Visual Art and Music need Each other

I got off the 75 and headed into a night that was full of surprises. When walking into this venue in Lewisham. That as a Lewisham native I had never been to, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew most of the acts performing like N4T and Ceebo. But what I didn’t know was these acts were no longer small budding artists within the scene that no-one really knew about. So much had changed.

I took a seat near the back and began observing what was happening. People interacting , being social. DJXHNWAV was playing and his sets always make me feel excited. He knows how to blend genres in such a satisfying way. He knows how to mix the old drill songs with current underground classics. Bringing two audiences that are discussed as if they're against each other together. Next we had BADBITCHMUSIC (BBM). They peformed a series of songs from their mixtape and some unreleased. One of which XTIANA had teased on her social platforms, featuring the lines ‘if he was selling it I wouldn’t pay £1.50’. When both come on stage they know how to electrify it. Their energy is contagious and you begin to see more and more people crowd their set. At this point it is more early in the night. Knowing London people’s timing despite an event beginning at 7 the majority of people will turn up at 9. I begin to move closer to the stage as I hear the beginning of my personal faviroute Angel Investor. The song is fun and cheeky and was my opening to their music as a group. KEL4R's, 'make a party bitch wetter and wetter' line always makes me laugh everytime I hear it. They're set ends with a chant ‘North, East, South, West baddies where? Baddies everywhere’. A chant that is catchy, and one that reminds me of the MC's that Black Brits tend to have at our parties. Those MC's play a crucial role in controlling and engaging the crowd throughout the night ensuring everyone on the dance floor is having a good time. Even us as young people, we're sustaining that culture within these spaces.

I then went outside to take a breather because the space was beginning to get full. But outside was packed out too! What I really enjoyed about the night was how it was set up to be social. Despite London being in its raining season, transitioning from winter to spring the outside area was made fit for people to interact outside. Some seemed to have known each other for a while and some where meeting people for the first time. This was a chance for people who may be fans of the artist performing to meet them and have a conversation with them. The stage was at the back. You could then transition to where pizza was served and see an old out of tune piano, a table football and wet benches. I walked back in after ROME & Floetic’s set and heard an artist that I hadn't heard before. SSULE, his voice was deep and his melodies contrasted the heavy bass and eclectic rap music we had been hearing for the last two hours. This positing to me provided a way to showcase the range and complexities of black music. The music he sang wasn’t only in English. But language isn’t a barrier to feeling music. 

N4T began with songs from his most recent project ‘GHANAMUSTGO’. The crowd immediately was engaged. A natural performer. But later he ushered in Lewisham Native’s Chef Bkay and Ciel. When 6 figures opened everyone’s hands flew in the air. Likewise with Ciel and his song Everybody Know. The audience began screaming 'reload it' like 30 seconds in. This song showcases so much of what Lewisham is. Lewisham is a borough where 50% of its residents are of afro-carribean descent. That makes it one of blackest borough in London. Both these artists have this background. So it made me extremely proud to be from London and for it to be performed in Lewisham too. South London music has a legacy of blending genres old and new. With these artists proud to be from Lewisham it made me excited for the future. Likewise during Ceebo’s set he paid homage to Novelist Lewisham rapper, using the Always been like dis riddim, whilst rapping Always. A song that reinterpates an old drill song. Being from Lambeth paying Homage to a Lewisham rapper felt like south london heritage.  Ceebo incorporates drill within his set further, by rapping teddy bruck by Loski at the end of Jook. As I said earlier, drill fans and underground fan’s online are depicted as against eeachother. Mainly due to the differences in which they present visually. However, drill was once an underground genre that young people clung onto. The implantation of this showcases how intertwined these two genres are culturally for black people. 

At this point in the night I was fully charged up. This night to me highlighted one more thing. The classics that have emerged from the music that has come out over the last few years. In an industry that moves so fast songs can get lost. But song’s like Waxxon by Ciel. A song that came out almost two years ago still get’s the same excitement as it did the first time I saw it live two years ago. Likewise for TRGOBRAZY’s song Handbag. A song that is new but gets everyone excited. Everything feels present.

Rapper Scorcher said Grime music was in a rebirth. To me it reads as a genre that never really died but just needed to be re-ignited. The night ended with a Grime cypher featuring rappers like Twenty8 and Pozzy. In a time of nostalgia it was interesting for me to watch young people who grew up on the back end of Grime’s golden age become so excited listening to the music. Rappers who are in the early twenties are so aware of their history. Grime music wasn’t birthed in Lewisham but here we are right by the fire station screaming at every bar.

At Jennie Baptise solo exhibition at Sommerhouse her photographs perfectly documented artist navigating their landscapes. Baptise’s role was to showcase how Hip-Hop, Dancehall and R&B were social languages shaping everyday culture within Britain. I see PtrckJsr in a similar way. Through this day that also acted as a fundraiser for Lewisham music and their visual work they aid in documenting this changing culture. To me his work showcases how each artistic medium need each other to work and to function. The visuals bring music to life beyond live performance. It preserves and reminds us of where we were. Seeing him float around the room and get on stage with these artist’s showed me how music needs us all to love it. Especially to keep on surviving in such a politically and socially tense world. A world that was addressed through ‘Fuck Kier Starmer’ said by the man himself.