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Now I have to congratulate the Dedbeat staff here, the speed in which we went through, checked in, got our key and then managed to get lost was superb! Furthermore is a requirement for all Dedbeat female staff to be utterly stunning!? Well this seemed the case as I looked for questions but could find none, as all information was helpful and informative. However I will say the Pontins Map leaves a lot to be desired. Once the chalet was found (next door neighbours to Brand Nubian!) we went out on bearing finding wander. What struck me first was that there was Hip Hop everywhere and I mean everywhere. There was also the best community spirit I think I have ever seen, anyone who accuses Hip Hop of being all guns and trouble should go to Dedbeat. Infact, in the whole time I was there I saw absolutely no fight at all, not even an argument. Never before has "its all love" actually ment so much!
Saturday morning started off with a siren ringing out throughout the whole campus! Now I don't know if this was Mr Mapplin warning us of the impending day or if this was just a warning that Pitman had just checked in! None the less if anyone knows what it was all about please do email me! Ok, now Saturday, check this for a line-up … Gamma, then J Zone, then Pitman, then Finga Thing, then Earl Zinger, then Bran Nubian, then Blackalicious, then Peanut Butter Wolf then Egon, trust me you need a big carryout by your feet and a big ass nappy so you don't miss a moment! Gamma where
What can I say about Finga Thing, superb … Brand Nubian? What do you expect, the place was torn apart by their arrival and the Nubians never disappointed! They went through renditions of their hits as the crowd began to tire, holding everyone up like constipated dominoes. It may also be worth noting that the amount of, how should I say … Cabbage smoke … was flooding the air (drifting would not be a strong enough word), I would like to thank and congratulate the Pontins staff for not picking up on this, this led to a peaceful and fun loving weekend with absolutely no trouble, so put that in your pipe and erm, smoke it! - Riz
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article 0067 added 02.03.03 words
Riz
After the disappointment of Dedbeat being moved, the cancellation of Elements in London and the general piss poor attempts by people to put on events, Dedbeat rose head and shoulders above the rest and clearly wrote its name in UK Hip Hop history, lets just hope its just the beginning. I was in a drunken attendance alongside Mr Dallas with UKHH.com writers chasing up interviews and reviews from the whole event. This is why I will give you a blow-by-blow account of how I say Dedbeat, rather than review/interview structure of the event, this way I keep it raw dog, for the people from the street, etc etc.
Ok, let's start off by asking … How many people know where Norfolk is? Well I do now! After a trip from Glasgow to Edinburgh, a crate of beer pick-up, Edinburgh to Peterborough, stop for another crate of beer and the purchase of a Ghetto Blaster we then moved onto … erm Norfolk was it? Norwich? And with my stomach rumbling there was no sign of Delia Smith anywhere? I would like, at this stage, to give a personal shout out to the trolley guy on the train to Norwich as he showed me an ingenious way to take the top off a beer bottle using the British Rail method, i.e to lodge the beer bottle in the grates of the roof and hey presto!
By the time we got to Norwich there was a bus kindly put on by Dedbeat for all the weary travellers who had no idea where to go by this stage and quite frankly not a lot of energy left! None the less, we pilled onto the bus and continued to drink. Word of advice though for the organisers next year! If you have a bus full of people that have been travelling all day, bear in mind that beer will have been flowing all day and an hour trip on a bus with no toilet could cause problems … was it an hour? Was it 10 minutes? It was the longest that my bladder has ever had to hold on for, that's why myself and many others were wondering what held more fluid, an empty bottle or a painful bladder (if you get my meaning). However, the bus arrived and many people were spotted watering the flowers seconds after the hand break was applied.
The food was a bit of a disappoint ment and a bit costly, but we soon descended on the Shopping store where all micro wave-ables could be purchased for the microwave planted sweetly in our chalet. Its probably also worth noting at this stage that Why were people buying beer from the bar when you could go to the store and buy it there cheaper and then smuggle it in to the main hall? What? I ain't meant to do that? Come on its all ghetto baby, is it not?
OK as for the entertainment, I have to admit only really seemed to hang around in the main room, not because there wasn't any talent elsewhere, it just was so hard to take myself away from the talent in the main hall, plus the arcades and the amount of general goings on! Friday saw El P and Aesop Rock tear the place apart, but Saturday had to be where it was at.
simply superb and full of energy, J Zone (who I have never been a big fan of before) shown true skills and wooed the crowd with every word. Pitman, what can I say? He came on in a miners jacket and hardhat complete with Davie lamp on, not only this he pushed aside thoughts of throwing records into the crowd and threw pieces of coal into the crowd instead, as well as Hob Nobs and Tea bags! I couldn't help but wonder what Brand Nubian were making of all this! I also should point out that there was breaking going off everywhere! Children of the Monkey Basket, Force 10 and Supernaturalz, Sin Cru and many more breakers were literally creating simply one of the beast backdrops to an al round Hip Hop event that I had ever seen. The breaking competitions were superb with males and females representing on a level par.
Sunday crawled in as hangovers rose their ugly heads. For those hardcore amongst us (yes that's me too) we headed off to the Main room to find Adrenaline magazine handing out free shots, then free beer, then free whiskey and generally anything you wanted! It was only an hour past when people were drunk again, how do I know? Well because those that had started drinking early were now having a competition to see how many people could wear Adrenaline stickers! And believe me people they were on some of the most painful places if you were to rip them of suddenly if you get my meaning!!!! Then the strangest thing I have ever seen, bags of erm vegetables were being handed out too! Promotion campaign? Bloody ingenious! Big Up Adrenaline Magazine!
Let's not forget too that there was a strong contingent from Undercover, with bags of free magazine posted all over the place with some superb free CD's attached, this was like Hip Hop Mecca believe! Suspect-Packages.com were providing record sales with the sales of records from Australia the Glasgow, Brighton to Dublin being snapped up by these Hip Hop happy heads! Did I mention that Braintax was still to come, I saw Edan at some stage but for the life of me couldn't remember when! Aspects steamed through the place like a runaway combine harvester with Def Tex taking the wheel not long after them! As if all this was not enough Mike Ladd & the Majesticons keep the weary crowd on their feet with what had to be possibly one of the best stage shows of the weekend (Pitman aside). The raw energy and enthusiasm that they put into the show clearly shows why they are being booked all over Europe, the skills of Dee J A'La Fu, the visions of Hip Hop and beauty on the stage? What could have been missing?
Well here goes … had it been a better time of the year a stage outside could have been good, two people working on the till in the store could have been an idea, admittedly I am scraping the barrel here but that's to the compliments of the whole Dedbeat set up!
On the Hip Hop front there was a lack of Graffiti, I don't know if this was on purpose due to Pontins being a family resort that could do without looking like a Paris Motorway within hours, I would have liked that but others may have see it differently. I would also like to say that the actual line up I feel could have been better, that's right better. Sure the people that played were superb and the event went off well, but I cant help think, what if there was some Sheffield crews there, some Glasgow crews, Mark B and Blade, Task Force, MUD Family, Blak Twang, Rodney P, Terra Firma, so on and so on? This would have tore the head off of Dedbeat and rammed it do far up Hemsby's ass that UK Hip Hop events would never be the same again!
Last thoughts? Big up Adrenaline, big up Sam at Dedbeats and all the counter staff and I WILL BE THERE NEXT YEAR! So should you!
