Raiden, Friction, Phi-Life Cypher, Xplicit 1st Birthday, The Venue, Edinburgh, Jan 27

Phi-Life Cypher deserved a larger chunk of the crowd<br/>STRRR8 ON THA WEB PLEASE ALEX!!!

Article by Bunty Hoven | 17 Mar 2006
Raiden got the celebrations under way on the middle floor with a techy DnB set. Rather like the anime visuals, which seemed to be on constant repeat, Raiden didn't seem to offer much variation in his record selection - a fact reflected in the crowd's seemingly apathetic mood. Meanwhile Rufftone kept the smaller loft crowd entertained with some turntable trickery. Fricton managed to generate some liveliness with rapid-fire mixing on three decks. Dropping classic Ram Record tunes made people move, but sustaining the energy levels proved more difficult. Although MCs SP and Tonn Piper's rhymes were a grade above the usual all-too-frequently inaudible MC schlock, they paled in comparison to the lyrical skills of Phi-Life Cypher upstairs. The hip hop duo spat incisive and politically-charged lyrics tightly over Nappa's beats. New rhyming styles showed that they have grown since 'Millenium Metaphors' and the freestyle conclusion to their set reinforced this. They deserved a larger chunk of the crowd who, unfortunately, were too preoccupied with the mediocre proceedings downstairs. [Bunty Hoven]