I got hit up by the Nkevastan Collective to host the Vela London Listening session that went down at King Club in King Williams Town. The date was the 7th November Dude! I was down and actually amped cause from the in-house listening session I attended for the same album it felt fire.
Now I got to host and actually witness these joints performed for a selected crowd which was many media personnel I was elated.
The event was scheduled for 15h30 but hey this thing of not owning a whip is childish I got to the at 15h40. It was not a train smash though as it gave time for some of my other colleagues to gather.
The venue looked posh, branding was strong and oh! the finger snacks. I won’t say No to free food after work even. The event moved me because most of the time we only interact with the work from a link on social media few if any artists ever think of taking the risk to call media and art critics they trust to be crude in a room and open themselves up like Sobz did. Sobz is an East London based isixhosa Rapper that this far has released 3 hot singles from The Vela London album namely Leader, Vela London and a joint that exclusively dropped on my show called Hay Kengoku.
He came to the fold through Def Trinity, then joined Capital Effect after it dissolved he joined Nkevastan Innovations.
My bad this was a about the listening session. Yeah! I made the opening remarks and honestly because Listening sessions are yet to be a norm people were not quite sure as to what to expect but they were open, ready and prepared.
The first session was Sobz playing the songs and really relating with this attentive bunch of people as where he was when he wrote each song and how he hoped it would be received. This moved to the credits, who worked on which song and how everything unfolded. Informative and important for media people. I think after such a breakdown they can speak comfortably and at length about this body of work because they understand where it is coming from.
The audience was allowed to ask and give feedback. From this first session someone were identifying with some of the songs such as Ronnie Peter a breakfast host from Forte FM did with a song called A birth of a leader which seeks to talk of a child who is raised by a single parent and is growing to be an important figure and influence through resilience.
The break was an interview with Hasty South who engineered the entire project and produced a couple songs it. It was an eye opening chat when it comes to the synergy a producer and artist should have when working on a body of work.
The second session drove everything home with Sobs leaving thing he had on that stage. Hayke Ngoku became the song of the day with the audience requesting an encore. Vela London the Album is a solid body of work and this listening session was Nkevastan testing new waters and pioneering an era. Hip Hop wins again in KWT.
I’m grateful to be alive and witness the strides. I can’t wait for the launch. The album drops on the 4th December soon as I get my hands on a copy expect a review.
Till Next Time… Black Love…