I normally don’t have a lot of time for Hifi at its busiest events. I hate getting hot and I don’t deal well with having no space to get down. Yet, Friday night showed me exactly why sometimes it really is the best place for a night out. Wun Two is a German hip-hop artist who rarely leaves Germany. Having been introduced to him whilst co-hosting a radio show last year, I couldn’t resist the temptation to go and see the man live in the flesh… even if it was in my venue of doom.

When you read the words ‘hip-hop’ you probably don’t envisage a German man donning a white t-shirt and your Grandad’s cardigan. Well guess what? That’s exactly what our hero was wearing, the absolute antithesis to Beat Pete and the rest of the crowd in their oversized, baggy ‘I just rolled out and rolled up’ vibe. The crowd was relatively small, but that’s to be expected when this type of hip-hop is relatively underground.

Wun Two has an enigmatic style of jazz infused hip-hop. Armed with nothing but a can of Red Stripe and a small sample pack, the man manipulates the crowd like putty into a sea of nodding Churchill dogs. All of us were completely entranced by the lo-fi beats, rocking the crowd back and forth with a selection of bumps from his roland sampler. The elusiveness of this man seeped in to his very performance, looking sheepish at times when a ‘whoop’ of appreciation escaped someone’s lips. The best thing about this event was just how involved the DJs were with the crowd, every single one of them stood between us whilst watching and appreciating the other acts.

Beat Pete performed purely with vinyl, which is something of a rarity for club nights no matter how small the event. Vinyl mastery on any level is something I hold at the highest regard. Evocative is the only way to describe Klaus’ tracks. He hit me with a notion of mindless productivity that only instrumental personification, which is so often seen in hip hop tracks, brings to mind.

It was probably the strangest event I’ve ever been to at a club, bordering somewhere between a club night and a concert. One thing that’s for certain though, absolutely everyone in that room appreciated the music, and that’s the kind of club night I am down for.

Rianna Julian