Boy Blue "Whose Side Are You On?" Asbos vs Pied Piper batte photos

The best pics taken will win a free Boy Blue class for themselves and ten of their mates too.
For more info on the battle, and the forthcoming Pied Piper (or read our review of the spring show here) show returning to the Barbican this December, see www.whosesideareyouon.org

This blog links from We're Excited About... Boy Blue Presents "Pied Piper" and Zoonation's "Into The Hoods" - Click to go back to the site

Want to try dance? FREE classes: Taste The Place, this weekend

You're a 'fan' of TooMuchFlavour because you're into some sort of urban lifestyle, but how many of you have yet to try actually giving dancing a go?

Lil Tim, representing Jonzi D Productions, Marso, representing Company Decolage, and Zoo Nation will be giving FREE workshops this Friday at The Place, Euston. FREE!

So whether it's your first time trying dance, or you're just brushing up on your basics, check it out.

Read our article for more info and why we're excited about it!

We're excited about... Taste The Place

Searching... for Speech Debelle at Fenchurch

When I heard Fenchurch were hosting a live session with Speech Debelle at their flagship store at Seven Dials, there was no question as to whether it was worth checking out. I had to go. Fenchurch + hip hop!

I'd like to point out that I'm not riding on Speech's Mercury award nomination success, as I was there watching her perform after the B.Supreme show in April! Spotting her a few weeks later in the Observer Music Monthly I knew I should probably have stuck around longer to catch all of her performance...

Speech is a Mercury Award nominee who is beginning to make a name for herself in the UK hip hop music scene for her softly spoken voice, honest and poetic lyrics and feel good live beats - she performs with an acoustic guitarist, drummer and bass player. It's like hip hop crossed over with a jazz band, a female Abstract to an English Tribe Called Quest!

Fans will be waiting with baited ears for whether she's won on Tuesday, but to keep them excited she performed a few numbers off her album at Fenchurch as an intimate warm up gig before the winner is announced.

Free drinks were available for attendees, as well as plenty of cool freebies to grab (not sure what was more popular, the free alcohol or the Fenchurch branded lighters!).

It was warm inside the shop, which had all its interior shifted to make room for the band setup and the radiant lighting setup. People packed around in a circle, to which Speech remarked "Why are you in a circle?" making us spread the shape so everyone could see.

The performance started early and the filled room with the introduction of Searching. When she finished, everyone clapped, only for us to find out it was the sound check! Ha!

A few drinks later, if you were able to get any, the show kicked off at its correct time, now with slightly clearer acoustics. Like any true artist should for their fans, Speech performed a good few tracks (no 'two songs and we're done' stylee), including her latest single Spinning, Better Days and Badman.

Speech's performance style is unlike typical 'hip hop.' No jumping up and down, amping of the crowd, but a lot of introverted, personal moments (albeit in front of an audience) while performing. While she spits her lyrics she looks at the floor a lot as though she's thinking about every lyric she's saying, a huge contrast between the showmen you see trying to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Instead it was like sharing her inner thoughts with the people in the room set to melodic and upbeat tunes.

Maybe it's the current attention she's getting, I don't know Speech's performance history. Frequently she'd make the occasional well received joke though, and it was like watching someone happy to be where she is, doing what she likes doing, and that's performing. Her band should also be credited too, those guys know how to make a live jam sound good. This was a different kind of vibe, a rarity these days in hip hop, and it's good to see humble performers.

The audience loved the performances, as did I. As did some of Speech's friends that turned up to show their support too! I'd only heard Searching - Amazon did a free [legal] download of it on promotion, and another song I never caught the name of, this opened my eyes and ears. Yes, the newspapers are making a deal about her because her style crosses over into what could be considered an easy listening market, but at least seeing her perform live (and in full) I now know what the deal is about, and it's made my mind up about buying the album too.

Click below to listen to samples from Speech Therapy, and if you like it, buy it and show support!



Something about the setup at Fenchurch reminded me of when King Apparel opened their shop doors to Guru. But there was no rivalry between the two shops (situated next to each other), in fact, King Apparel staff were also in the building. Hip hop love!

You can visit Speech Debelle's website at www.speechdebelle.com for more info on her, as well as links to her Facebook and MySpace.

A round up of the week... Pineapple's 30th and Brick City Boutique

You'll have to pardon me for not updating the blog, not a week goes by when things aren't busy at TooMuchFlavour Towers.

Checkit. Pineapple celebrated their 30th anniversary last Sunday, which was also the same day as their annual Pineapple open day. Over 40 classes, all for free! I was fooled into thinking it was a storm in a teacup when I turned up at 11, although, typically, most dancers hadn't woken up by then!

Come midday and the queues were spilling out the entrance and on to Langley Street as more dancers turned up. Because of the volume of people, place cards were handed out on a first-come-first-serve basis so classes didn't get over subscribed.

I couldn't stay until the end, unfortunately, as I had to jet to the next event (below), but what was positive was that some of the people I chatted to had never danced before, a great thing about holding free events and introducing new people to dance.

For our blog on free dance classes, click here


A ride on the Tube took me to Elbow Room, Islington, where the Brick City Boutique was taking place. Around the seated booths, merchants of the urban ilk set up their wares around the tables while the DJ spun records. Merchants such as Different Prints, Soap Box World, Roodboy, and most importantly, the guys behind the event, Pieceology.

As well as the fashion side of things, emcees were in the place, including Skinnyman and his Smoking Ban van (I didn't intend that to rhyme!) giving out free t-shirts and bursting out with random freestyles.

Of course, most importantly, I had to stay for the b-boy battle. Billed to start at 4pm, it actually started at around 8. A bit slow on the uptake, some b-boys (and one b-girl) emerged from the audience to join in. I filmed most of it, but the very end was cut off as I ran out of memory, with seconds of the action left. Nevertheless...



To keep up to date with Pieceology's Brick City Boutique, you can find the Facebook page here.


There's plenty more stuff coming up that's worth checking out. Why not check out the calendar on the main site to see events worth hitting up?

Dance - for free - for the next two months!

Maybe you're looking to try something new, perhaps you're a dancer affected by the recession's toll on your spending money or saw how big street dance was on Britain's Got Talent, whatever your reasons are, you're low on cash, you like dance and you'll be looking for something to do that doesn't cost a penny.

Randomly spaced though they are, the TooMuchFlavour calendar has a line up of dance and dance related events in the diary for the remainder of July and August.

Those that have two cells to rub together (most of you, I hope) will realise some of these are taster classes and you will have to pay for classes from then on, but why shouldn't you go ahead and sample some of the finest dance flavour London has to offer?

So let's share the free love! If you have a Google account you can click the logo next to the info to add it to your Google Calendar.

July 23rd
Yo Fair - For 14-19 year olds in and around Islington at King's Place who are interested in creative arts. There will be a CV clinic, dance classes, music production workshops and guests like Flawless making an appearance. Check here for more info


The Dare2Dance workshop at the Southbank Centre is a sneak preview of what to expect over the Dare2Dance weekend on the 25th.

July 25th
Dare2Dance (the actual event) is free to come along and watch at the Southbank Centre. Check out the battles and see who will win the opportunity to be trained by top dancers.

July 26th
Pineapple Open Day is the annual day at the Covent Garden studios when every class is free for one day. This year they're celebrating their 30th birthday! Just turn up early to register - it will be busy!

August 13th
Ujam Staines. All you have to do it hit up the high street of Ali G's stomping ground for this event, aaaaiight!!?

17th August
I Love Dance - not just one day, but a whole week of dance thanks to East London Dance. Line up is a bit scarce at the moment, but if it's over a week (can't get enough of just how long it'll be!) I doubt the teachers will be a joke!

30th August
Dance Mob: With all these free workshops, it's time to put in some effort and do a performance. Learn the Dance Mob routine then descend upon the Southbank Centre in a massive dance mob. You can learn the routine by hitting up the Southbank Centre's website or going there throughout August (other info is TBA)


Enjoy checking these events out! When we say dance is free, we don't just mean free = no price, but free to grow and reach new people!

For other (non-free) hip hop dance-related events, see what's on at the TooMuchFlavour calendar page!

Attn Event organisers! Have we missed anything? Are we misinforming the masses? Do your events start earlier or end later? While we do our best to get the details correct and get our facts right, mistakes can easily be overlooked. If so, email info@toomuchflavour.co.uk .

Disclaimer: Details are assumed as correct at time of publishing. This blog may be updated at any time without notification. TooMuchFlavour takes no responsibility if events are cancelled, rescheduled or display the wrong times thus making you catch the wrong train. Listings are compiled as a guide to let you know what is going on by TooMuchFlavour for the benefit of its readers, taken from press releases, mailouts, flyers etc. Check with the venues to make sure the event you want to go to is still on. In conclusion, if this blog post messes up your day, we wash our hands of any responsibility!