OLS Boom Bap Warm Up Review

by Joe Read

Exeter’s rap talent saw mad love at Move (Cellar Door R.I.P.) last Friday as OneLion presented Dirty Dike and the release party for Moraless’ fresh EP, Life as a Simpleton. With High Focus veteran Dirty Dike on the frontier, the show also brought the ability and raw magnitude of the culminating One Lion roster. Local emcees Team Sweez, CW Jones, SWMS, Moraless and Cletus kept the basement under flames in preparation for Dike to storm through the mist a little later on.

The evening saw a heavy live-set introduction to Exeter duo Sour Grapez to celebrate the debut EP release of our own lyrical introspective Moraless. Alongside a raggedy sunhatsporting Captain Cletus, the pair wove vocal flows over gritty boom-bap instrumentals, keeping hands high every moment they had the spotlight. The EPs closing collaboration track Fog Horn took listeners into a whirlwind of internals whilst exploring provocative depths on the hazy and hard-hitting Hezit-produced cut, reminiscent of a ’95 era Lord
Finesse.

The SouthWestMindState (SWMS) crew also came through with their signature lazy-eyed loops and spaced out rhyme-styles. Things got twisted, minds became warped and word patterns weaved through the sea of nodding heads. SWMS expectedly brought the tangent of gloomy magic, contorting dark and psychedelic wavelengths into every creviceof the lower floor across the 45 minute set.

After a night of rap mischief and mic battery from the OLS squad, Dirty Dike took to the plastic-cup and baggy littered swamp for the climax of the event. As every bit as filthy and wildly enthused as you would expect, the Dikesta popped off his catalogue to a raucous crowd, applauding parental disdain and ultimate mayhem every minute of the way. Hi I’m James, Typical Daze, Ten Dike Commandments and Return of the Twat amongst others pounded through the venue with an intoxicating and gripping energy. Before closing with the riotous Pork Pie, Dike had settled the crowd a number of times and wiped his face from sailing cups of Red Stripe doubly so.

If you had ever wandered if the High Focus wordsmith is as berserk, eclectic, despicable
and lyrically dexterous as his track-record of hit songs suggests, his live performance is nothing if not a grizzly and astounding confirmation.

With a healthy number rocking OLS merch, the love and support grows with each successful event whilst the label continues to mould its artistic collective. Exeter’s Hip Hop community is on the path to making some real noise, and One Lion is beginning to boldly
outline the gravity of what our city has to offer.

One Lion Sound is excited to be presenting acclaimed crew Split Prophets @ Move next
month. Join the community and stay up to date with One Lion and the swiftly upcoming
artist releases on the official Facebook and webpage. Stay tuned.