Dante Smith, the brilliant rapper that is Mos Def was in town last week to showcase some tracks from his forthcoming album The Ecstatic and run through a selection of his greatest hits. Playing two sold-out shows at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire and Islington Academy, Mos worked his knowledgeable crowd in to a frenzy with classic cuts like Umi Says, Ms Fat Booty and Sex, Love and Money. Despite coming on stage at approx. 10.30pm on a Sunday night, Mos gave a solid performance in front of an audience that was clearly in awe of the talented Brooklynite. After the poorly-received The New Danger and True Magic Mos appears to have returned to form as one of the finest and most credible MCs in the game. Support was ably provided by London's own Pyrelli and Swedish-American hip-hop group OneSelf.
On another note, today I had the pleasure of interviewing an unusual rising star in the shape of British saxophonist YolanDa Brown. Brown is different because not only is she a black female instrumentalist in a male-dominated genre but she's also highly-educated. The 25 year old musician is studying for a PhD as well as regularly performing on the tour circuit and working on her debut album. Check out http://www.sylviaarthur.co.uk/ for more info on this woman to watch.
Until next week...
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