Review: Dancehall Supremacy
But this past Sunday, aside from the odd low-key neighbourhood gathering, you would never have known Europe’s biggest street party was meant to take place. Instead, organizers moved everything online, cancelling in-person celebrations for the first time since its founding in 1966 to protect the local community from potential exposure to Covid-19. The official afterparty, Dancehall Supremacy, went digital as well, beaming in live from Somerset House. I entered the stream just after 9 PM and was greeted on-screen by an expansive high-walled room filled with a handful of people. Three boarded windows loomed over the DJ booth, flanked by speakers stacked in two corners of the room, while five ground-level TV screens formed a circle around the stage, playing video footage on a loop.
Sound System Disya Jeneration began the night with high energy crowd-pleasers. DJ Raker’s 20-minute dancehall, reggae and afro-fusion set was quickly followed by South East London rapper Elheist, who showcased her life-affirming lyricism before going B2B with Lil C. The duo played soca hits like Garcia’s “Dip And Ride” and Kes & Nailah Blackman’s “Workout” for all of ten minutes before Flohio, a rapper also from South East London, took over. Both performances were solid, but the highpoint of the evening came with the second Disya Jeneration instalment, this time with Raker on the mic and DJ JammyD behind the decks. With only 30 minutes to go, JammyD laid out all the club bangers. Bucie’s “Get Over It” followed Perempay & Dee’s “In The Air,” which followed Egypt’s “In The Morning”—it was the perfect introduction for anyone interested in the sounds shaping the mid to late-’00s UK club scene.
Raker brought wry humour and playful energy to the mic, filling the room with random shouts of “Shut-up!” “Pull up pull up!” and “I wanna get tribal, run with the tribal sound!,” before making a special callout for all the viewers at home: “Just imagine ladies—I’m holding you right now,” he said, while grinding on an imaginary woman. At another point, he began an off-kilter dance with the cameraman providing a nice closeup of the inside footwork. “Fucking hell, I should be a dancer!” he proclaimed. It was definitely the night’s laugh-out-loud moment. JammyD closed things out with Cozzy D’s trippy “Aphrodite,” and Disya Jeneration members entered the circle on stage. “If you know how to cut shapes, this is your tune”, Raker said, rallying the audience one last time. Part aerobics teacher, part call-and-response, part entertainer, the MC kept spirits high.
A decidedly dancehall set arrived in the early hours of the morning courtesy of Sir Allan Brando, selector extraordinaire. Taking us through the mainstays of dancehall and reggae, Brando dished out Beres Hammond, Barrington Levy and the more recent riddims of Beenie Man and Marlon Asher. His MCing and obligatory pull-ups pulled in the night’s host, who claimed the circle for much of his set, while whoops from the crowd confirmed the end of a stellar performance. Scratchclart (FKA Scratcha DVA) laced extended intricate mixes together, but a technical fault had him shouting to crew off-camera “where’s the bass?” at the halfway point. This lasted a while before the MC reassured everyone that all was well, observing a smiling Scratcha: “he’s happy now!”
The fact that the proceeds for Dancehall Supremacy were going to Justice4Grenfell felt fitting: Grenfell Tower is a ten-minute walk away from Notting Hill and can be seen from the Carnival route. But the ambitious list of 20-30 minute performances left the evening feeling a little truncated. Extended sets from Disya and Brando would have kept the energy up. I also wondered about the West London influences, past and present. Where were the late ’90s, early ’00s broken beat generation and all the current artists causing a stir, like Ladbroke Grove’s Lava La Rue?
But what felt most strange was only having to journey from the couch to the bed. The route into and out of one of the world’s largest street parties is frustrating, but once you’re in, there’s nothing like it. Here’s hoping for next year’s trek.
Justice4Grenfell are still accepting donations via their website.
