Chimpo & Friends has been the first in Bloc2Bloc's new series of events in which we invite a badman DJ (and their friends) for an exclusive and intimate session broadcasted internationally from Manchester with love.
The night started with the legendary northern selecta and UK Rap pioneer Mikey D.O.N warming up the dancefloor with an impressive selection of dubplates and tracks, playing an eclectic sound from reggae dancehall to a Neyo instrumental and dubs from Manchester artists Skittles and Tyler Daley. Towards the end of his set the reloads were coming in heavy and the Live Room was ready for a serious party.
K1 stepped up next playing a range of grime instrumentals from his classic 'who u hang with' to more experimental and industrial 140s. All riddims were handled with ease by the posse of MCs who passed through turning the place into an energetic cypher with the microphone being passed around the floor. Mayhem member Slay brought an air of nostalgia to the venue firing classic bars from 'Big like EA' and 'Whos this boy' alongside Remdog. Blah boys Black Josh and Sleazy were there to up the flow levels aswell as Truthos and Sangy.
Manchester Junglist Mark XTC followed and pushed the tempo as the crowd increased for Bloc2Bloc's second event of the night and fundraiser for homeless charity The Big Change. A.Tilly and Fabz were on hosting duty as XTC dropped the rollers and as you can see below, it all got a bit emotional.
According to party sources our Chimpo couldn't recall a thing in the morning...cheeky!
Keep it locked to see the full footage, it was quite the night and I'm sure the next one will be no different.
Photos by Ryan Ashcroft