Wednesday May 14, 2008
Work it with Missy
The XLive Festival in Genting this Saturday isn’t short of daring and hip selections with Missy Elliot and Dan ‘The Automator’ Nakamura on stage.
Compiled by DARYL GOH
THERE is a sneaky suspicion that Malaysian festival-goers have it big time for groove given out by credible hip hop acts and eclectic deejays. Rock gigs and hypermarket-sized raves, the traditional money-spinning cool choices, have some serious competition coming their way. The Sunburst KL Festival in March confirmed that the masses really dig hip hop and classic funk acts like The Roots and George Clinton and P-Funk. Also in March, Los Angeles-based celebrity deejay Steve Aoki’s electro-rock set at Zouk KL proved that main-rooms in local clubs could be packed out with “outsider” music.
XLive Festival, the first outdoor music festival to be held in Genting Highlands in a long time, promises to take the party thrills a step further – and with a headliner like hip hop star Missy Elliot, you can bet the masses will be out in force. The XLive Festival, presented by XPax, takes place this Saturday at the Genting Outdoor Theme Park, the first time the grounds are being used for a festival.
Catch Missy Elliot at Saturday’s XLive Festival at the Genting Outdoor Theme Park. The online forums are already buzzing about Missy Elliot’s appearance at the fest. Word has it that the 36-year-old female hip hop star is tipped to unleash a sneak preview of her new album (yet-to-be-titled) and new tour routine. Missy Elliott’s upcoming seventh album, rumoured to be a hip-hugging blast of signature eclectic beats mixed with 1970s go-go funk joints, is due in late July.
The new album features production by Timbaland, Souldiggaz, Danjahandz, and Point Guard, and the first single Best, Best, is a good bet to be in her set-list this Saturday alongside favourites from her greatest “bumps” compilation Respect M.E. (2006).
Just like the pioneering female rappers of the 1980s – Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte and Roxanne Shante – Missy Elliot has established her own personality, an equal alongside her male-dominated hip hop peers.
Widely acknowledged as one of hip hop’s most progressive and consistent artistes, Missy Elliot is also no stranger to fantastic live shows. At Genting, the Virginia-born star’s show is expected to feature a stage entourage the size of two soccer teams (hypeman, musicians, dancers, etc) and magic show routine in tow. Her business is entertaining and she has the music to work the crowd. Hits like We Run This, Get Ur Freak On, Work it, Gossip Folks, Pass That Dutch, Lose Control right up to Ching-a-Ling, lifted from the Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack, look ready for a run out alongside the early classics The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) and Hot Boyz.
Another respected name to the XLive Festival bill is Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, renowned as a producer mastermind and music matchmaker (Beastie Boys, Ibrahim Ferrer, Alex Kapranos, etc) in the studio.
Endorsed by hip US magazines like Giant Robot to Fader, this Japanese American is set for a boundary-busting deejay set, which necessarily means hip hop and everything else with a groove-based bent. More renowned as a producer, Nakamura, 41, has a portfolio that bleeds credibility and cool. He has done everything from collaborating with Kool Keith and Del tha Funkee Homosapien to producing alternative musician Beck and the debut album of the first virtual hip-hop group the Gorillaz.
Nakamura is regarded as the brains behind Gorillaz’s debut in 2001. Be it Bollywood, hip hop or punk rock, this San Francisco native has tried them all. Far-out stints with the likes of DJ Shadow (the Bombay The Hard Way release), the hip hop duo Handsome Boy Modeling School and team-ups with Mike Patton (Peeping Tom project) and Brit retro rockers Little Barrie only shows that Nakamura is one of the most creative minds in deejaying and producing.
You’d also be forgiven for thinking that the XLive festival is starting to double up as an adidas convention. The German sportswear giant has links with Missy Elliot and Dan Nakamura, who collaborated on a basketball campaign with the label. Elsewhere, there is the acclaimed Indonesian electro-pop outfit Goodnight Electric, set to complete the adidas binge.
Tipped by Time magazine as one of Asia’s best bands, Goodnight Electric’s popularity among the indie and electro crowd in these parts is undeniable and this upcoming festival is the group’s third high profile visit here. Electroduce Yourself is the album to make the rounds on this trip, but trust this quirky group of 1980s electro-pop revivalists (clearly indebted to Devo and Human League) to bring the house down with its signature Am I Robot? party anthem.
Maliq & D’Essentials and Parkdrive, both Java Jazz fest favourites from Indonesia, will also supply the night’s supply of soul jazz and nu jazz respectively. A breather for middle-of-the-road Jakarta jazz is good to soothe those tired dancing feet.
Three stages – Xlive Main Stage, Xl-Tronic and Xlr8 – at the festival ensures that not everything will be too eclectic, hip hop and “indie” in entertainment value. Actual progress and diversity in the programming takes time in this country. The party-hardened audience, most of whom won’t be too worried if they don’t own an Ed Banger record, will have the usual tech-trance, tech-house and the sort in abundance with festival fodder names like DJ Yoji, Filo & Peri, Marcus Schossow and Alhaca on the decks.
On the local front, the line-up isn’t too bad. Hip hop is the preferred flavour with Stylustiks and Spaceship featuring Goldfish and T-Bone slotted and loaded for high-octane party sets. For a diverse sampling of Klang Valley club culture in the highlands, look no further than RaySoo, B4C, Gregoire Pagnoux, Lap Sap and Twilight Actiongirl, to keep the punters spinning the night away.
With regards to such a dizzy night and natural highs, festival-goers are also entitled to free theme park rides (the Spinner, Cyclone, Astro Fighter, etc) at the venue in addition to the live performances and deejays at the three main arenas.
There must be something about the high altitude and the cool temperatures that get hard-partying punters hot for outdoor festivals at Genting Highlands. The last time Genting hosted a major-scale outdoor fest – the Recharge @ ZoukFest in March 2005, the event was a sold-out success. XLive Festival, with tickets selling fast, is expected to follow suit.
Related story:
Ticket giveaway
RSS
