Good day friends, it has been a WHILE. Too long. Anyway, today I think I'm going to give you guys 2 posts today! I do have the dentist at 3pm, so it depends on how I feel after that.
But before I go, I'm going to show you guys a few bargains I've recently bumped into and couldn't help but buy! As you know already, I'm not a big spender and that's mainly because I'm not a big earner, so I LOVE bargain hunting. When bargain hunting, in this instance, for clothes, you must take into account a number of different things before you make the purchase. These things are all pretty obvious, I'd say they were; price(before n after), originality(it may be cheap because it's massed produced and you do not want that!), brand name(the more familiar you are with the brand, the more you can trust it's quality) and then all the other factors that come into play when clothes shopping normally like size, etc.
All these items cost me £24 in total, scroll down and see what I bought!
We start with this Peter Storm Jacket, once an £80 jacket, is mine and all for just £6!
£6 - British Heart Foundation
Here we have some Gola socks, 2 pairs from a pack of 8! Wait for it.. that cost me £4!! I was on break from work in my local Tesco and had to buy, especially as I was experiencing the worst sock drought of my life!
£4 - Tesco
NOW WE HAVE SOME SHIRTS..
£2 - East End Thrift Store!
£2 - East End Thrift Store
£3 - Iain Rennie Hospice
£3 - Iain Rennie Hospice
The penultimate item is one my favourite buys, as I've been looking for a head sports bag for some time now! And when I finally bumped into one, the price meant I had to make it mine there and then. £4 people!!!
Jealous? Wait for my next acquisition!
After being told off on numerous occassions for thinking I can get away with wearing all black trainers, instead of smart shoes, I finally chose to conform. But I was still being stubborn I was only settling for a pair of Doc Martens, and when my hairdresser told me his best friend worked at Doc Martens, I thought life couldn't get better. Obviously, it did. Turns out my hairdresser Ben just bough brand new ones and was looking to get rid of his! Given my interest, Ben offered them to me for FREE, conveniently he lives opposite me girl Laura in Hackney so I was able to pick them up soon after the agreement was made and HERE they are..
£0 - A friend!
Jealous now? YOU STILL DON'T HAVE TO BE! As you see, I only really go to charity shops for these finds, so go to your local charity shops and if they don't do it for you then go to some charity shops that aren't local to you? See how it works.. Also, if you really want something go to someone you think will have that thing and ask if they can advice you on the cheapest to get what you want.
Click here for more information on the East End Thrift Store. Some days EETS host a £1 day where selected items (ALOT) are all a pound.
Here are a few videos, I just want to keep you guys involved, from a two former LOTM MCs and some upcoming youngers from Nottingham, all of which were shot by JDZMedia.
I'm not jumping on any sort of band wagon when I say look out for Mez, one of the hottest in the game. You don't have to look far on YouTube to see this yout slicing off heads.
Here's my first vid. JDZMedia presents D2's SPITFIRE. I have met this guy live and spoken to him since on live call ins to SilkCityRadio, warning- this is fire..
'You can't challenge me on the mic, I've got a black belt in.. karaoke..'
Another former LOTM man, K Dot (Sheffield) hits us up with some fresh material, in his Elite Sessions. Listen closely to the lyrics! This video is only a day or two old.
Finally, we have a new single on the market?? Sparx and Mez have come together to produce suttin' amazing, again, this is a fresh tune.
That's all for now. Do stay tuned for more GRM news! Don't forget to suscribe to the channels on YouTube.
As stated in my previous blog post, whilst we were ambling our way through Brick Lane on Sunday, Laura was lucky enough to be invited to a free haircut on the 10th of March, at 1pm, she was ordered to go to Ena Salon, Holborn and meet with Gianna, a lovely Cypriot girl, who would cut hair into what ever style she wanted. I thought I'd tag along and take a few pictures. This sort of opportunity isn't far from you, the problem is, you're inside too much, get out and dance in the land of opportunity!
I was also asked if I'd like a haircut and I said 'sure!', so that's all arrange for 1.30pm, next Tuesday. My hairdresser will be Ben, and I'm interested to see what he does. He said something along the lines of skinfade-to-hightop..
Here are some of the pictures I took of the trip to Holborn!
All in all it took 4 hours, but this was because Gianna is a trainee and was under close supervision, by the Head Stylist, Woody. This could save you a whopping £20 in life!
If you'd like to get your haircut by Ena Salon there is you can try and contact me, to sort you out an appointment? Facebook me, text me, tweet me.
The 9th of March had been highly-anticipated by many people all over the captial. High's of 17 degrees had been reported (hotter than a 9th of Match spent in Ibiza) and the day did not disappoint, not a cloud in site and a gawjusss heat. Laura and I decided to head out to London's thrifty East End! We went for a afternoon drink on Boxpark, Shoreditch. We then made our way to the sure-to-be-packed Brick Lane, we cut through the market on Scalter Way and it was definitely a taster for what was in store at the market. There were great deals everywhere and movement was oh so limited.
Good deals on Scalter Way Market, towards Brick Lane from Shoreditch High Street Station
MEGA bottles of shampoo and conditioner - £2
Heavy Duty bike lock, with 3 keys! - £3 (£30-100+ RRP) - this makes me think that the keys are all generic so be careful if you're buying these locks for a bike in the Shoreditch area as people may have the key to YOUR lock)
Vinyls for cheap - (20p - £3)
Typical yard sales
Anyway, we soon reached a busy Brick Lane and proceeded to look around! You had all your different market stalls and more innovative stalls, selling quirky, cool and also common gadgets and products. Our stomach's soon started talking to us, so we listened, and went to eat in Brick Lane Food Hall recommended by Laura, there was so much choice and ultimately, we ended up going for a Venezulan(...?!?) delicasse.
After that, we made our way to see what Brick Lane had to offer! We ambled through the herds of people, making some buys on the way. Our eyes were drawn to various vendors, some had an amazing artillery of stock, from vintage cameras to henna tattoos, Brick Lane's Sunday Market does have it all! We then sat down on a bit of free space in the midst of thousands of people pausing for a 'breather'/sip of anything. There we met a cooool couple, Moss and Louis. We ended up walking down Regent's Canal and also having a look at the Columbia Flower Market, PERFECT, for you guys that have A LOT of making up to do. You can buy lovely bunches from as cheaps 50p so check it out if you're in the area on a Sunday!
Finished the night at The Ferry Boat Inn, in last year's hometown.. Tottenham Hale, where we enjoyed a delightful meal before retreating, back to Hackney.
Here are some snaps from the day! I THINK.. they're in the right order.
Sunnies (Brick Lane Market) - £8
Smoked Salmon Bagels for £1.40 (20p more for cream cheese..)
Sunnies (Brick Lane) - £5
Top (East End Thrift store) - £2
Casio Watch (Argos) - £8
Last year, a party was held in the derelict bulding just behind the red frame, music and people could be heard and seen for miles, ahh London.
Nigerians are out here, land, water, we're everywhere.
This lovely bunch was only £2 from the flower market!
They really brighten up a room, more for the ladies. Men, I am not encouraging you to buy roses for your windowsills, this is a picture of Laura's windowsill in Hackney.
All in all it was a good day spent getting to know cool people and enjoying all the offers a keen bargain hunter like myself could dream for!
Whilst walking through the crowds of people L was stopped by Gianna, a Cypriot hairdresser, working for Ena Salon, Holborn! Laura was offered a free haircut, this is a common thrifty opportunity that you just can't turn down, my next blog'll be a wuick one about L's free cut!
Stay tuned and stay blessed, GRM updates also coming soon!
The boss Jammer is back. We haven't scene a freestyle for 2 years now from the grime scene baaaauuuus that is the Murkle Man, and look.. I know 2 years isn't that long but that is a whopping THREE series of SBTV, without a Jammer freestyle. And you'd think for those who love Jammer for his music, the east London rapper would just stay out of dramas and the social media spotlight, just to keep his fans from thinking 'oo I haven't heard a freestyle from him in a while?' but NO. Impossible. May I remind you who the CEO and owner of Lord Of The Mics is?? Yes, IT'S DV MURKLE MVN. So expect to be seeing his face on your twitter timeline A LOT around now as anticipation for LOTM6 is hotting up! He has already received threats from rapper Big H and now has gotten on the wrong side of the Asian rapper, from Birmingham.. Grimmy, over comments Jammer has made about Grimmy's LOTM5 contestant Grim Sickers. Without further ado, I present to you Jammer's 'Warm Up Session' by SBTV
Released on the 25th of February
This year, Jammer (BBK) is definitely going to be in the top 5 most talked about rappers, so make sure you don't miss a word of what's going on! Follow the artist at @JammerBBK
WARNING: THERE ARE A LOT OF VIDEOS IN THIS POST, IF YOU WATCH EVERY VIDEO FROM BEGINNING TO END, I HAVE WORKED OUT THAT YOU'LL BE ON MY POST FOR THE NEXT 2 HOURS OF YOUR LIFE. JUST WATCHED A FEW MINUTES OF EACH. FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.
Okay, this is just going to be a short(ish) post. A shortish post that should educate you more about the grime scene, outside of London. Yes, yes, yes, we've all heard of Skepta, Wiley, Frisco, P Money, K Koke, JME, to name a few. BUT how clear a bell do these names ring? Marshy, A9, KB, Dorris, JayKae, Gino, Mez, Eyez, Dankz..... Hmm, I thought so. Well these are the names of MCs who have been representing their 'ends' for the past few years now, all with different flows, bars, styles, fashions and goals not too mention accents. Without London and the Godafther, Wiley, the whole idea of grime theoretically may have never started, London has done very well to give the grime scene one demographic, one face. With the help of social media channels, grime now has many faces, many different demographics and a lot of accents.
The main grime following outside of London can be found in the Midlands, east and west but predominantly in Birmingham and then in Nottingham. Awareness has been raised in these areas mainly via YouTube and the work of online grime media channels, such as, JDZ Media and P110, that operate on YouTube. Both have emulated characteristics of the father of all YouTube media channels, SB.TV.
I personally am a huge advocate for The Midland's grime music, what attracted me to it was the individually that each rapper possesses. Crews like Invasion from Birmingham are a team of talented MCs coming in all in different shapes and sizes, MCs are solely judged on talent and how much their bars are believed, no matter what the bars are. This is better than being judged on what clothes you're wearing and how many times you've 'banged a strap', no?
Anyway let the lessons begin! I'm going to kick it off with some videos of artists from Birmingham..
Devilman, the grime veteran of Birmingham who was banned from MCing, after an incident in which he was found to have snitched on a close friend. Devilman famously clashed Skepta (BBK) in LOTM2!
P110 have definitely been the main advocates for Birmingham, with JDZ raising awareness for surrounding parts of the Midlands. Other media channels have been around for a while as well, doing the same thing that the three platforms mentioned are currently doing. Here's a cypher from one of those channels.. UGX (UndergroundExposure).
These are MCs from Nottingham, Derby and Manchester.
In Order - D Flowz (NSB), Rikkers (NSB), Mez (NSB), Jay Eye (NSB), Don Dyno (Str8GzENT), Baz Brown (NewCamp), Wariko (LOTM3 & NewCamp)
Now let's have a look at Nottingham and what's going on there?..
Firstly, Wariko. Wariko is one of the first non-London MCs to really blow in the UK scene, with appearances on Westwood 1Xtra in 2009 and LOTM3, Wariko is DEFINITELY a grime veteran AND.. he has the lyrics to match the reputable career.
Mez (NSB), one of the hottest younger's in the country, beating Grimsta on Sunday to claim SilkCity Radio's Prizefighter award. Please look out for, for your sake.
You cannot forget Gino. Defintely Nottingham's most commercial MC.
This #SPITFIRE from A9, had to feature in this post. This is probably my favourite freestyle on any YouTube channel, MAD VERSES. 'I don't wanna hear man chat chat..'
Okay.. Now we'll have a look at Walsall, I think it's time to get the map out.
Walsall, is extremely close to Birmingham.
Here's Walsall's best MC, Marshy representing Higher Stakes and Young Guvament. Amazing flow and only 17 years old!
Flawzz from Walsall has his Story Teller shot by JDZ.
And finally. to rap things up.. we have Eyez (LOTM5) and Dankz representing Derby. And representing Manchester we have Dorris, accompanied by more Notts man in 'Deya'.
The scene is also exploding up north, so obviously, I'm going to show you more videos.
From Liverpool, now representing a K Koke's crew, USG. We have Aystar. Then we to MCs that both broke through via DON'T FLOP rap battles, Blizzard (LOTM5) from Manchester and Lunar C from Bradford, yorkshire's first big grime name.
BANG!.. Aystar.
Blizzard!
and Lunar C, who's popularity is ever growing!!
Now, I hope it didn't take you 2 hours to read all of this. I also hope that you are now more enlightened on the exploding grime scene and that you all understand that good grime music is not solely produced by one demographic. If this is still the case and you're not convinced, have a look at my absolute FINAL vid.
This is Cee Major, straight out of East London, the home of grime.
Have a great day! Listen to more videos on YouTube and follow and subscribe to the channels I've mentioned throughout! Here are the links..
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter, Instagram and anything else you can think of @ZachEkpe, it'll be worth it. Stay Locked for more GRM News and videos, and stay blessed.
You may have heard it. You may not believe it. You may not even have heard it till right now! Regardless! It's happening. The clash of the year, and one of the biggest clashes in grime history, has now been confirmed by both of the rappers involved. P Money, one of my favourite MCs, from Lewisham in South London, is clashing BIG H, straight out of Tottenham!! Both MCs have had their fair share of beefs, famously P Money and Ghetts, and then for Big H.. the list would find out and surpass Blogger's word count. Ultimately, this clash will be amazing for a number of reasons.
1. Both MCs feel as if their respective flows have been copied as grime has grown and new MCs have emerged. I think most will agree that they're both not too far from the truth here..
2. Big H speaks about his relationship with P Money being 'tense' on The Grime Show, claiming that P Money has maybe not been as polite as he could have been in their previous encounters.
3. Big H is a mad man, and is hell bent on the destruction of P Money. This mixed with P Money's composure and confidence, will promote this clash all by itself.
4. THESE ARTISTS DO NOT FLOP.
Both these MCs are very different. As people and as artists. In fact, they're completely different. That's where the main spice comes from, they're difference. One of the only things they share is confidence. Big H is a character, he's loud and it is very clear that he thinks a lot of himself, and not very much of those around him in the game. Big H talks about his recent EP 'Fire and Smoke' being his weapon of destruction. Big H wants to flush out all the s*** in grime and keep it real. P Money on the other hand is a completely different personality, he's a reserved character who I've been in very close proximity ha, check me. He hasn't commented much about the clash with H and you shouldn't expect to hear anything too revealing about the clash and his opinions on it. Although, P's personality can come across a bit arrogant, so can H's. With Big H though, it is different. He is almost too arrogant, the way he MCs and talks is almost as if he doesn't take anything that seriously. I feel that H should be a bit more careful in his approach to LOTM6, he needs to do his research on P, because P Money is a master lyricist. His wordplay and skippy flow attract reloads and massive crowd backing, this is a disadvantage to H as his flow doesn't warrant a reload as often.
But in the meantime, have a look at BOTH MCs, and come to your own conclusions! First up, we have both of their 1Xtra Fire In The Booth's released only two weeks apart from each other.
BIG H - FIRE IN THE BOOTH
How'd you find that?
Here's P
P MONEY - FIRE IN THE BOOTH
I'm allowed to have an outright opinion, right? A few of my pals are certain this one's going to Big H, but I am almost positive that they're all wrong. P MONEY FOR THE WIN. Listen to the guy, he's a lot more talented than most, not just Big H. Thaaaat said, Big H is a lot more suited to clashing so it is going to be close whether you like it or not.
Since starting this post, there has been all sorts of dramas surrounding the clash. Big H didn't turn up for the pre-clash contract signing, making people believe that he had 'wimped' out of things and ultimately proving me right about his character. But no! It's not over yet, according to H, his absence was due to mis-communications between him and Jammer (LOTM6 owner), something about Jammer telling him the wrong time. ANYWAY, here's a screenshot showing what Big H thought about rumours claiming he was too scared to clash P Money.
I don't know what will happen yet with regards to the clash, all I know is both Big H and P Money will clash! And it's going to be an epic one. Who will win? What will happen?
Follow both artists on twitter to keep up to date with their feuds and what they have to say about this upcoming clash of the titans!!
Good morning all! It's a beautiful Saturday and I am sure that a lot of you have woken up thinking 'What can I do with all me BLVCKJEVNS?!'.. fear not, here is the answer! Today, I'm going to be showing you how to save money on your style! I'm sure a lot of you are working towards a huge shopping trip with your best of friends, but in the mean time, while that dream isn't in sight, I have something a bit more tangible for you! All you need is a pair of scissors and a creative mind/internet. Make sure you have picked your clothes well, you don't want to go ruining your most expensive jeans to date.
Ok.. First of all I grabbed 3 pairs of black jeans that were in the eBay pile and started planning out what I'd do to each pair. I decided on.. a pair of slit knee jeans and a pair of shorts! I also thought I'd chuck in a style tip with the third pair, more down to the fact that I really couldn't think any wider than my 2 chosen styles, but HEY I'm sure you guys can come up with a few more!
So.. Here's the first pair!
£40 Topshop MOTO ( I'd just like to say that I'm an owner of plenty of jeans, they just don't get worn often! They can compete in terms of comfort and price!)
2 GOOD - COMFORT & QUALITY
1 BAD - a TAD too PRICEY
These were actually Laura's jeans! But I wore them a few times.. and ripped them. So they became mine! As they'd already been torn by yours truly, I thought that these jeans could be my perfect guinea pig for my little 'slit-knee' experiment..
Here, I simply put the jeans on nice and snug, then grabbed scissors. I started by cutting two eyeball-sized holes on each knee and thought 'cool, I'm gonna take these off now and cut them sooo neatly and accurately'.. that didn't happen. I just pulled the hole apart and they came out looking cool! I'll have better pictures one day soon (NEW CAMERA SOON I PRAY). You can also cuff the jeans for an added dimension..
Number Two!!!! I present to you..
Some UNKNOWN BLVCKJEVNS! .. These jeans were in an odd condition, I wore them today for the first time in a while across the road to a friends house and they under-performed on every platform! The material felt odd. Weird lines had appeared from where they'd be worn and they were randomly well-ventilated ideal for summer, torture in February. ANYWAY, I don't even know how I acquired these jeans but with all of the above in mind, it was very easy for me to decide that these jeans would be the jeans I'd cut into shorts. Although summer is far away, I still have 3 other pairs of BLVCKJEVNS to wear in the mean time.
£0 - UNKNOWN
0 GOOD
2 BAD - QUALITY & COMFORT
I quickly folded the jeans carefully and then lined them up against my leg. I then took the scissors and made a slight incision in the back of both jean legs. I then brought the jeans to eye-level and cut them as straight as I could! The result was actually awesome and I really can't wait to try these out in the summer!
They came to the perfect height for me and I've left a tad bit of growing space! Yes, that is a shoe lace and no, I'm not trying to be alternative. The shoe lace is a perfectly adequate substitute for a belt costing you absolutely nothing.
BUT YEAH. Those are what the shorts looked like!! You can make shorts for summer out of any old trousers, but remember when making alterations ALWAYS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, GROWING SPACE (if you're still growing that is)
The third pair..
£6 - Primark, Denim & Co (these are women's, I advised women's jeans if you're a boy who likes to wear tighter bottoms)
2 GOOD - PRICE, COMFORT
1 BAD - BREAK EASILY
I know you think that this is kind of pointless, but it's not! By rolling up your jeans to reveal your sock, your outfit becomes less about the trousers and more about your trendy sock of choice for the day! That little logo or that funky design on your sock can change a whole outfit.
Pls give me more ideas as I've been surprisingly unimaginative with this!! Also, do leave comments below if I've managed to ease any of your shopping addictions.
Stay tuned, stayed blessed!
@ZachEkpe - Twitter & Instagram
Next Blog's going to be music (Grime) : - Big H vs P Money Lord Of The Mics 6 Clash - 'WHO'S DV REVL OG?'
£2 - East End Thrift Store!
£3 - Iain Rennie Hospice
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