Killa Kela @ DEKEFEX

MASS, Brixton, UK, 12 April 2002

Blak Twang finished up their set of progressive UK style hip-hop when Normski graced the stage to introduce Kela as ‘the British version of’. We waited as Normski glanced across the stage at Kela before following this awkward pause with ‘UK beatboxing’. Was Normski going to say Rahzel? It so easily rolls off the tongue because for most people, Rahzel is the only other beatboxer they know of with which to make a comparison.

Thankfully, Normski got it right. Despite the overwhelming jaw-dropper of a response by the crowd there were still those making the usual round of comments comparing Kela with Rahzel. No doubt Kela should be flattered by this crass but inevitable obsession, but did I hear the crowd compare the mighty Fallacy with KRS-One?

The start to the Kela’s set was a little messy, further hampered by what appeared to be some problems with Kela’s in-ear monitoring and other unseen influences. Finally, after a stop-start intro interlaced with Normski’s backchat, Kela got down to it with some impressive covers of Eve and J-Lo mixed with some different style hip-hop beats. Fallacy joined Kela on stage with DJ Skeletrik to bring on an impressive track from Kela’s immanent Permanent Marker EP. Kela finished his set with his trademark mix of drum and bass beatboxing before Fallacy launched into his forthcoming hit track The Ground Breaker.

You couldn’t fail to be impressed by the quality of Kela’s awesome sounds and faultless timing. His beats were graced with a tyte snare drum and realistic vocal scratching and he specialised in nasal sounds for guitar and bass, quickly moving the mike between nose and mouth between bass and beats. Another technique he put to good effect was repeatedly tapping the mike on his mouth to emphasise kick rolls as well as for vibrato and echo.

Despite an average on-stage performance, Kela once again blessed the crowd with his blatant skills and wet the appetite for his debut album, 'The Permanent Marker' to be released on July 29th 2002. With a line-up featuring Normski, Akrobatik, Fallacy, Harry Love, Hype, Plus One and Solo One, this record has the making of a monster. Once again, Killa Kela leaves no doubt that he is one of the masters of human beatbox.

Review by TyTe

Photos by Fame