DMC headed off to Birmingham on Saturday for the Midlands heat, which also happens to be the current Battle For World Supremacy Champion Switch’s hometown. As I travelled up through a very heavy downpour my only company was Shiftee’s latest mix CD which got me in the mood for the competition, so I started to wonder on what talent the Birmingham heat would bring and will it be the second time a champion is born from this city?
The most notable and outstanding afternoon performances were from Jeppa and Furious P who were unanimously voted the best in the eliminations. Their faultless performances clearly made it a two-man race. Furious P won the elimination so maybe the evening would give Jeppa a second chance to beat his opponent.
The evening event started off with Heducation’s residents. We are always happy to come back to Birmingham when we work with Heductation as its always a good night! Last year they had a live graffiti and this year when we arrived there was two special pieces of graffiti specially made for the event. Check out www.dmcdjchamps.com for the photos!
3rd place in the final went to Special Guest who was back for his 2nd and final chance as he had already come third at the Manchester heat. There was definite improvement in confidence and timing, as he displayed busy chasing groove rearrangements and dynamic added Scratches.
2nd place: A constantly evolving Jeppa, impressed me as future potential, he shows stage presence and good musical choices which I believe are the 1st signs, while still being quite technical, he maintained something I find equally as important – great timing and a funky arrangement, it’s this balance that separates the men from the boys!
1st place: Unanimously awarded to Furious P, without doubt this has been one of my favourite performances throughout this tour and without trying to give away too much detail all I can say is Furious P has a title waiting for him in the near future, as well as the previous pluses mentioned regarding Jeppa, Furious P is a very humble DJ who’s very noticeable when on stage, he’s clearly enjoying himself and makes it all sound and look simple.
As in all the previous heats we end the night with the touring team, Inja was back in force and treated the Rainbow Club crowd to entertaining free styles and his current new release is a head nodding “Hat Low” master piece, you can also check out the video on youtube. Supremacy Champions Shiftee & Switch again staged their ultimate Head to Head battle, which just keeps getting better (is that possible?) as well as individual party sets. Finally I want to add my personal thoughts of respect to Switch, who caught chicken pox earlier this week (who’s that laughing!) He was still determined to appear and perform 100% and to me this is a clear sign of a true professional and champion, Switch keep using that lotion! lol.
Cutmaster Swift
Last heat of the UK championships 2009 – London
Saturday 20th June @ 93 Feet East with Urban Nerds
7-3am
DMC Championship Slot – 7-11pm
With Jackbeats, Mumdance, Jungle Drummer V FU, Professor Green + more!!!
For full details www.dmcdjchamps.com