Cargo’s nightspot saw ILUVLIVE pay its respects to home-grown urban talent and as usual, the live show didn’t disappoint.
With a host of acts ready to kill the stage, regular hosts Ras Kwame and Twin B, got straight into introducing the first act of the night, Charlie Brown. This south Londoner showed off his charismatic nature while giving the crowd a taste of his soulful melodies. He is definitely one to watch in 2009.
Ava Leigh, another act who is clearly heavily influence by old school reggae music, pleasantly surprised the crowd with a dazzling reggae style tone to her voice. Ava’s debut single, “La La La” had people closing their eyes, singing, and feeling her reggae vibe through every song she donned.
Crazy Cousinz energy was on point, they came to ILUVLIVE to make the crowd dance and that’s exactly what they did. The funky house performers had fans ‘bubbling bubbling,’ and doing the 1-2- step on the dance floor to their club smash, “Bongos”. There is no question that Crazy Cousinz have some of the most infectious tunes in the club scene at the moment, and the crowd loved their performance.
However, the most energetic performance of the night, hands down, went to Ghetts. He ripped through the stage with his debut single, “Sing 4 me”, and actually made the ladies sing as a result. Ghetts is definitely a crowd pleaser, and his flow was unstoppable especially when he performed, “Got your number” with Griminal (MC).
The female act to steal the show was MPHO. This lady was singing soulful, rapping heavy and even offered some MC-ing, over anything from pop electric beats to hip hop. It’s safe to say that this lady will not be shoved into one musical box, and more power to her. You have to look out for MPHO’s single, ‘Screw face girl’ – the single is very entertaining, and speaks for itself.
The headlining act was one of UK’s finest – Sway. He gave a very personal performance with an unreleased track, “Happy New Year,” detailing the ups and downs of 2008. Sway also paid tribute to his close friend, Kaya Bousquet who tragically died in a car crash last year. The crowd attentively listen to his heart felt lyrics, while clearly still appreciating his musical talent.
But it wasn’t all serious for Sway, he did make jokes with the crowd and performed his radio hit, “F your EX.’ Unfortunately, Shystie wasn’t there to perform the track with him, but Sway did invite his new signing, Rapture, to the stage to show off his skills.
As live events go, ILUVLIVE offers up and coming urban music at its best in the UK. It also offers an open mic session to the talent in the crowd. So if you love urban music, you’re going to love ILUVLIVE. Make sure you catch the next show at Favela Chic on the 6th April.
(Image: Mercy James: bossips)
