You may have noticed some few hundred double decker buses in the capital these past few weeks shouting about something called the Red Bull Culture Clash. Hosted by BBC Radio 1's Annie Mac, the event of the year took place at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre last night, our Alya Mooro was there and she can tell you for certain, it was worth all the shouting about.
With four soundsystems on four stages boasting some of the best of their kind, Hip Hop / Trap music was represented by A$AP Mob, Grime by UK legends Boy Better Know (BBK), EDM by Rebel Clash (a soundsystem created solely for the event, made up of Chase & Status, MC Rage, David Rodigan and Shy FX) and Reggae by the pioneers of the sound clash themselves - Stone Love.
[Culture Clash winners Rebel Clash - Instagram]
With a soundometer measuring the crowds screams and crowning the winner (our favourite - despite the fact EDM may not actually have been our genre of choice) Rebel Clash after four rounds of sound clashes, the event took full advantage of the bludgeoning, hyped up format and by the end of the evening left the 20,000 of us all dazed, happy and bass shocked. We've rounded up some of the highlights of the night below, including the Emeli Sande dubplate spun by Rebel Clash and BBK's very many guests.
When we say Rebel Clash came prepared, we mean they really came prepared. With an evidently stupendously impressive contact list in their phones they dropped exclusive dubplates from everyone from Rihanna to Emeli Sande who delivered this incredibe call out to opposing team BBK (have you ever heard Emeli Sande swear before!?) and even British broadcasting legend Trevor McDonald.
[A$AP Mob at Culture Clash]
It was the first, and probably last time that we've been to an event in the UK and seen American acts dismissed so massively. Although their hits are undeniable - 'F*ckin Problem' tore off the roof - in the face of the likes of Rebel Clash who basically didn't play even one track that hadn't been reworked especially for the evening - their formula of turn'd up trap / hip hop seemed a bit one dimensional and their clashes a bit unprepared. The legendary David Rodigan OBE called them out on this, likening their clash with any other of their tour dates and, specifically, as the exact same set they had performed in Leeds last week. Yikes! That said, they were strong contenders and boy did the roof come off when they brough out special guest House Of Pain for 'Jump Around'.
With Boy Better Know on the soundsystem it was always going to be a madness. Grime fans of varying degrees of fandom screamed themselves hoarse when grime legends Wiley, Tinchy Stryder and Lethal B joined the stage for their hyped up renditions of classics. Repping it for the new school came Krept & Konan - whose album this year made it into the Guiness Book of Records for being the first to chart in the top 20 as an unsigned act - and Stormzy who just last week won the MOBO Award for best Grime act and performed on Jools Holland.
[Red Bull adorned double deckers - Instagram]
And the Red Bull marketing budget continues to mind boggle. Following their stupendous Carnival Party they pulled out all the stops for this one, enlisting double deckers the country over to be walking driving billboards for the cause. Pair this with coverage on Channel 4, the front page of the Evening Standard and a live stream of the event accessible from around the world and, really, they made sure that the only people *not *talking about it were buried somewhere deep under a rock.
[Jourdan Dunn at Culture Clash in adidas ]
A supermodel after our own heart, the gorgeous Jourdan Dunn rocked head to toe adidas in a fishnet adidas hoodie (we want, immediately!) a black leather mini skirt and adidas shelltoes. Cheering alongside her were Alexandra Burke, Katy B and Wretch 32. All that's missing was Dunn's bestie and *Grazia *fave Cara Delevingne; we can't image she was happy missing out on last night's bass heavy vibes.