That DJing dynamo and purveyor of filthy beats, the Last Sketpik, is celebrating his 25th birthday (or quarter-life crisis as he seems to want to refer to it) on May 8th at the Queen of Hoxton. He’s gathered a beautiful array of UK hip hop greats to spin and spit y’all into a frenzy ensuring this will be a roadblock affair. On the decks you’ve got DJ IQ, Skitz, Jehst, DJ LOK, Chris P Cuts, Spin Doctor and the birthday boy himself. There’ll be an array of hosts throughout the evening: Stig of the Dump, Micall Parknsun, Joker Starr and Mr Ti2bs. You may wonder why I’m posting this so early, well I’m giving you plenty of warning to get it in the diary as it’s simply a hip hop happening you do not want to miss. More info click

Mr UK, UK, aka Disorda, of the mighty one stop shop for UK hip hop Suspect Packages, has had the genius idea to blow some life back into UK hip hop by starting up a night. Since the death of Kung-Fu, as we knew it, no one in London has really stepped up to fill those legendary boots and although UK Hip hop has died a death of sorts since those glory days, it seems to have evolved and is back in the game. Suspect Packages Live is a monthly flex at Vibe bar on Bricklane showcasing a whole heap of UK talent and the best bit is it’s FREE. So, for those of you who still appreciate real hip hop, who like a nice friendly vibe (excuse the pun) and still get a kick outta watching the UK do it’s thing, show your support!

I rolled down with my fellow hip hop loving lady, Lucy Pink, to check out Micall Parknsun, Joker Starr, Tactical Thinking and Sonny jim doing their thang. I was clearly so over excited that I took plenty of pictures:

The next Suspect Packages Live is 11th December 09 so check here for more information.