. this is my 18th year- yes -i’ve been at every one!. This year it was opened up to a lot more taste makers and music industry peeps. invited alongside me were music managers, record label staff, dj’s, bloggers, writers, music fans and PR company heads.

THE MOBO NOMINEE PANEL 2013!

The debates and banter about who should and shouldn’t make this years shortlist was heated and intense-the way it should be- especially when it came to Best hip hop and Best African categories. Can’t wait to hear the finalists? Make sure you’re at the MOBO nominee party next week!

Meanwhile, KK presented me with a MOBO- for best posing since 1996!

JASMINE WITH ACTOR MUCISIAN SHAKKA AND PLAYWRITER NADIA FALL AT THE NATIONAL THEATRES SHED FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF ”HOME”.

What a cultured week I’ve had. Honestly we live in the best country in the world when it comes to access for everyone to arts and culture! So much of it is free, you just need to know where to look and be spontaneous. This week alone I have seen urban culture reflected in classical music, theatre, literature and pop music.

Firstly, I was invited by the National Theatre to come and see a play called ‘Home’ at their annual pop up theatre THE SHED. Home is the diversity of stories, of the millions of young homeless youth across the UK. Its told in an engaging and extremely entertaining way. Most of us will take for granted that we live in a safe, secure, stable home, but for thousands of youngsters across the nation this is not the case. The play is set in a cube shaped intimate space, which the audience shares, in a very in- the- round- Brecht- like style. The audience plays the invisible ‘’interviewer’’, who asks residents and staff at a homeless hostel in East London about their stories. The script is taken from real life interviews with homeless youth, at the Foyer in East London. The script uses music like grime, hip-hop, pop and more to tell their stories. It’s a very cleverly written (by Nadia Fall) piece of theatre, which immediately has the audience’s full attention, not just due to the intimate set, but we also become a part of the story. The cast is a small group, of mostly young actors (including up and coming music act Shakka), who play characters that really brought home the horror of youth homelessness. Each actor plays 2 characters, and the way this is done is very clever, simple and effective. The young Eritrean girl human trafficked to the UK, the young man violently abused by his family, young single mothers thrown out of their homes and so many more. The writing is fast paced, sharp and at many occasions even humorous on life in a typical youth hostel. Home is playing on the South Bank at the Shed until September 7th- if you want an evening of entertainment that’s emotional, riveting and musical, I recommend you take the family to see it!

Next I was sent a book titled Feral Youth by Polly Courtney. The book is set in a South London estate and is the story of a fictional character called Alesha who tries to survive life on the streets without a home, making money in a gang, befriending her school piano teacher. It’s not just another urban hood street life book. It’s told from a young girls perspective of life in the inner city in 2013 and the reasoning behind so many young peoples actions. It was such a gripping, easy read, that I finished it in 48 hours. I simply couldn’t put it down, so enticed into Alesha’s world and her next steps was I. I was carrying it around in my handbag reading in shopping queues, whilst making breakfast and even in the car in case I could take in another chapter. By the last chapter I was on the edge of my seat and teary as the story came to its conclusion. A brilliantly captured story about the minds of young people living very desperate lives today. A great read for both the young and adult alike.

JASMINE WITH WRETCH- THE STAR OF THE BBC URBAN PROM.

A most coveted ticket was gifted to me, by Robert Pascoe (Universal Music) and his brother Richie, for the first ever, BBC URBAN PROMS, at the Royal Albert Hall, where Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra alongside Bigga Fish, hosted an evening, which brought together the two worlds of classical music and urban music.
The BBC Orchestra were absolutely amazing, led by Jules Buckley, whilst the urban acts were all presented to us by our wonderful hosts- BBC broadcasters, the very quickly rising star Charlie Sloth and the ever husky voiced stunner Sarah Jane Crawford. Both looked amazing with Charlie keeping it hip-hop by juxtaposing his slick blazer and shirt with jeans and trainers, whilst Sarah Jane glowed in a classy long ball gown. They did a cracking job but presenters can only ever be as good as the scripts they are reading from, and there was general consensus that air both DJ’s are very articulate and informative, so their urban proms script seemed pretty poor with awkward, immature, stilted banter, rather than engaging the audience with a few fascinating facts of distinction about the upcoming acts.
However that didn’t detract from the greatness of the evening, which saw Maverick Sabre, Laura Mvula, Fazer, Lady Leshurr, Wretch32, Jacob Banks and Labrinth put on a once in a lifetime show. Each act performed around 3 times each, scattered through the running order.
Fazer’s name alone brought repeated screams from his fans, he switched from a casual beige sweater and trousers look to a more formal suit in his sets and really showed off his production and musical skills as he both played the piano and rapped with intense energy.
Maverick sabre was confident, strong and held the audiences every mood, singing his hits ‘Let me go’, ‘These days’ and ‘I need’, with the gravitas of a seasoned performer.
Many of the younger audience members were more excited about host Charlie sloth than the acts, and many a young fan (to my amusement!), was heard to be screaming ‘I love you Charlie’ as he spoke.
Newest kid on the block, Jacob Banks mesmerized the crowd with his powerful, deep roaring vocals. I overheard someone behind me claim, “he’s the new generation Marvin Gaye!”
There was a standing ovation for Laura even more she opened her mouth to sing-such is her following growing in every demographic. She calmly let her voice command the royal albert halls attention and gave the whole event a really magical, dreamy vibe with her tracks ‘Sing to the moon’, ‘Father, father’, and ‘That’s alright’.
The stand out break through act of the night for me was most definitely Lady Leshurr who was the first to really get the audience participation going with her dynamic, explosive, energy. She was the first act to really bring the “urban” with her Usain Bolt paced, patois, spitting lyrics, and had the crowd chanting and clapping! Go girl! She really had us smiling incredulously as she spun the whole orchestra back again as if in a dance, by rewinding her track ‘’Look at me now’’, a mash up of Busta Rhymes and Chris Browns hits.
The social responsibility angle to the night, came in the form of a group called ‘’7 chapters’’ brought together by Fazer (apparently), who ‘wanted to find a group of talented young artists to give them a chance to perform with the BBC Symphony Orchestra’ at this event. Whilst I’m certain it gave the seven youngsters involved a great experience, and a BBC3 TV show to be screened next month will also come of the project, I’m not sure it really worked. I think having each youngster perform 16 bars with each of the established performers may have worked better. In action this part of the show felt awkward and more like a community voices box ticking exercise.
Wretch32 was, as ever, the charismatic chilled out, established, big name of the night, who kept it presidential in his first set where he donned a white shirt with black cap and trousers, to perform ‘Blackout’ where he had the whole RAH audience chanting his catchphrase ‘’ah yeah!’’, then later a more casual sporty look. Wretch’s energy on ‘Tracktor’ brought the show to its peak as audience members finally stood to dance and bounce in their formal attire before the whole cast reunited onstage to sing the classic Bob Marley hit ‘One love’.
It must be mind blowing for any music act, not only to hear their work being performed on such a huge scale by a critically acclaimed orchestra like the BBC’s, but also at a venue this historic. The sound was most definitely panoramic and high definition and this was most certainly a huge achievement for all involved!.

JASMINE WITH TOP BOY’S LEAD ASHLEY WALTERS!

Channel 4’s gritty mini series Top Boy, returns this month with its second series. A mind-blowing ratings success for the broadcaster, its lead characters Dushane and Sully are back with their daily grind, about inner city life in East London.

Series 1 had the fans praising the incredible cinematography (continued by director Jonathan van Tulleken in this new series), as well as the really real story line. It also had its critics citing glorification of gangs, drugs, black male stereotypes and violence. Many middle classed journalists actually questioned the storylines and suggested they were unreal and exaggerated. That’s the golden nugget right there. To many, this is fiction that they refuse to believe is happening mere meters away from their own doorsteps. To others, this storyline is their day-to-day reality. Every neighbourhood in London has its ‘’pharmaceutical warring areas’’, even the more affluent locations. Notting Hill and Holland Park have Ladbroke Grove, Canary Wharf has Hackney, Hampstead has Kilburn, Dulwich Village has Peckham and on and on and….

If you grew up in London, then you can relate to every storyline and character in Top Boy. The mentally ill mother leaving her son to raise herself, junkie parents that are so desperate to earn a living they resort to illegal activities, the excluded student paying bills by selling weed, the Chinese men-not just known for selling DVDs in the hood- but having the best weed, the bullied child wanting to fit in and be a part of the crowd, the parentless kids who need a sense of family so fall into the arms of the local gang. All of these, an everyday reality for many. Other untold stories are even more tragic.

THE TOP BOY PANEL DISCUSSION POST SCREENING AT THE BFI

One of the reasons Top Boy has been so successful, is that it’s not simply a shoot em up gangland visual fest. It’s an extremely well written drama by Ronan Bennett, which has also been nominated for a BAFTA. In series two, life on the Summerhouse Estate comes head-to-head with the world of organised crime, property development and corporate greed – and the police start to close in on past crimes committed. One of the criticisms of series one was that there was no police presence in the drama. Oh the irony! In reality, this façade takes place across inner city neighbourhoods daily, and there tends never to be a police presence tackling it! So series one was actually nearer the truth than acknowledged. However, Top Boys writers did address that point and series two immediately shows a much stronger police presence in the storyline from the jump off.

Another area, which is more balanced, is the notion that criminal activity at this level is never just made up of fully black youth. Watching series one you may have thought that the case, however series two brings in the Albanian gangs, the Chinese weed barons and a more diverse, realistic reflection.

Screen one at the BFI was sold out on Monday night as Channel 4 and Cowboy Films held a screening of the first show from series two, and it stood up to being just as gripping with its storylines unfolding cleverly from scene to scene.
After a rapturous applause for the cast and crew, the two main characters Dushane and Sully, played by actor/musician Ashley Walters and music star Kano took part in a Q&A session with the director and a moderator.

JASMINE WITH MUSICIAN/ ACTOR KANE ROBINSON- TOP BOY!

Kane Robinson, known to his music fans as Kano admitted that with so many people constantly asking him if the drama was returning there had been some nerves returning and wanting this series to be as strong as its predecessor. Director Jonathon enthused “its a gift to get given a show that’s so amazing I had to make it as good as series 1”. Ashley, known to his music fans as So Solids Asher D, added “we were so keen to return we happily shot in winter in the snow, it was tough’’

What was it about season 1 that gripped people? Ashley seems to be as flummoxed about its success as many others and attributes it to good timing. ‘’We as a nation were depressed. We’d had the UK riots. Tensions were high, especially in London. The show had captured everyone’s desperation and frustration. Kane and me asked ourselves whilst filming all through series 1 “will this ever make it to air on channel 4 or get sold cheaply to channel 5!”
Kane added-‘’a lot of people could identify with this. For others it was an eye opener. Seeing Ridley Rd Market in that context for a lot of people is scary’’.

Ashley was obviously displeased having to defend the storyline and drama in regular interview’s with the mainstream press ‘’. We don’t question Only Fools and Horses about sterotypes, why do they question us? We all know it goes on. It’s the first thing I’ve done that I feel is really real. We worked on the script to ensure it was as realistic as possible. ” Between myself and Kane We’ve already done 28/31 years of research so know how real this storyline is! ‘’

Asked about how much fun compared to his other roles, acting the part of Dushane was, Ashley admitted “I love being on the show but my characters boring compared to Sully. On set the others are fighting, shooting and doing stunts. I’m always the big man on the phone going ” where u at LOL?”

The great thing about urban culture in the UK is, that since our British music acts started charting successfully, youth have aspired to musical directions. Similarly when urban comedy started making a name for young urban comedians like Eddie Kadi and Kojo, youth were shown another road to success. Nowadays with leaders in their fields like actor/director Noel Clarke having proven that urban dramas work commercially, Top Boy is a whole new platform for new, young acting talent. Watching series two, its clear that there are even fresher, new faces than before. Young Brits being given roles that haven’t acted before. (You may recall the pandemonium in Hackney a few months ago at an open audition where hundreds gathered desperate to get their first big TV break)

Director Jonathon added ‘’Cowboy films gave me a lot of power to cast series two. We had too many good people to choose from. Music acts Bashy and Nolay and Roxanne are still to make their Top Boy debuts.

The director also revealed that many of the scenes are improvised so that the youngest actors don’t sound as if they’re reading lines. This makes for an even realer script and slanguage within the show. It also leads to a variety of comedic one-liners that weren’t anticipated. Kane actually burst out laughing at one scene, which apparently wasn’t meant to be funny when shot, but had a classic comedic moment as the whole of the BFI chortled loudly.

Of course, the music journo’s were keen to hear when we could expect new music from both the lead actors-if ever… Kane offered “I’m in the studio now finishing up my new music. I started enjoying the acting halfway through shooting season one, I found a love for it and if the right film script came along I’d consider it’

Ashley, who seems to be onscreen acting in a new drama or film regularly, was more realistic about his endeavors back to the music industry “its difficult juggling music and acting. Sometimes the music world can be very unforgiving. I’ve made some very bad publicly seen decisions in the past that I’m still paying for. I can’t consistently put out music with my acting and kids. You have to focus on music to make it really work”. Ashley also explained why he loves acting in TV more than the film world citing “TV is better to development a character for me than a 3 hour film”

Asked about his own transformation from criminal to screen star Ashley admitted “everyone has a moment of enlightenment. The hardest thing was for me to turn my back on some people that were in my social environment. I wouldn’t ever tell anyone what to do, for me it was watching my father die, prison and needing to feed my children that were life changing moments”

You can just imagine how much fun filming a drama like this must be. Director Jonathon described it as the type of fun that soldiers have in the trenches together, but you can see the banter and camaraderie between them all is strong. Throughout the Q&A session Kane would regularly heckle Ashley. A particular stand out moment was when Ashley mentioned he had “dabbled” in this Top Boy world as a kid. “Dabbled!!?” Kane loudly questioned much to the audience’s mirth.

One of the strongest elements of the way Top Boys shows are structured are the Eastenders cliffhanger endings at the end of each episode. Director Jonathon said he was aware of how powerful these had to be to bring the viewer back gagging for more. And they are gagging. The Internets been trending #TOPBOY throughout its first run and will no doubt be bigger, better and stronger than ever on its second outing. Be sure to tune in. its not the prettier side of life, but it is happening right here, right now. Ignore the realest reality show on TV at your peril.

JASMINE ON THE RIVER NILE IN UGANDA!

The harder I work, the luckier I get. Last week I was blessed to have been invited out to Uganda, East Africa, where I was one of 4 judges for the Club Video Music Awards, (the country’s premier annual music awards ceremony), which takes place in Kampala, in September later this year. I was invited by my one time MTV International colleague Jandre Louw, who is doing extremely well out in Africa with his own company and is now a player and leader on their music scene. Uganda is called the Pearl of Africa and it certainly lived up to its precious name.

There were two reasons for my fascination for the trip. One; in the past 5 years, the exodus of British people to Africa for business has been huge. The continent is an untapped industry that’s ready to blow up in media, arts, culture and business, and many are getting on the bandwagon early, to make the most of an opportunity much of the western globe seems to be oblivious to. Even Chinese business out there,are taking over, in droves. The second reason is of course, my late fathers East African connection. He was born and bred in neighboring Kenya, (which I am still to explore), and often-mentioned Uganda in his memories of back home. So to have the opportunity to get so near to my fatherland and experience their rich heritage and culture was a blessing.

KLM- THE WORST CHOICE TO FLY TO AFRICA.

Every cloud has a silver lining. And every silver lining has a cloud. Our cloud on this trip was flying Dutch airline KLM. The European leg of the trip is akin to many an airline carrier, but once on the African leg it’s a whole different story. The aircraft are old planes in dire need of updating. The staff and air stewardess are in urgent need of a grooming expert. All our crew looked like they had been dragged through a hedge backwards. Perhaps a hairbrush brand like Mason Pearson can lend them a helping hand. Their gate protocol was also unnecessarily unorganized. Huge queues for no apparent reason. Security for baggage at the gate meant that even water bottles bought from departure shops had to be confiscated, and left you parched and thirsty for 2 hours at the gate. A fellow African passenger shared ‘’yes its always this way, they have no respect for African journeys, we are always treated this way, we are used to it’’. Next time I would fly direct via BA!

JASMINE AT THE CLUB VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS PRESS CONFERENCE WITH FELLOW JUDGES AND MAIN SPONSOR- SAM.

However, that was the only cloud to an otherwise glorious experience. On landing at Entebbe airport, we were greeted on arrival by a protocol agent ,and hurried to our waiting car, which whisked us off to our hotel- the Kampala Protea. A very efficient hotel, in the heart of Kampala’s business district, where the rooms are absolutely huge, and decorated in a unique minimally stylish manner. The staff couldn’t do enough to help in their very welcoming, friendly manner, and it’s the first place we noted, just how softly spoken the Ugandan people are. It’s also the first hint of the influence of the Asian community ,once upon a time in Uganda (before Idi Amin took offense to their presence). Their teas are ‘chai spiced’, and their hotel room service menu’s sport many an Indian nod, from samosa’s to chicken tikka’s.

JASMINE WITH HER FELLOW JUDGES AT THE 2ND PRESS CONFERENCE FOR THE CLUB VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS ,UGANDA.

3 days of work were followed by two days of pleasure. For three long days, my fellow judges and I were to narrow down hundreds of submitted music videos to just four in each of the 13 categories. Categories included the usual big ones like best male, best female, best video, best newcomer and so on. More technical categories included best cinematography, best special effects, best choreography and more. My fellow judges were manger of Channel O (most widely distributed channel across African households), Leslie ‘’Lee’’ Kasumba, talent and music manager for Trace TV (the no.1 pan African music TV channel) Phillip Nwankwo, and South African film maker and very highly regarded video director Matthew Stonier. The thinking behind having judges that were not connected deeply to the Ugandan music scene was so that there were no bias or unfairness in the initial voting process. Not knowing who was already big in Uganda, meant that we could judge the videos purely on the art of their visuals, as opposed to being swayed by the artist’s personal brand. I was the only international judge, so came with no pre conceptions at all.

A TYPICAL UGANDAN VIEW-THIS ONE FROM THE AMIN PASHA HOTEL.

Daytimes were spent viewing hundreds of videos; evenings were spent seeing live music at venues like Cayenne, a Maurice Kirya gig and more. My favourite evening was at The Emin Pasha Hotel, which is Set in Two Acres of Peaceful Park-Like Tropical Gardens. Big Mature Trees, Flowering Shrubs and Scented Vines. We ate a delicious dinner and took over the outdoor poolside house band as they sang, with the men in our group showing off with a bit of karaoke!
As with any judging process, the debating was intense and at times heated. We laughed, acknowledged talent, froze at videos that made us sit up for a multitude of reasons, debated authenticity, accents, quality of filming, originality and more. I noted that most of the videos were in need of Ofcom style compliance rules advise, so that product placement, dangerous and imitable behaviour, smoking, drinking and soft porn during daytime playlists could be avoided. One thing that intrigued me was that it seemed that 99% of all music videos submitted, seemed to come straight from Jamaica, such is the passion of Ugandans brought up on dancehall music. With full patois accents and dancehall dance moves, it was like judging a Caribbean set of acts, as opposed to African. It reminded me of the early UK urban music scene when we imitated American hip-hop videos and accents before finding our own voices. Leslie informed me that in fact, dancehall is deeply entrenched in Ugandan culture. (This means that if you love reggae and dancehall culture then Uganda is the perfect spot for your next vacation as the music and food is very akin to Caribbean).
Another observation was that like many new acts around the world, their videos highlight sexy, scantily dressed girls gyrating wildly and rappers surrounded by their version of material wealth. All understandable, as this is what success looks like from many viewers points of view, I was eager to point out that this isn’t always what playlist managers are looking for though. After all, is it still sexy after your 1000th booty shot? Do we care about rappers that continue to tell us about their material wealth purchases? It was good to note that UK acts played in Uganda included Chip, Tinie, Estelle, Rita Ora, Skepta and L Marshall. #TeamUK!
Considering how young the Ugandan music industry is, I can see that the passion and D.I.Y attitude of the artists and filmmaker’s means that this is a market that will grow rapidly with increased reach of their acts the same way west African artists from Nigeria have broken into international music playlists recently.
The work being done in Uganda to give these acts a platform via the CVMA team is sure to develop, nurture and grow the local music industry to build a lasting legacy. Right now it may seem that only West African music and culture have infiltrated our shores, but after this trip I can confidently state East Africa and Uganda are getting ready for their take over!

AT THE START OF THE RIVER NILE CRUISE!

My final two days were spent exploring. The range of adventure in Uganda is wide and hair-raising. Activities include game viewing, fishing trips, water fall cruises, silverback gorilla safari treks, white water rafting, African rainforest camping, chimp trekking and swamp walking. So of course I ,chose the sedate activity of cruising down the Nile, with our new Ugandan friend Ambrose, a guide and my friend Jodie.
Day one was spent travelling 2 hours outside of Kampala to the River Nile. The car journey showed the poorer side of the country. Ramshackle corrugated iron huts, wooden roadside stalls, dusty dry hot roads, the toil of the land by both men and women, churches, mosques, kingdom halls, produce and groceries sold at roundabouts, all juxtaposed to make a buzzing, thriving, happy roadside community.
We arrived at the Jinja Nile Resort late afternoon, and enjoyed a drink and pizza in the treetop wooden bar house, overlooking the cross-section of the Nile and Lake Victoria. I felt disappointed by the menu of English breakfast, pizza and beer options mingled with really loud European dance music and Rihanna hits. At a sight this majestic I think tourists would prefer a wider variety of food options- at least a healthy salad to be at one with nature. Music could be authentic to Africa or classical, but European chart remixes really spoilt the nature and wildlife’s ambience. We instead focused to our left, from where we could hear regular screams of jubilation as bungee jumpers threw themselves off the sky-high platform overlooking one of the greatest sights in the world. There were also small cabins and tents scattered around where more hippy style tourists were getting their ‘at one with nature’ groove on. (I had a hilarious moment in the ladies washroom as I struggled to zip up my pants and run out with toilet paper flying around, as a giant flying insect of some sort resembling a huge bumble bee, kept noisily buzzing and circling my head. I managed to keep it together and not sprint outside screaming like a Carry On movie-I didn’t want the locals to laugh at me thinking ‘’mazunga’’-the local name for white/foreign people!)

THE SOURCE OF THE RIVER NILE.

The sunset Nile cruise was like being in paradise. An experience where you could practically hear David Attenborough describe the fascinating range of squawking, multi coloured birds that inhabited all the trees lining the river. Mini mangroves acted as giant speakers as we sailed past their choir of crickets chirping and wildlife anthems. A variety of exotic water birds like skinny meerkats dipped their necks in and out of the river, surrounding our boat as if giving us nature’s most beautiful escort along the Nile. Randomly scattered troupes of monkeys scurried around in the trees as we filmed them.

A SHOP. SLAP BANG IN THE CENTRE OF THE NILE. SURROUNDED BY WATER!

Suddenly ,we spotted, slap bang in the centre of the river Nile- a store. Not bankside but dead in the centre!. A craft store that sold tourist knick-knacks. I had to jump out of our boat and explore. Proof that you can shop anywhere these days!.

WITH MY WOODEN BOAT WITH 3 ROWING MEN..”ANYTHING JOANNA CAN DO…”

I had just watched the Joanna Lumley TV series ‘’Joanna Lumley on the Nile’’ before heading out to Uganda, and had noted that at the end of her series,she had bought a wooden boat with a man rowing and released it at the source of the Nile and watched it float gently along. I bought a small wooden boat with 3 African men rowing. (one upmanship on the Nile Lol!) Anything Joanna Lumley can do, I can do three times better I reasoned. Our guide suggested releasing it at the crossroads of the Nile and Lake Victoria, near a bird island where the current was much calmer. I agreed with glee. We set off as I prayed and blessed the wooden boat, thanking an unnamed higher spirit for allowing me this amazing adventure. I placed the boat ceremoniously into the river, with all watching, and it immediately flopped onto its side. It floated though. Not the way I had romantically envisioned it may one day reach Egypt ,but it floated. Oh how we laughed! (Never take on Joanna Lumley!).

MY LITTLE BOAT COULDN’T QUITE STAY UPRIGHT LOL!

En route back home to Kampala, Ambrose suggested we stop off at the Mabira Rainforest Lodge off the main highway between Kampala and Jinja. He had described it as a dwelling like a village in the forest. Not expecting much ,we peered with trepidation into the dark night ,as our van took us deeper into a dark, quiet, wild forest. Suddenly, once again, we were surprised to find a majestic surprise!. A huge, colonial style tree house hotel -restaurant -bar, which was quiet, tranquil and akin to an oasis in the centre of wilderness. The formal waitress served us from an adventurous menu. We stayed safe Brits and tried the cream of beetroot soup and pots of spiced tea as we talked into the night. As the whole venue is open air it’s very easy to watch the endless parade of butterflies, birds, monkeys, etc., pass by. The forest itself is gorgeous: lush and dense and packed with all of the creatures you’d want to see. A magical end to a magical day.

AT NIGHT IN THE RAINFOREST HOTEL.

The next day we had been invited to the very opulent Serena Kampala Hotel to sample their spa and Sunday brunch. After a tour that showed us just why this hotel is said to be the best in the city (with its bar that stays open until the last guest is ready to leave, U shaped bedroom suites, a pool that’s straight out of a tropical holiday brochure and the biggest and best gym/dance studio I’ve ever seen in any hotel globally), I enjoyed a deep tissue massage. The spa is a lush Moroccan themed oasis that’s tranquil and up to date with the latest treatments, which are sold, at extremely reasonable rates. Each spa room is named after a flower like lavender, lilac, mimosa, rose. I was led to my private room aptly named jasmine. My masseuse Hanifa, really had the strongest most inquisitive hands I’d ever experienced. The heated pillow was out of this world too. Every single muscle in my body was given its due and proper attention leaving me a blissful, jellylike splodge on the heated massage table at the end.

JASMINE WITH HER FRIEND JODIE, POOLSIDE AT THE SERENA KAMPALA HOTEL.

The brunch was as decadent as its surroundings with fresh cuts of lamb, fish, beef, a turkey roast and the most delicately, tender spiced minute steak. Brunch was accompanied by a band, which performed soothing African covers and made the whole experience just perfect. Guests seemed a mix of high-end families, movers and shakers as well as businessmen and loved up couples. The classic location for a vacation or business!. For now, Uganda remains a best kept secret for western vacationers. But I predict, not for much longer!

SHAKKA PERFORMING AT THE TABERNACLE.

I was invited by ThisIsWired in partnership with Raymond Weil, to new up and coming music act SHAKKAs – The Tribe EP Launch at West London’s The Tabernacle,
You can tell when an act will be huge by the potential number of music industry heads that turn out to witness their talent early on. This one shows that Shakka is very much in demand with A&R’s representing from Island, Atlantic, EMI, Universal Publishing and Eagle I Publishing.

SHAKKA KEPT HIS AUDIENCE ENRAPTURED AT HIS EP LAUNCH!

Having recently released his debut single Sooner Or Later, a serendipitous ode to his own ascension as an artist, Shakka is ready to release his first official body of work as he steps out to headline the launch of his EP. Past collaborations include Wretch 32, Basement Jaxx, Angel and Tanya Lacey so we expected some special guest appearances on the night. The high-impact, multi-talented McNasty (as seen on this year’s BGT) provided main support on the night, and Kiss FM’s DJ Melvin played throughout the night too!

Artists representing in the venue for Shakka were Wretch 32, Daley, Angel, Basement Jaxx and Kelly Le Roc (who looked stunning in a figure hugging dress and heels…). It was a hot Friday night and the venue was buzzing. On arrival, people were eating and drinking in the courtyard as well as the packed bar. The gig kicked off at 9pm to a sold out audience. A solo drummer graced the stage as he gave us his rendition of some of the hottest tracks right now. Shakka, who entered the stage to rapturous applause, swiftly followed this. The crowd was mainly 20 something and very hip… an eclectic mix of hipsters and the ladies were out in force! The eclectic crowd greeted the dapperly dressed Shakka who wore a bright orange blazer and jeans. “Go Lady” was the first track and the crowd –impressively-knew all the words! Actually they knew the words to every song. He has a strong fan base who hang on to his every word.
Another track, ‘On This Thing’ – was a definite anthem with the crowd merrily singing along. ‘Take our time’ is a slower, which saw the ladies swooning. But then the guys were also catered to when Shakka performed ‘Strength of an Ox’. During his set, the ever-humble Shakka thanked the crowd and told us he was so amazed that they have sold out and to be in his own neighbourhood made it very special for the whole audience. Just as the night felt like it couldn’t get any better…enter chart topper Wretch32 – the crowd went wild as Wretch and Shakka hugged and began to perform their chart-topping duet ‘Black Out’.
Shakka’s next single to be released from the EP is ‘Spin’ which already has early support and has been spot played every day this week on Radio 1. The TEAMUK unity is still going strong, and long may it live on!

LADIES TALK, JASMINE WITH HER FELLOW PANELISTS; JACQI JOSEPH, JACKIE MICHAEL AND LISA BENT, LISTS JAQCI JOSEPH, JAC, HOST ANGIE LE MAR AND GUEST RICHARD BLACKWOOD!

The all female star line up hosted by Angie Le Mar called Ladies Talk is back for another series!
Ladies talk series 2 is back on Vox Africa on SKY 218. Originally with a panel of 5 ladies including myself, this series see the panel open up and more pre-recorded tips by each panelist.
As well as being broadcast in the UK, it also transmits in another 20 English speaking and 20 French speaking countries across the globe including Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzinia, Kenya Nigeria, Sierra Leone ,Zimbabwe, Benin, Lesotho and Gambia. (So I might not be a star here, but I may be in Uganda).

Its not just the front of camera line uo that work hard to put shows like this on air. The key, powerful influencers and decision makers like Rodney Borde-Kuofie, MD Vox Africa TV Network helps. He explained his support of Ladies Talk. ‘’After the success of Season 1, LT returns bigger and better with a new set, more great guests, fantastic new additions to the studio panel as well as young roving reporter, Remel London engaging the public on the streets of London. Season 2 also features other new elements such as Men’s Talk. The introduction of Men Talk will appeal to men, who will see their perspective incorporated into a unique womens show that now aims to appeal to a broader audience. Like season 1, season 2 is a first on UK television. Where the UK BME community can be heard and seen giving it’s opinion on mainstream news, current affairs and entertainment, as well as looking at items that have a particular resonance with our audience’’.

Producer and star of the show, writer, actor and director Angie le mar added ‘’ Ladies Talk is back bigger and better, we’ve all worked hard on the show, and have been truly committed to creating a platform that we can be proud of, a show that our audience look forward to seeing, and guests enjoy being a part of. This year we have comeback a lot slicker, we have also introduced a few sections, a roving reporter and a special section for men, ‘Men’s Talk’ so no one is left out.”

The first show in the new series saw June Sarpong return to UK TV to tell us about her new endeavors and share her thoughts on Nelson Mandala. ‘” It’s not often you are in the presence of greatness, we throw that word around, other people are good… Nelson Mandela is great- HE EVEN COMMENTED ON MY SHOES!”’’.
The second show saw an interview with gang member turned author Robyn Travis who has a book published about his stories and what he learnt from life on the road. We also spoke to actor and presenter Richard Blackwood who is still working in the west end in theatre and starting to write his one man show which he will bring to the public in early 2014. Richard also shared his reasons for being an ambassador for prostrate cancer awareness. By a strange timing of fate he revealed that when the charity asked him to help spread the word about testicular cancer as its highest amongst black men, his dear mother had only just recently also been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. In a strong but heart breaking tale Richard shared his experiences on having been tested for it live on terrestrial TV and more. If you want to catch the whole show where we also discusses our usual array of topics-which this week included ‘’why aren’t black men and women getting married?’’ ‘‘Does your name define you’’ and more stay tuned!

JAS AND ALEX GRAN A SUSHI LUNCH.
Had an extended sushi lunch with African businessman and entrepreneur of all things blingtastic and fab- Alexander Amosu. Alex won’t touch it if it doesn’t sound mister big Willie style. He started off, twenty years ago, by inventing the R&B ringtone mobile phone company. Then went to spend his millions on making gold plated IPads, macs and cell phones as well as the most expensive suit in the world made with real gold threads, all sold in Harrods. He’s got the midas touch- everything he touches really does turn to gold! Then he appeared on African Nigerian version of Dragons Den as a judge, next he bought the African rights to the Sunseeker Yacht business, as well as starting a joint venture with Warner Music to bring in African music acts from the African continent and now is looking to add more to that impressive list, but I am forced to secrecy until his permission to disclose.

JASMINE WITH SINGER TERRI WALKER AND MISHA B’S MANAGER CHARLENE GRANT.
Had an evening out with my mate, singer Terri Walker. I invited her to join me at the Urban Development showcase night at Cargo in East London, where young music hopefuls were performing their work. Urban collective are an organization that stand at the crossroads where new underground talent meets the music industry. Across their 13-year-old history, artists they’ve helped and worked with are now household names. Amongst the funders and ambassadors for the evening we also hung out with Misha B’s manager Charlene Grant.
Founded in 2007 by Labrinth, his sister ShezAr and led by Shola Ama, more recently the Urban Development Vocal Collective (UDVC) have performed for the BBC Radio 1 Hackney Weekend. Over the last four years the UD Vocal Collective has provided vocals for Wretch 32, Bashy and Omar and performed at festivals such as Rise, Paradise Gardens and Lovebox as well as Urban Development’s flagship events Re:Definition and Industry Takeover. Honing song writing and vocal skills, the UD Vocal Collective project develops industry knowledge and creates shows that raise the bar for live performance.
On arrival we were welcomed by UD boss Pamela McCormick, who introduced us to her guests, and told us a little about the evening. The young performers didn’t disappoint, in fact they were bold, confident and very vocally gifted. They performed their own written material, much of which I could quite easily see charting. They were professional and after a mini showcase to VIP guests, they performed a longer live show on the main stage to a very enthusiastic audience.
Speaking to some of the young music acts I was told ‘’UDVC is a group of inspiration. It’s a collective of voices that come together and create things that are unique and fill a room when you hear them. There isn’t anything or anyone similar to UDVC, which makes us really unique. When you’re around everyone else and on a high from the music, you can bounce of each other, which creates an incredible vibe whether rehearsing, performing or creating new songs.”
Another young vocalist told us ‘‘we come together once a week for three hours in the evening. If we’ve had a performance in the last week, we’d look back on it and evaluate it. What we thought went well, what could be improved etc. If not, we write songs as a collective and practice effective vocal warm up and techniques. We also have workshops with artists who come in and help us. In the past year, we’ve performed at a lot of corporate events and in 2012 we were invited to perform for the Deputy Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street. Performing at BBC Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend and opening the entire festival was probably one of my and the groups highlights. It’s most certainly one of, if not the biggest thing we’ve ever done. We’ve collaborated with a number of artists including Jay Norton, Maverick Sabre, Devlin & Wretch 32.” Now I’m hoping that Terri will get involved and help mentor urban developments talented youth. No pressure Terri. Just do it.

JASMINE WITH STYLIST TO THE STARS -RICHARD SHOYEMI
Finally I caught up with stylist to the stars Richard Shoyemi. I first noticed Richard years ago at social parties where id be thinking ‘’who is that big, very flamboyant man??’’ finally I was informed he was a new stylist on the scene and was working with a number of music acts.
Richard is now a staple on London’s flossy circuit where he can be seen in many music stars entourage backstage at TV and radio studios, model shoots for vogue and more. I wanted to share his very inspiring story with you all as I know there are numerous budding fashionistas amongst my readers.

He grew up in the areas of Shoreditch, Hoxton, Hackney. As a child he attended youth club where they did fashion workshops where they would be taught to make basic fashion. He used to live in Adidas tracksuits as he was influenced my Missy Elliott’s line. His dress sense has since become extremely flamboyant and fabulous. Even on the hot summers day that he meets rapper Eve and myself for lunch, he claims he is ‘’understated’’ in black trilby, black leather and studs. (Once at a D&G party I saw him in an Asian sari, drummer hat and metallic gold booty shorts with guests like Solange and Queen Latifah all asking ‘’who’s that?!).
As a teenager Richard impressed, went to London College of fashion at aged 16 and entered a competition, won and consequently went onto GMTV. He wanted to get his fashion designs out more, and thought he might be able to get his brand out easier if he styled. Next thing he networks for all he’s worth and Sony Music called him to style for a group called ‘Big Bruvas’ ,and ever since then the rest is history. He now dresses American acts like Nicki Minaj, Macy Gray, Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell and Eve as well as British acts like Alesha Dixon, Sabrina Washington, Preeya Kalidas, Shystie and more.
He’s had loads of great moments where his acts have looked just drop dead stunning on red carpets and beyond, but I wanted to know the horror stories.
His worst moment he can recall to date involved Nicki Minaj- WHO HE ABSOLUTELY ADORES SO WAS MORTIFIED AT THIS MOMENT. He was meant to travel to Australia with her but asked for the 24-hour flight to be upgraded. Richard recalled ‘’there’s no way I could do a 24 hour flight in economy-look how big I am!, the record label couldnt foot the bill so after agreeing it with Nicki, I sent my assistant which they were happy with. Unbelievably, my assistant missed her flight and so all shit hit the fan. I knew Nicki wouldn’t be happy and I felt awful. However Nicki understood that I should’ve had a better flight. Finally she agreed I could style her via skype so that’s how we worked it on the night. It went on for a week. That was hard but we are both professionals and I had to make it work’’
Richard says ‘’people have a perception of me which I often try to unsteady, to me my fashion is effortless but to others looks very put together’’
You have to see Richards home to appreciate his fashion extends well beyond his clothes. His furniture is breath taking. Stand out looks include a Swarovski table, which he put together with gold specks and a huge black mannequin covered in blinging gold jewelry. So its not surprising that he is currently in talks to do business with some major Bollywood people for which he is traveling to Mumbai very soon. Go forth and make the world more opulent Richard. May the force of Anna Wintour be with you!

JASMINE WITH EVE AT THEIR ALFRESCO LUNCH 2013!
Every big rap clique these days has their token 1st lady. Whether its So Solids Lisa Maffia or Cash Money’s Nicki Minaj. Back in the day Foxy Brown was aligned with Jay Z and Rah Digga with Busta. Some ladies fell off, and lets be real, others weren’t as sharp as their male counter parts or couldn’t take the pace. Ruff Ryders were a force to be reckoned with as honcho DMX blew up charts, cars and clubs with his hard hitting hits. His 1st lady Eve, was just as strong with her songs like ‘who’s that girl’, ‘let me blow your mind’ and ‘gangsta loving’’. Like many she had her fame early, fast and furious. After taking a decades break she’s flown back onto the scene this year with her new album ‘Liplock’’. Eve invited me to catch up, and so I took her for an al fresco lunch in Ladbroke grove.

JASMINE AND EVE 10 YEARS AGO MAKING AN EPK FOR UNIVERSAL MUSIC!

After welcoming her back, I reminded her that the last time we had been together ,was when we made her EPK for Universal 10 years ago. We laughed at the memories.
It’s been sooo long since we’ve had a female MC return to the scene with no gimmicks-just flow. Eve explained that ‘‘my TV show took up 4 years of my life so had a break from music. A few Years back I had a whole album ready to go with my single ‘’tambourine’’ but it got shelved’’ by my then record label and then it took me a few years to get free from the record label, which was mentally exhausting. I did my own thing for a while and even put out a dub step record with Benga-I kept it moving’’

This time around it must feel like being a new act coming back to a totally revived, switched up scene. She agreed ‘’Yes there was no big social media when I first came out. I forget to instagram cos I’m always in the moment. My fans get mad with me cos I don’t tweet enough, I have to remind myself to do it, if I had the choice I wouldn’t do it, I prefer to stay private. I’m excited though, everything’s different and new and it’s exciting! I’m exploring again. No one could’ve predicted the growth of the hip-hop monster’’.

We laughed about our memories of her one time boss DMX and his obsession with remote control toys and eccentricities. I explained to Eve that Wiley was a similarly eccentric but genius UK character, . Eve admitted she doesn’t talk or even see DMX anymore. ‘’We did shows last year but this solo album had to me just me. I will always be ruff ryders for life but this had to be my journey’’

Eve has put out her new music on her own label ‘’From the rib’’ which I guessed must be a gift and a curse? ‘‘Yes of course, I grew up on a major label, there are pro’s and con’s. What’s better on a label is that u have a machine that are pushing constantly for the song and video, when you’re solo your teams reach is smaller so that’s a risk and a frustration. I am very lucky with my teams right now and I’ll keep working my ass off’’. Impressively Eve is a fierce rapper not afraid to make a few musical left turns. Her new music highlights sounds as diverse as west coast bangers, afrobeats and dance music. She jumps ‘’now that I’m staying here in the UK I wanna work with more British acts and producers, I really need to do my homework on who’s hot’’. I told her Wiley and Naughty Boy should most definitely be on her research list.
With her new album Liplock, Eve has collaborated with a few old skool names. ‘‘My only preconceived notion before making the album was a mix of my past and present, I listen to hip-hop, afro, dance and you can see that on this album. My Missy, Snoop and Swiss collabs came out of friendships. Also with Game, I know him personally, and knew he’d be down with the record. The remix to ‘’Bad bad’’ used Pusha T on the remix , and is dope, Dawn Richards I didn’t really know but my PR dude made me love her and so I went with that ,but there are some newer acts from the new generation that are still wary of working with me as they don’t know if I’m going to be big again and that’s cool too’’.
Eve has also mentioned that she’d love to work with Andre 3000 and Lauryn Hill but with all Lauryn’s tax and money drama’s I assume this wont be happening any time soon. Eve shrugs ‘’money problems happen to all of us, it happened to me, you gotta watch the people that’s watching your money, artists do need to have this education early on in their career. I learnt to attend the board meetings, I used to hate them and be bored, now I go over every bit of paperwork they send me. Even though I trust my teams now, I always go over all my paperwork’’

However, we also discussed how business and fame dramas don’t just affect long-term legends; even newbies to the game get caught up, hello Justin Bieber! ‘‘He’s young, 19 and smoking some weed, that’s what he should be doing, he’s a kid’’ Eve laughed adding ‘’don’t do drugs kids!’’ but on a serious note Eve does think that one hit wonders on the internet can be a lazy way of making it to the top ‘’ There are so many more 1 hit wonders today than there ever were back then due to internet YouTube stars, in my day you had to do the hard slog, tour, gain respect, do the underground/street kind of thing, young artists miss out on their coming up here’’

EVE AT HER 1ST EVER GUMBALL RALLY WHERE SHE MET HER NOW PARTNER-GUMBALL BOSS!
Eve now lives in the UK with her boyfriend who runs the infamous Gumball Car Rally. Comparing life in the UK vs USA? ‘’I still feel like a tourist in the UK and see something new daily. In the USA people recognize me easier so its not as easy for me to disappear. I know my American peeps are wrong about British food, the food is here if you know where to find it. The Sunday roasts and sticky toffee pudding is to die for!. I don’t cook myself though, I can do breakfast, my boyfriend gets excited when I finally get in the kitchen lol’’

Going into detail about her she got together with her English gent and issues with cross culture relationships she revealed ‘’Puma had asked me to do Gumball, I met my guy there, I’m all about experiences. With me and my guy it wasn’t planned, I was trying not to be in a relationship, Gumball was my way of escaping my last relationship. He and I met on the rd carpet, the rest of that week we were like ‘’hi’’. When we first got together it was like weird, id never dated a white guy, he had never dated black, we would just stare at each other. Now we’re planning a vacation for me and his 4 kids. The vibe between us is perfect; the problems only come from other ignorant people who are insecure. But I think I’m opening up conversations in the states about positive interracial dating. I thought cos he runs gumball he would be a player but he is such a committed family man, I need that stability. It’s a nice dynamic. I don’t believe in soul mates. I just go with feelings and emotions. He’s my go-to person, best friend and homie. My test for couples? if you can drive for hours together on a road trip and assemble Ikea furniture with no drama, then you’re good!

JASMINE WITH EVE AND STYLIST TO THE STARS RICHARD SHOYEMI!
On that good note, we both looked up to find stylist to the stars Richard Shoyemi waiting for us with fresh raw fruit juices. Richard himself is a London based young black man really making moves with his very high profile clientele. I’ll be telling you all about him- next week!

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