Back in February 2018, Shy FX hosted the cult.ure event debut. The four-part event was jam-packed full of big names and special guests ready to bring a night of madness. Enlisting the help of music scene heavyweights, Mike Skinner, Andy C, Octavian, Benji B and loads more the first time around, Shy FX was ready to bring the event back for series 0218.
Part two of the cult.ure series is set to take place on four consecutive Thursday nights throughout November. With Idris Elba, DJ Target and Sir Spyro amongst the guests who took to the cult.ure stage alongside Shy FX in week one, it gave ticket holders a taste of what to expect in following weeks.
Held in the intimate hub of London Bridges’ OMEARA, the free event was only accessible through a guest list sign up, which was completely sold out ahead of the nights’ event. With doors opening at 10pm ready for an 11pm sharp start, the crowd snaked down the road whispering and debating on which huge names Shy FX would be spoiling them with that evening.
With the venue full and bursting, the first special guests of the evening took to the stage. The reggae collective known as Reggae Roast have been apart of the music scene for over 10 years, including regular nights at Fabric. Gracing the crowd with their vibrant set full of positive vibes and a message of their roots, the collective brought the freshest mix of Reggae, Dancehall and Dubstep to the cult.ure stage.
One guest into the evening and already the name of the event felt extremely fitting. As Shy FX took you through a blend of genres that helped create his and in turn which he has helped further push. Taking it upon himself to show you the true meaning of culture and the journey of his success. Starting with Reggae Roast before moving onto guest two of the evening, Wookie.
Reggae Roast brought a sense of jungle history to the stage, Wookie followed this by bringing an element of Garage classics and heavy bass-lines. Chucking in huge garage anthems such as Sia’s “Little Man (Exemen Remix)” and M-Dubs & Lady Saw’s “Bump ‘N’ Grind” he had the crowd moving with his seamless transitions. Dropping tracks like More Fire Crew’s “Oi!” gave the unknowing crowd a taster of what genres the stage was yet to bring them.
As midnight quickly rolled around, Shy FX took centre stage followed by his hype man who proclaimed “We’re here to specialise in that bass line” and he wasn’t wrong. Opening his set with his self-produced track “Call Me”, the walls of the venue quivered as the packed out space jumped simultaneously. If you found yourself stood still for a second, you would’ve felt the floor shaking beneath, vibrating all the way through you. Although, amongst all the moving the chance to have both feet on the ground to experience this was rare. “Welcome to cult.ure, we will never let you down” and the venues hype man was right. With the guests that the crowd had earlier witnessed that evening, Shy FX had already pulled it out of the bag.
Back in January 2017, Lily Allen posted a picture of herself joined by Shy FX, sparking rumours of a collaboration. Now confirmed, he span the fans an exclusive of the track. “Roll The Dice” featuring both Stamina MC and Lily Allen had the reaction of an already made classic. With its catchy hook of “and if things go nicely, we could be in love” and its heavy beats, the hype man declared “it’s nasty, it’s nasty” as the audience exchanged whats only describable as ‘bass faces’ throughout.
Hands reached up to the ceilings as Shy FX dropped the opening beats to the track that started it all, his breakthrough masterpiece, “Orignal Nuttah”. Teasing the crowd, the London DJ wheeled up the track three times before performing the track in its entirety. It’s no surprise that it was this tune that got the biggest reaction of the night. The same track that was the first Jungle track to have a place within the UK’s top 40 at the time of its release.
Almost three hours after the doors of OMEARA opened to the public, the night still felt young. Teasing on what madness was still to come, Shy FX lifted the lights to see the faces of the fans before exiting the stage. On stepped the next guest, Rude Kid.
Known as an icon in the grime and rap scene, Rude Kid didn’t let us down. Starting his set with a stream of urban shellers including Lethal Bizzle’s “Pow”, Solo 45’s “Feed Em To The Lions”, JME’s “Man Don’t Care” and Kano’s “3 Wheel Up’s”. Whilst wondering how the grime producer was going to be able to top such an epic set opener, out walks Shy FX’s fourth guest of the evening, Ghetts.
The Newham rapper, got straight into it, spitting bars over Rude Kid’s beats. Chopping and changing between tracks seamlessly the grime MC’s flow couldn’t be faulted. Just weeks after dropping his highly acclaimed ‘Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament’ project, Ghetts is owning the grime scene right now, and stood centre stage with fans spitting his lyrics back, the BET nominee knew it.
Just when the crowd thought the night was coming to a close, Ghetts stepped aside to let through a true veteran from the scene. Screams of “Bluku Bluku” filled the venue and D Double E took to the mic.
Shelling through his older classics amongst his newer tracks, D Double E had the crowds fullest attention. Unafraid to keep his set raw and basic, D Double went in hard, displaying his high-end lyrical flow to each individual in the venue. With gun fingers in the air, the crowd tried to keep up with D Doubles pace as he spat his “Street Fighter Riddim”.
Shy FX’s cult.ure has come to be a night like no other. Bringing in a crowd blind to the evenings events before taking them on a journey of his music’s genre influences. The crowd put their faith into the producer, expecting the unexpected, to see things that they wouldn’t usually see and that’s exactly what the household jungle veteran did. Bringing in all walks of life, spanning across all ages with one goal, a display of incredible underground music.
After years of bringing us the drum and bass beats that soundtrack our summers, Shy FX has learnt a thing or two about putting on a show and his cult.ure event proves this to a standard you wouldn’t believe. If you’re not one of the lucky few who managed to get their names on the guest list for cult.ure series 0218 then you better hope that the London star has a series three in mind.