For anyone who missed it (unlucky g), Red Bull’s Culture Clash took down the O2 yesterday. The crowd expected a hype, for sure, but what they got on top of that was a barrel of unexpected madness, courtesy of Eskimo Dance, UKG All Stars, Taylor Gang and Mixpak. Mixpak won it – but the fun wasn’t all in the competition, not even half. The euphoria felt by the thousands that filled the stadium came in those “Oh my days did they just…” moments that perpetuated the night.
Here, we break down for you seven of the very best.
How the hell did they find Ice Kid?
In what was undoubtedly the most insane occurrence of the evening, Taylor Gang managed to find Ice Kid! Despite initial thoughts of it being a hologram, the West London ghost graced the stage with Wiz Khalifa. Chip’s face perfectly summed up what everyone in the crowd, and at home, thought, seeing his previous sidekick rise from the ashes. Ice Kid sprayed and left a number of bodies on deck in his brief appearance, but does this signal a possible comeback from Wiley’s former protege? We’ll have to wait and see.
J Hus makes an epic comeback
Who would’ve known? After taking a hiatus from releasing muaic, J Hus returned to shut down the O2 Arena with Mixpak. In a night of surprises, the Ugly One lit up the place with “Dem Boy Paigon”, pumping up the energy levels as the surprise act in the ‘Sleeping With The Enemy’ round. Welcome back J Hus, we wait in anticipation for the next batch of bangers.
Sneakbo shows them the wave
Sneaky came hard with his unexpected appearance on Mixpak’s set. Clad in all-white, Bo Bo dropped his classic “Sneakbo, lemme show you the wave” Brikky flow, and it went off appropriately . There is something about Sneakbo that gets a crowd moving, perhaps one reason why he’s been snapped up by Virgin Records.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGzOZwLiC34/?taken-by=grmdaily
The Mad Dubplates – Drake Dubplate, Ed Sheeran, Adele Dubplate
Within an event that celebrated urban music, dubs over classic grime instrumentals were to be expected. However, starting with the soft melodies of Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” during Eskimo Dance’s set, the crowd got four dubplates nobody could have expected. Following the Ed Sheeran dub, Eskimo Dance dropped a, wait for it, Adele dub. Word on the street is that the Ed Sheeran dub was certified official, but not the Adele one. Perhaps even Wiley doesn’t have the star power to bring Adele to a rave. Soon after, UKG dropped a Justin Bieber “Where Are U Now” refix that got the standing section moving crazy. JB didn’t feature on the vocal though – the credit for that goes to Connor Maynard (basically a straight swap?), who dropped bars so aggressive he may have just ripped his pretty boy image to shreds. The game, set, match-winning moment was when Mixpak drew for a “One Dance” dubplate courtesy of the one and only Drizzy Drake, though. Drake dub = clash over.
Danny Dyer took to the stage?!?!
It wasn’t just the dubplates which were popping off last night, the teams also had some sick intros. One of the most unexpected was Danny Dyer’s for UKG, sent straight from the Queen Vic. Danny had the whole crowd creasing as he reminded us that UKG are “proper proper double naughty,” and took shots at the other teams – apart from Mixpak who he’d “never heard of” – comparing Wiley to Ian Beale.
Big Narstie and his wig
Okay, so Big Narstie appearing at Culture Clash isn’t that much of a surprise, but coming out with Mixpak was. Adding to the excitement was the BDL general bowling through with a huge wig of dreadlocks, leading the crowd to go mental. Some may say it was a snaky move, but it did make sense. However, everyone would be in agreement that it added to the clash culture.
Big Tobz
Coming through with Mixpak, Big Tobz caused a stir in the scene, performing a “Uno My Style” dub. Twitter seemed to be a little confused at the Walthamstow rapper “switching sides” [not doing a dub for a UK team]. Tobz took his reasoning back to Twitter, tweeting that UK teams didn’t reach out but Mixpak did. Can’t get much fairer than that. It’s all love Tobz!
https://twitter.com/BigTobzsf/status/743931586492633088
Amber Rose dropping bombs for Wiz and Taylor Gang
Considering they divorced back in 2014, nobody expected Wiz’ ex Amber to take to the stage to chat shit for his side. She simply told the teams to suck her dick, while she wished a slightly more brutal punishment on Wiley…
Words – Jaik Bramley-Fenton, Sam Ripman and Marisa Lee