Now, JP Rose has solidified himself a residency at London’s temple of Art and Music, a stunning south London venue hidden away in a crowded and impressive food market. Attending the first night of On the Rhythm makes you feel like you’re part of something special (and you definitely are). Up-and-coming soul and R&B artists filled the small but impressively aesthetic venue, chatting and drinking with the steady stream of music lovers who walk through the door.
As the lights dimmed and the first artist Kilu took to the stage, his blend of French pop-hop had the room was swaying. His awkwardness was as infectious as his hair was curly, and his voice was so empathetic that it was hard not to feel like you were seeing the world through his eyes as he sang his heart away at the start of the night.
The room seemed to double in capacity almost instantaneously as J P’s Manhattan collaborator Aura performed her sleek and sexy R&B set for a room of excitable punters. J P even joined the artist up on stage to perform some of their collaborations, something the artist would do multiple times throughout the night, somehow never managing to steal the limelight, only instead adding to the excitement.
The evening picked up in pace as Loraxx brought a more energetic bout to the evening, performing J P Rose’s track Emocean, running across the stage and bringing the first bit of audience participation to the evening as the crowd were cheering and singing along to the more conventional hip-hop tracks.
The evening then took a sudden change in pace as Teeze and Adi bought a slower performance to the now hyperactive crowd, with this time Teeze moving away from his usual place behind the mixing desk and taking centre stage, playing bass and rapping for almost a whole hour. The juxtaposition between the previous acts and Teeze and Adi’s set was a jarring one to witness. The slow nature of the set bought the excitement to a grinding halt and forced the audience to chill out and listen to the music in a different manner from the way they had for the whole evening.
However, despite the sudden change in tone, Teeze and Adi’s set was immaculate. The artists performed with a proficiency that can on be achieved with hours of tinkering and practice, and a tone so smooth it likely pasted the wallpaper back onto the venue walls for a few more years.
J P joined Teeze and crew on stage to close the show off, and brought an exciting end to an evening of vibes. And as the show drew to a close it was impossible to not feel like the first night of On The Rhythm would be something you would tell friends and family about in years to come as all the artists explode to newfound heights of fame.
Being surrounded in a room full of London’s best artists, not only on the stage but by the people that came to witness the inception of the new event was the perfect way to spend a Thursday night and worked as the beautiful transition from sunning it up at festivals back into the insides of dimly lit rooms for intimate gigs.
An undoubtedly important night of rising talent / 10