A few months ago, I was an edition of BeatMUp; this time in Rotterdam. BeatMUp is a beat battle: Hip hop artists create beats (so instrumentals only) and play them in front of a crowd that votes for their favorite.
I’ve lived in Rotterdam myself for five years now and I keep hearing the same thing over and over again: there’s no place for live music in Rotterdam.
I’ve lived in Rotterdam myself for five years now and I keep hearing the same thing over and over again: there’s no place for live music in Rotterdam.
Well first of all, it’s not true. Secondly, most of the people I hear say that mean live music as a private concert by some big name signed by some major or some dude sitting on a stool with a classic guitar, alone…
Now if you keep an open mind about the type of music and the type of artist, you’ll most likely come across an awesome performance. That was definitely the case of BeatMUp.
The crew put together a pretty cool event: great location, cheap drinks, tight program with a bunch of things happening around the main event (we’ll come back to that), and most of all good music and a good vibe!
Against all common sense, I left my camera at home that night. Luckily Rap Talent took care of that. Besides, being a communication platform for such events, they also put up-and-coming Hip hop artists in the spotlight. You can even listen to some tracks from their website.
Through them, I was introduced to Cleon Grimey, founder of and director at CLE TV. Cleon was filming the whole event. CLE TV’s been up since 2009 after Cleon took a video workshop given by the influential Salah Edin; after that Cleon was the Director of Photography for the Zwartlicht – Guillotine video. CLE TV now gets requests to film Hip hop events in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK!
I spotted other people filming the event but it was time for me to talk to some of the performers of the night. I was lucky enough to actually meet the two artists I liked best: Samuel Kareem and SAYBEATS. SAYBEATS came from Utrecht. Six years ago, after attending a rap battle, he found the motivation and inspiration to make his own beats and write his own lyrics. Since then, he produced two albums with local artists but his main focus is making beats. Samuel Kareem (Nijmegen) has been making beats for five years. He was the big winner of the night and already won another edition of BeatMUp in Amsterdam, earlier this year! Currently working with the group State of Ummah, he came to Hip hop at age 11 while listening to Busta Rhymes’ Gimme Some More. His next project is called “FALL” and is particular in many aspects: first, it’s a no sample album. Second, he works with a vocalist and, last but not least, it is not a rap album. That’s all he’ll tell us for now…
Props to the artist because getting out of your comfort zone is a tough thing to do. In fact, a couple of years ago French rapper Disiz La Peste (now Peter Punk) switched from rap to rock /electro-rock. Misunderstood at the time, he is now considered to be one of the most talented and courageous artists of the country. So Samuel, go for it man!
Another cool part of BeatMUp was the side contest that has a bunch of beat makers who 45 minutes to work with a sample and come with an original track. These guys inspiration is simply amazing. Combined with their technical knowledge of music (yes music can be somewhat of engineering sometimes) and the little time they had, their performance was impressive.
In the end, you know how sometimes Hip hop has this bad image in the media: bling and bitches, rivalry and violence and so on. Well what I saw was the opposite and definitely qualified as what’s called a “best practice” in marketing. I heard mad cool beats and met enthusiastic and accessible people, both in the attendance and among performers.
That’s why RoSounds spreads the message about this still genuine facet and characteristic of Hip hop; because at the end of the day, enjoying the beat and the flow and sharing a culture and a good time is what Hip hop was always all about.