Wretch 32 at BBC 1Xtra Live
Once again I was surrounded by music. Artists that I admire, some for the last decade, had the chance to present their artistry to an engaging Liverpudlian crowd. Performances from the likes of Craig David, Sean Paul, Bugzy Malone, Lady Leshurr and Stormzy provided a great show that had the crowd hyped and singing along to their hit songs.
BBC 1Xtra had the genius plan of having 2 stages. The main stage at the front and a smaller circular stage right in the middle of the crowd. I found out about this a bit earlier before the show started and I was intrigued on how it was going to work out. DJ Charlie Sloth was on this stage and had a great set with J Hus and Liverpool native, Aystar. Lady Leshurr was also on this stage performing her hits whilst throwing toothbrushes to her fans. As it was closer to more of the crowd, the levels of engagement were high. But there was one artist who used this stage to it’s fullest potential. Wretch 32.
Jermaine Scott Sinclair (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32 (three-two), is an English rapper…www.bbc.co.uk
As the arena turned pitch black, a single but powerful spotlight illuminated the centre of the Echo Arena. There, kneeling on one knee with a microphone in his hand was arguably the best rapper that the UK has produced. In September, Wretch 32 released his 3rd album Growing Over Life. This body of work invited listeners into his world with personal storytelling and a spotlight on his environment. It resonated with the people and earned him a UK Top 5 chart position.
As the spotlight grew in intensity, the booming sound of Antwi came through the sound system. Wretch 32 stood and delivered his bars with passion and made sure to circle the stage, engaging with his supporters who were frozen in a state of deep focus. You see, when Wretch raps, it demands a level of attention and in this case, the lighting setup made sure that your focus was held towards to the centre. At this point, I was using my long lens to capture close shots of Wretch 32 but something happened that made me shuffle at the speed of a hummingbird’s wing. As the wordsmith become more vocal and raised the volume to match the intensity of his lyrics, fireworks lit up the sky above him. I say the sky because the precise execution of this production by Tour Music Live and TAWBox made you feel like you were in a festival and not in an enclosed arena. As the fireworks illuminated the air, you caught glimpses of just how many people were in the arena. From the floor to the top were people with their hands up and interacting with the music.
After his performance of Liberation, the mode switched with Take Me As I Am, the crowd started to bubble and organically 2-stepped their way into vibing to the tune. There was now a green glow over the stage has Wretch 32 become more animated and moving a lot more. This matched the tempo of the song and resulted in the girls around me starting to dance with each other and sing along with Phoenix Thomas’ chorus. Wretch’s decision to start with these songs served as an introduction to the music that he recently created. This was before he reached back and pull out his longstanding hits Traktor and 6 Words which had everyone dancing.
As the lights switched to a deep purple with randomised spotlights focusing on Wretch, Don’t Go had the crowd harmonising with each other. Wretch 32 really did create a masterpiece with this song and put an interesting twist on it for 1Xtra Live. It was mixed into Kanye’s Fade and saw Wretch flowing effortlessly through his verses and dropping out the beat entirely to allow the crowd to sing the chorus at the top of their voices.
As a finale, Wretch 32 spoke about the freestyle that brought him back into his element and refreshed the memory of listeners that may have forgotten how brilliant Wretch is twisting words and transforming his microphone into an F5 tornado. As the beat started to play, a fire was lit at each corner of the stage. This was ushered in the powerful Fire In The Booth freestyle from the old flame. You could see the excitement on peoples faces. People around me recited the bars with screwfaces and even I have to put down my camera and offer a gun finger salute. Wretch 32 moved with strength, not missing a word or a beat. Seeing him standing in the centre of the 11,000 capacity arena like a phoenix rising from the ashes surrounded by fire was something to behold. As everyone listened to his signature style of poetry being performed and were visually stimulated by all of the colours of the previous songs, it brought people together and was an amazing way to close the stage.
BBC 1Xtra provided the platform for music lovers to see and hear music that has carried them throughout the year and be entertained by the production that was captivating. Leaving the arena and letting my hair down in the city centre, I constantly thought back to what I saw. At this time, I haven’t even seen my pictures off my camera. I didn’t have to. My cerebral cortex already split the show into bite-size images that will become great memories.
