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He said, “Immediately before me on stage there was a woman. I couldn’t tell you if she was growling? Was she rapping? I dunno. I didn’t know if she was British or American, ..er so I found out her name was Urban Haiku. Haiku is like a Japanese short poem. And…err… I said something about her on my web site. And I got this phone call from someone I thought said was called ‘Irving’. But I don’t know anyone called ‘Irving’. You’ll understand”. And then he played, ‘At The Gates’ by Urban Haiku.

But did Laye Sow understand what Charlie was on about? I didn’t but I knew the crowd at The ADKC Allstar DJ Soundclash (which is the gig he was referring to) had heard something special.

Hectic approached Max Reinhardt (Shrine) who was an organiser of the gig and a fan. He said, “The majestic Urban Haiku took hold of the whole cavernous space of Cargo and shook us with her words, her warmth, her style, her sassy… She’s like a 21st century totally female Gil Scott Heron, jazz speech rhythms meet apocalyptic African-American radicalism.”

Unsurprisingly, Jamie Renton is also a fan, “Urban Haiku is a vital new voice in hip hop: raw, passionate and uncompromising. A woman on a mission to wake up the world to the plight of those in the margins and you better believe that she means every word! Musically, she draws on beats and sounds from everywhere (hip hop, rock, ragga, Afro beat and beyond) to create something powerful and unique.”

Urban has been working on her debut album on Carbon Logic. In the meantime, they’ve squeezed out two track promo CDr. ‘Pussyriders’ is uncompromising as the cover illustration (we’re talking sexually explicit content here). It’s enough to give a weaker member an orgasm. The other track, ‘What’s Happening?!’ is equally going to cause a few problems if they’re looking to get rid of that ‘Parent Advisory’ sticker (there’s quite a few expletives in the lyrics). Hip hop from a modern day Grace Jones with “a mouth like a sewer” (as my Mum might have said).

So now you’ve been warned. Urban Haiku is a spitting dragon whose fire rages with monsterously heavy, dark hip hop that churns out of her cauldron. She’s dangerous.

Definitions:
Urban - located in or characteristic of a city or city life
Haiku - a Japanese lyric verse form having 3 unrhymed lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons.

Links:
Charlie Gillett - Sound of the World (Saturday Night on BBC London 94.9 FM) Laye Sow (with Don, Dan & Mike) / Damian Rafferty of www.flyglobalmusic.com 12 February 05 Urban Haiku: ‘At The Gates’ (unreleased demo : Carbon Logic ) ADKC Sound Clash. 04 December 04
Carbon Logic [see original ‘Pussyriders’ artwork by Mike Hoffman]
KarmaDownload: Download Carbon Logic tunes or seek out limited edition 7”s in your local independent record store.
Chilli Fried - Jamie Renton
The Shrine
Glade Festival: LIVE @ The Little Big Tent Sunday 17th July, Clever Bunny and Special guests Urban Haiku & Tammy Garcia

The ADKC Allstar DJ Soundclash: “Never have so many vibing DJs faced each other in mortal combat. Who has the killa groove in their box? Who can drop the maximum megaton dance floor damage? A Celebration of Diversity in Rhythm in aid of Action Disability Kensington and Chelsea. Pitting the finest DJs against each other in a non-stop series of one-on-one soundclashes. There will be no losers! DJs include: Ashley Beedle, Jerry Dammers, Gaz Mayall, Charlie Gillett, Ross Allen (Casual), Pete Lawrence (Big Chill), Simon Emmerson, Eric Soul, Russ Jones (Future World Funk), Nick Luscombe (XFM Flo-Motion), Pete Bengry (Cornershop), Martin Morales, Rita Ray & Max Reinhardt, DJ AJ Temple of Soundsystem, DJ Debbie + even more!