Call and Response

Def Presse, Group Bracil and Phonetics present "Call and Response" celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop music and culture!

In its original incarnation, hip hop was foundation music at Phonetics. Guests ranged from Masta Ace, Jeru tha Damaja and Blackalicious to Saian Supa Crew and the cream of UK Hip Hop from Jehst, Ty to Roots Manuva and beyond..

We return to the source for a series of collaboration nights with different labels and crews to celebrate 50 years of hip hop with a packed line up over 2 floors dropping past, present and future Hip Hop, Funk, Soul and Jazzy materials from the source. We will be playing the classics, underground anthems to indie hip hop pushing at the margins.

TOM CARUANA (Tea Sea Records/Strange Planet)

Phonetics welcomes this Hip hop producer, DJ and owner of Tea Sea Records. Tom has worked with UK & US rappers including Masta Ace, Large Professor, billy woods, Paten Locke, Blu, Jehst and Lee Scott with a roll call of productions going back over 20 years! Tom has created numerous remix projects such as Black Gold, Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers, An Adventure To Pepperland Through Rhyme & Space, Baat Suno and Inner Space reworking everyone from Dr Octogon to Method Man and blending the work of Wu Tang with The Beatles, Jim Hendrix and New Orleans funk.

AGENT J (Huey's Hip Hop Mixtape / Def Presse / Groovement)

Sheffield born Agent J (aka Jamie Groovement) has been an integral part of the hip hop and music scene of Manchester and beyond whether warming up for a who's who of rap including Pete Rock, Slum Village Arrested Development, Jungle Brothers and RZA or co-producing two superb series of The Hip Hop Mixtape for Huey Morgan's BBC 6 Music. His long-running Groovement podcasts, reviews and interviews have seen him author the sleeve notes to a Cypress Hill 'Best of...' compilation and interview Souls of Mischief, Chuck D and the late, great Ty whose track inspired the name of his Groovement music site. On this long overdue Phonetics debut, Agent J is representing superb leftfield hip hop label, Def Pressé whose releases include Damu the Fudgemunk, Pan Amsterdam and Raw Poetic alongside releases from Iggy Pop, Jason Williamson (Sleaford Mods) to Open Mike Eagle.

ANDY H (Tuesday Club / First Word Records)

Having honed his skills in the world of turntablism, Andy applies his unique style of DJing to dancefloor bass-music while still remaining true to his Hip Hop roots. As a UK DMC and Red Bull 3Style finalist he champions the art of real DJing and channels that energy into every performance, kick starting any dancefloor. A guaranteed party starter and one of the most versatile DJs in the UK, Andy is resident DJ at the legendary Tuesday Club which recently celebrated its 25th year! A co-founder of top UK soul/hip hop label, First Word Andy's productions have reflected his twin loves of hip hop and drum & bass.
Andy H has supported a roll call of World class DJs and artists from the world of hip hop including Public Enemy, De La Soul, KRS One, DJ Premier, Jazzy Jeff, Flying Lotus and countless others over the years, earning himself a reputation as a ‘DJs DJ’, leading to him being invited by Serato to showcase the launch of the new Serato Twelve turntables on their release. Having played at festivals from Outlook to Glastonbury, you always get fire, vibes and technical brilliance from Andy H. Putting together a turntablist display set for this night, Andy is, in the words of Toddla T, 'the DJ you don't want to go on after!' We will ask who wants to take on that challenge on the night...

MORRIARCHI (Group Bracil/Balaami Radio))

We are chuffed to have DJ, producer and label boss, Morriarchi at Phonetics - the night where he caught the hip hop bug more than 20 years ago. As offlicencemagazine said, 'To listen through Morriarchi's back catalogue is to listen to what is genuinely one of *the* sounds of British Hip Hop. His drums fill rooms, his intricate effects can be eery at their best, and his time spent digging pays off with untraceable samples from ancient funk and films you've never heard of! Operating in the UK hip hop scene for years now, he produced cult classics for Blah Record and Bad Taste Records before setting up his own label, Group Bracil. We've got a lot of love for his relentless promotion of UK hip hop: wonky, funky and downright dirty beats and rhymes.

Your host for the evening...

 V3XTATION (Full Thought / Renegade Brass Band)

Sheffield hip-hop scene stalwart V3x has performed in over fourteen countries performing with the formidable 12 piece brass outfit 'Renegade Brass Band' , nationally toured with De La Soul, shared stages with Busta Rhymes, Public Enemy, MF DOOM and Naughty by Nature and collaborated with heavyweight producers including Tall Black Guy, Kidkanevil, Andy Thompson and Lazerbeak. He commands a crowd effortlessly switching between bravado brag rap, comedic one liners and conscious social commentary. His knowledge and curation of hip-hop is revered internationally by DJ's and selectors alike. His reputation as a talented showman able to blend genres and styles with live music is stamped and solidified. V3x will be keeping the vibe right throughout the night.
 

ZEENI

Impeccable taste and top DJ, Sheffield's Hoodz Underground's former DJ has been DJing at the finer sounding places around Sheffield for the past 20 years. Chances are, if you've been in a spot where the soul, hip hop and funk sound proper - Zeeni's been on the decks. Another long overdue Phonetics debut!

LEVI BUSSUE

Phonetics head chef who has been collecting music, promoting events and DJing on and off for over 30 years from pirate radio, club events and festivals including We Out Here. He is happiest playing genre hopping sets but tonight he'll be firmly in the hip hop zone. However...expect some excursions into hip hop from around the world and some dancehall influences. His Phonetics promotions have covered multiple genres but reads of a who's who of early 00s UK hip hop including Ty, Roots Manuva, Blade, Taskforce, Jehst, as well as US acts like J-Live, Master Ace, The Beatnuts, Craig G, Akrobatik, Punchline-N-Wordsworth, Jeru the Damaja and crews such as Saian Supa Crew from France. With his groundbreaking Phonetics night revived, refitted and recharged for the 2020s, watch out for more music from the more interesting edges of our scene. Never one to follow the crowd, rest assured he'll have something interesting in his set snuck up his sleeve.

CHRIS WELCH

Welchie has been running his weekly 'Sounds Like This' radio show on Sheffield Live for over 15 years and has been part of the Phonetics crew since day one after Levi signed him up for an undisclosed fee (about £3). Equally at home dropping a Jorge Ben track or a Doom tune, he continues to be a mainstay of leftfield dance music in Sheffield constantly exploring the freshest sounds around. With DJ appearances at Soundwave Festival (Croatia) and We Out Here plus long-running residencies at Leeds' Soul Rebels night and, of course, Phonetics - Chris will be downstairs exploring the music that forms the roots of hip hop.

ALEX F.B

Born and raised in Sheffield, Alex's musical beginnings are rooted in his Dad's extensive record collection; from Hip-hop royalty such as Tribe through to the seminal house sound of Masters at Work. Starting DJing at just 14, his appetite quickly widened sparking an exploration of fresh new sounds through his own productions. Alex FB's productions have found a home in the musical world of soul, hip hop and funk taking inspiration from artists such as Dornik, Slum Village and Jamiroquai.

Alex is an exciting new talent whose productions have caught the ear of music heads around Sheffield and Yorkshire. We look forward to his Phonetics debut!

RUTH JOY

DJ, singer/songwriter and musician, Ruth Started the Selector/DJ journey age 13/14 playing weekly at youth clubs before quickly becoming part of the local scene working with 'FON Force' productions (Rob Gordon/Mark Brydon) as session singer/writer/arranger and as the featured vocalist on international crossover house track before recording an album in the early 90s with producers including Mantronix, Aswad and Carl Mcintosh (Loose Ends) also featuring Roy Ayers on vibes.....'Pride and Joy' is talked about as a street soul classic. Even Louie Vega turned a remix in! From the mid 90s onwards - various DJ/MC/singing duties have included residencies at legendary Sheffield night, NY Sushi. A regular DJ at Phonetics events over the past 20 years...we call her the musical oracle for her musical knowledge and carefully chosen selections!

INFO - 

10 till 3am, unless we are vibing and we might go on later

ADV tickets £5 + Booking fee 

£8 OTD

We will also set aside 25 tickets on the door where you can pay what you can afford.

House rules - Good vibes only, all are welcome.