LEGS! Next Steps Event – The Rum Shack, Glasgow

I was at a birthday party for a friend of a friend a while ago. That friend of a friend turned out to live on the same street as my gran so that’s us best pals now.

At this party I was outside catching some fresh air and I got talking to a guy called Billy. He was letting someone hear some music through his phone speakers. We’ve all seen this exact scene a million times before but there was something about this particular white noise from a phone speaker that caught my attention. Before I knew it I was in-between them asking what they were listening to. It turns out it was his latest tracks he was showing off. And rightly so. I was hooked. I ended up pestering him enough that he sent me links to some of his private songs on his Soundcloud.

Fast forward a few weeks and I get a random message through asking me if I’m available to photograph a hip hop event in The Rum Shack on the 11th of May. The sender goes on to say someone had recommended me.

Billy from the party had recommended me. We had only spoken for about 10 minutes and it was mostly me telling him I loved his music. What a lovely man.

Here is a photo of him so you don’t need to keep wondering what he looks like:

So back to this message asking me to take photographs…The event was called ‘Next Steps’ and is hopefully the first of many! The promoters, LEGS! are aiming to promote the UK Hip-Hop and R&B scene in Glasgow with an emphasis on Scottish artists. For this instalment, they has Billy Got Waves and his band (more on this later), Lamaya, ID and the promoters themselves Nika and Riddley Walker.

Nika and Riddley were outstanding. They both took turns switching between DJ’ing and spitting political and aggressive messages down the mic. It was raw, energetic and exactly what was needed to set the evening off to a great start.

ID (Ibrahim Dikko) was next to take the stage. Slow well produced beats and a fast, bouncing, vocal topped off with a stage presence that makes you pay attention. I must have listened to him on Spotify for about two weeks straight after watching him perform. I was lucky enough to get him to come out side with me for some photographs. He was a good laugh to photograph and had some great stories to tell whilst he was patiently waiting for me to stop taking photos.

Lamaya took to the stage with confidence. She could have filled the room with only her voice but she brought with her some serious bass. As her DJ filled the room with fast paced head banging R&B music she danced and sang like she was in an arena sized venue. It was amazing to watch. Sadly none of her music is available online yet so you’ll have to trust me. It was unreal. I can’t wait until she released some of her music. She also agreed to some portraits to be taken outside which was a bonus.

Next on stage was my man Billy Got Waves. I’m a total fan boi so please take what I’m about to say with a pinch of salt. This was an outstanding performance. I could barely take pictures as I was absolutely hypnotised by the music. I wasn’t expecting a live band. After listening to him on Spotify on repeat I was used to the produced tacks with Billy signing/rapping over the top. The band managed to reproduce some of this but they added so much life to the stage it really was a different beast altogether. And I was there for it.

All in all it was a great night and I can’t wait until the next ‘Next Steps’ event by LEGS! Thanks to them for inviting me along.

All photos taken with Leica Q or Leica SL2-S paired with a Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4 and edited with the help of my partner in crime Lee Jones (radiomoths.com)