Sunday, December 5, 2010

thursday night hip hop karaoke = a large damp crowd of british people trying to free themselves from the confines of monotonous work life


Hip-Hop karaoke takes place every Thursday at the Social.  On a previous night, the stage in this dingy little dive bar had been set up for live performances, with tables scattered around the venue.  However, tonight a space was cleared for a large crowd to gather in front of the stage.  The night began with an over-enthusiastic announcer took the mic and introduced Southern Hospitality's Hip-Hop Karaoke night.  By 9 pm the venue had been packed and the show was about to begin.  The first few rappers were either DJs or event coordinators and went something like this:
Other rappers included a real professional doctor (rapping Ol' Dirty Bastard), some skinny British men, some ballsy British girls, and a rapper named Blonde White Girl (whose performance I unfortunately ended up missing).  The acts were pretty enjoyable in that the talent scale ranged from pro rapper to Shy Ronnie.  By 10:30, the venue was packed to the point of being a health hazard, the drunk crowd was going semi-nuts, sweat had begun to evaporate, reached the ceiling, and dripped back down into the crowd again, and some less-inclined individual was flicking his lighter on and off in a space that had a very low ceiling.  Also, we were hoping to rap Salt n Pepa's "Push It," but it wasn't even in their catalog!!!  Since these were all indicators of impending doom, Carla and I decided that we should probably leave.

Despite the damp near-death experience, that Thursday's Hip-Hop karaoke show will definitely be forever stored in my tiny heart as a little lovely and eccentric piece of London.
simone w

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