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The LIMF closing party in the Palm House hosted a legendary array of rap heroes, who had the gathered throng swaying all night long and planted a glorious memory in the mind of hip hop heads.
London born Rap legend, Slick Rick Tha Ruler took the stage to rapturous applause (there were a few gig goers rocking crowns and eye patches for good measure) and dove straight into his bone fide classic La Di Da Di.
With a glint in his eye, Rick changed the age in the classic line: “I said cheer up, I gave her a kiss, I said you can’t have me I’m too young for you miss… I says I’m 19, she says stop lying!..” to reveal he’s now a stately 52 years young.
Taking a little break in his half-hour set to change into a pimpalicious hat, The Kangol Crew MC might have been looking a bit delicate on his feet, but definitely strong on the mic as he deftly rode the rhythms and held the crowd in the palm of his hand.
At one point, caring sharing Uncle Ricky told the crowd to make sure they ‘work on making their relationships last’ and ‘build strong families, as that’s how memories are created.’
Then he brought his wife of 20 years up on stage to adorn him with his iconic gold chains for his show stopping classic – Children’s Story, winning the biggest rap-a-long moment of the night. “Knock ’em out tha box Rick!”
Props to the Palm House, which is an undisputed heavyweight venue for specialist gigs, especially hip hop. It’s relaxed, with a sense of occasion. Intimate, yet big enough to host a 500 strong crowd. It’s oxymoronic and filled with cousins of the Chronic.
When we stepped into the luscious surroundings of the Victorian greenhouse (home to 20 different types of palms don’tcha know), we were greeted by huge smiles on the faces of hardened old school hip hop heads, anticipating a great show.
Some were armed with their No Sleep books – the collection of 1988-1999 NYC nightlife flyers by Stretch Armstrong – hoping to cultivate a piece of personalised graff from the man herself.
Stretch gave a great panel discussion before the party, but also rounded off the night with a killer DJ set alongside Clark Kent. Legend!
Also, what a treat it was to watch the Jungle Brothers whip up the crowd with a mini 20 minute set of their classic hits including bringing up DJ Kool DJ Red Alert to get in on the act for Jimbrowski.
Red Alert continued to warm the crowd ahead of Slick Rick’s set with a wave of party jams, reggae and classic hip hop – rocking the tip top sound system, which was blessing instead of the curse so many rap gigs suffer from. Yo!
Overall it was a warm fuzzy feeling. With the collected legends sharing the stage and the shine with everybody involved.
Liverpool has been on fire in terms of rap gigs in recent years including Ghostface Killah at The Kaz. A big shout out goes to No Fakin, who always ensure the show goes smoothly and make the visiting hip hop royalty feel welcome whenever they roll into the city.
No Sleep ’til Birkenhead!
This reviewer crashed just beyond ‘the original Park’ and is still reliving all the highlights of a truly enlightened shindig. LIMF! That was one stone righteous groove.
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