Sonic Ecstacy

First published in Sunday People, New Sunday Times
19 May 2007

Sonic Ecstasy




What happens when hip-hop meets the thumping drum-and-bass sound of an underground London club? MAX KOH finds out

SOME things just don’t gel. Like a menthol sweet and a fizzy drink. But sometimes, the unexpected does offer a nice surprise. Like Elvis resurrected from the dead to sing a duet with Celine Dion on American Idol.


Or hip-hop meeting British drum-and-bass rhythms at Kuala Lumpur’s Upstairs @ The Loft on Asian Heritage Row.

That Hennessy Artistry event showed radical harmonies can complement each other – and well.

American hip-hop singer Jennifer Johns and the British-based Drum & Bass duo Lady Free and Paul T rocked the house.

From head-bobbing soulful bass grooves to hip-gyrating D&B numbers, the crowd was on its feet all night long.

A vivacious Johns got the party started with Ghetto International.

Backed by a competent crew – co-vocalist Solas B. Lalagee, emcee Sokrates The Virgo, and DJ/emcee Edaboss – the California-born singer wowed with her powerful and expressive voice.

The crew provided a strong backing of electronica-hip-hop-soul fusion.

Ghetto International, which is about unity and healing the world, showcased Johns’ talents at effortlessly switching from singing to spitting out rap verses.

The intimate setting also allowed Johns to get the crowd to sing along to The Truth, Painting On Wax and Never Give Up.

The songs were from Johns’ EPs heavyelectromagneticsoularpoeticjunglehop and the upcoming Painting On Wax which she produced independently under her own label, Nayo Movement Music.

Earlier, Johns said she started singing in church when she was only three.

As a teenager, she listened to a diverse range of music from Earth, Wind, and Fire to Sade to songs from the West Indies.

But it was hip-hop that she eventually fell in love with. “Just I am music, I am hip-hop.”

At 17, John became serious about singing and starting performing.

Three years later, she moved to Los Angeles where she quickly built a name for herself.

Johns has performed alongside heavyweights Mary J. Blidge, Chaka Khan and Missy Elliot. She is recognised as a “true talent who is immune to musical boundaries” by the Rolling Stones magazine.

On that Loft night, she lived up to the praise in her hour-long gig.

So how did Hennessy Artistry keep the mood going? That’s when those dirty DnB beats kicked in.

East End London’s Paul T and Lady Free almost immediately took over the stage and got the crowd moving again to Mark Knight’s I Like That.

The duo also performed covers of other notable Drum & Bass tracks like Francois Dubois’s Blood, Claud Van Stroke’s Who’s Afraid of Detroit and Scope’s Strung Out and Last Call, before closing their set with their own single Don’t.

The duo learnt their trade at the heart of the drum and bass revolution. A keen piano player and self taught bassist, DJ Paul T has traversed the breadth of London’s rave scene.

Johns returned to the stage for some impromptu musical fusion with Lady Free and Paul T.

A night of hip-hop and D&B. You had to be there to get it.

For more information about Hennessy Artistry, visit www.hennessyartistry.com.my