Newsletter #38 - February '25

Terror, Luther and other more local legends.

Can you believe that January dragged on for so long it proved to be painful, yet we’re already past the halfway mark for February? That said I also feel like we’ve had a year’s worth of drama in the last 7 days. Thankfully I made the smart decision to step away from Facebook and so I’ve not been completely consumed by it all, but it also became undeniable that some of the more toxic online behaviour is creeping out into the real world.

I’ll go back to briefly in a moment but first I want to pay my respects to Rodney Pryce, AKA the groundbreaking grime producer Terror Danjah, who sadly died on Monday after years of health issues following his stroke in 2019.

I only met Rodney once when I put him on at Cardiff Arts Institute back in April 2011, which is wild to think about now considering how many of my favourite tracks he made came after that. The whole CAI phase of my life is pretty much a blur to me now but I remember he was really sound, and despite the night being relatively under attended, he played one of my favourite Friday night sets of that whole period. His music perfectly joined up the dots through various periods of my life, from the roots in dancehall and jungle, into grime and then to the new electronic sounds that I was exploring with Chrome Kids at the time. His music hit differently to any other artist out there, and I’d say if there was any producer that sounded similar, then they were channeling Terror in some way.

For a much better tribute than I could give to his musical journey and cultural impact, check out Joe Muggs excellent article in The Guardian. If you want to hear some of his music then I created two playlists for my own personal listening that I’m happy to share, although keep in mind they’re nowhere near comprehensive, simply a manageable sample of my own favourites. One is all instrumental, whilst the other is some of his collaborations with artists such as Kano, Wiley, Riko Dan and IRAH, as well as a number of singers.

Today I’ve also been remembering the late Luther Vandross, who I can’t quite believe passed 20 years ago this year. He was one of the first soul singers whose music I connected with back in the early 80s, although I don’t think I ever appreciated him more than after watching the new CNN documentary about his life, Luther: Never Too Much. Honestly I don’t even want to tell you anything about it as I’d rather you just go and watch it, but I will warn you that it gave me quite an emotional ride this morning. I’ve also put Luther into the upper reaches of artists I wish I’d seen live before they died.

I’ve already started on his back catalogue and had forgotten how many other great songs were on Never Too Much aside from the title track. However the first album that the film made me want to listen to was David Bowie’s 1975 release Young Americans. I had no clue that Luther was involved in that album, and I’d only ever heard the big hit from it ‘Fame’ (although I never knew it was a collaboration with John Lennon). I certainly didn’t know how soulful the production was on it. ‘Fame’ is funky as hell for sure, but the rest owes a lot more to the Philadelphia soul sound, and was recorded in Philly’s infamous Sigma Studios where MFSB were the in-house band and so many of those classic Gamble and Huff songs were recorded.

Bringing the soul a little closer to home this week was Source. They’re one of the most exciting bands in Cardiff for me right now although you’d be forgiven for not knowing their music as they’ve not had much out there. Thankfully now there’s a little taster of their sound courtesy of BBC Radio Wales and their Horizons project. Source’s live session for them aired on Huw Stephens’ show on Monday night but the videos are up on YouTube also. They include a special guest appearance from Mace The Great with a live version of his track ‘Disrespectful’. I would definitely love to see the two of them collaborate again.

Source of course will be playing at this year’s Big Love, and don’t worry if you’re coming but plan to shoot off and watch Kendrick Lamar in Cardiff on Saturday evening then you won’t miss them. I was so mad at Kendrick for that clash. I found out just after I’d sent off the last newsletter praising his Super Bowl show, talk about feeling betrayed! Just because he has no clue that I or Big Love exists is really no excuse, he should have timed it better. To be honest if I magically get a guest ticket then I might even pop out to the show myself, but only for a few hours. I’ve thankfully seen him perform live before when he last played in Glasgow, but I feel almost duty bound to represent when he’s in my city.

I definitely feel duty bound to push for local support acts to be added to the line up. If anyone is able to help me on that mission then please do get in touch. I’ve probably said this before but I feel it should be legally binding for these big shows to have at least one Welsh artist on the bill. Much as I cannot abide the music of Coldplay, I do respect the fact that they had Hana Lili supporting them at their Principality Stadium shows. They also featured the Bridgend Male Choir singing the National Anthem and performed a duet with Kelly Jones. These are small but important gestures that go a long way.

Much as I love the fact that one of my favourite rappers is performing here, it does deepen my frustration with how little support and attention is given to local MOBO artists and I hope to see at least one get to headline the stadium in my lifetime. I’m also bursting for the opportunity to talk more about the scene’s history to a wider audience. Perhaps even more so after spending Saturday with a number of pioneers including a 4 hour catch up with DJ Demo from Swansea, who is not only one of the city’s most important DJs and turntablists, but is an incredible graffiti artist whose work goes right back to the 1980s. He was also a promoter for the seminal Space Base nights from 1996 to 2006.

Also with us was Former Vestax and DMC UK Champion DJ Excel aka DJ Snare aka BadMeaningGood aka Huw Wackman, who is currently on a mission with champion breaker Tommy Boost to teach kids across Wales and the UK the arts of turntablism and breaking. Besides this ongoing program, he runs a regular class in his hometown of Cwmbran teaching people with disabilities to DJ.

They were both joined by Excel’s old sparring partner Tucker aka MC Bass, who I’d heard plenty about but never met before. The two had known each other since the early breaking and graffiti days in Cwmbran and they were both in the group LSD Posse who were important in the crossover from Hip-hop to rave here in Wales during the late 80s and early 90s.

I loved hearing all of their tales from the foundational years of Welsh Hip-hop and how they’re careers and lives evolved. They had all been a part of the rave days, Excel released the 1991 Jaws sampling hardcore track ‘Just When You Thought It Was Safe’ and DJ Demo was a member of Un Deux Trois Inc. with DJ Bunjy, Rob C and Whitley from Bristol. As well as being an early vehicle for Tricky and Mikee Freedom, Un Deux Trois Inc. were one of the groups to chart the move from hardcore to jungle in the West Country. Demo also released his own EP of that sound in 1993 with a rapper called Poet. He gave me a copy of the PCP EP re-released on blue vinyl a couple of years ago. I’ll definitely revisit that here for a proper breakdown at some point.

Another artist who doesn’t get enough credit for the work he made during that early 90s period is Gareth Potter, who was a rapper and producer with Tŷ Gwydr. I’ll definitely talk more about them in future as their releases were genuinely groundbreaking for Welsh music as whole, but the reason I bring him up now is I went to his 60th birthday party over at Motel Nights, which is an amazing little boutique bar hidden in the Papermill Business Park between Riverside and Victoria Park in Cardiff. I can’t believe I never knew this spot existed! Testament to Gareth Potter’s 60 years of being a total legend, was the fine selection of people who had turned out to celebrate on the night.

I also caught up with 4Dee, Cardiff’s own pioneering rapper, producer and original breaker. He was busy making some new music with rappers from all over the world. I probably shouldn’t let on more than that but keep an eye on Veteran Records for when it drops. A busy but inspiring Saturday in all.

I needed it after a bleak week of news. I realise that I don’t live in America, but seeing how easy it has been for Trump, Musk and their cronies to essentally stage a coup and roll back the clock culturally and politically has made me realise how fragile our own systems might be. Just as stark as their federal tinkerings was Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Centre in New York. Perhaps because I’d been there not so long ago it made this bold step even more stark and chilling, but the ramifications of that move will be bigger than many realise.

If we think things are bad for the arts in the UK now, imagine if Reform took power. That doesn’t feel like such a wild stretch of imagination here in Wales any more. I met with my uncle earlier in the week at a local cafe and he told me that the amount of times he has overheard Reform mentioned favourably in conversations is significant. As he was talking a man on the next table assured us that Reform would be running the country next and he was all for it. He told us that Starmer would be letting in "millions of immigrants" and then went into some relatively incoherent racist waffle. I tried to follow what he was saying enough to challenge him on it, but soon realised that this was largely a waste of time. He claimed to be Irish when my uncle told him that we were of immigrant stock ourselves, but he obviously didn’t see the irony in that at all. What worries me is people are feeling ever more empowered to express their racist and xenophobic views.

I’m also witnessing a lot more anti-trans and homophobic rhetoric. We were already so far behind where we should be as a society, but at least it felt we were moving in the right direction. Now it feels like we are tumbling back into the days of black and white TV, as well as black and white thinking. If you only have capacity to push back against this cultural regression in one way, then live your life in full colour, always.

I’ll leave you with a few events I’m planning to attend over the next couple of weeks here in Cardiff.

Firstly there’s the Big Halal Lifestyle Expo in the Stadium that my friend Shaz is involved in. You obviously don’t have to be Muslim to go along and appreciate many of the stalls. In fact if you feel like it’s not for you, perhaps that’s good enough reason to go. I’m not religious in any way and never will be, but I understand that many important community events around me will always have some religious connections so I don’t let that stop me from attending (though I might actually be in London that weekend which will stop me). Plus it’s free, you just need to sign up for a ticket here.

Then on March 1st I’ve got a ringside ticket to watch Monique Bux fight Jenifer Joklova of Czech Republic at the Vale Sports Arena. I’ve known Monique since she was a kid and she’s always been talented as a DJ, singer (with the group Baby Queens) and rapper, but a few years ago she turned her talents to boxing professionally. I’ve been meaning to see her fight for ages so I’m looking forward to finally being able to attend one of her matches.

After that I’ll be heading down to the Tribe of ViBE night at Curve which has another fantastic lineup of DJs. Alongside Tribe of ViBE himself is Butch Queen from Bitch Please, Anthony Ham from Shan-gri-la and Paul Lyons who of course runs It’s A Disco Thing and Bump N Hustle with me as well as having countless other accolades. There’s also the Welsh Ballroom Community dancers, led by Leighton Rees Milan who in my mind is easily one of the best dancers and choreographers in the country. Just don’t expect any Strictly Come Dancing routines if you’ve not come across Ball Culture from the Black and Latino LGBTQ communities in the USA. Tickets for that one can be found here.

If you happen to be in London on March 1st but have an interest in what’s going on here in Wales then do check out the REFRESH/RETOLD event at Shoreditch Arts Club! Organised by Clwb Creative Cymru, the event includes some of my favourite people on the panels including Reem Muhammed, LEMFRECK and Douvelle19. There’s also Katie Owen, Iby (of the popular streetwear brand that adorns most young Welsh rappers), Bafta-winning filmmaker Janis Pugh, author and journalist Angela Hui and Bricks magazine founder Tori West, amongst others. Grab tickets here.