Hi!! I missed you guys.
It’s been a few weeks, so here’s the short version of what I’ve been up to: a few nights in Kent with a friend, including a day in Margate, which was every bit as good as people promise. The Lucid PR summer party, which was worth it even just for the sight of my Epic Records gaffer a little tipsy. I made my SHOWstudio debut, reviewing the latest Louis Vuitton and Dior menswear shows and having tea and biscuits with Nick and Charlotte Knight. And I’ve been glued to the World Cup (plus a bit of Wimbledon, when the football lets me).
I also finally finished Jesse Bernard’s ‘Escaping Babylon’ and Candice Carty-Williams’s ‘Queenie,’ the latter right on time for the sequel. Both worth your time.
Anyway. On with the week.
Monday
Jay-Z is coming to London on 4 September. I already have my tickets and I am, frankly, outrageously excited. His first solo London show in over a decade. Rumour has it he’s bringing out Giggs, and while I’d take that, I’m more than happy with just Jay. Anyone else going?
Tuesday
Andre King, co-founder of the Lion and Lamb, has been accused of predatory behaviour, with the venue and his co-founder cutting ties with him entirely. It’s grim, and it’s grimly familiar; the volume of this stuff you hear about in the creative industries, and in music especially, is its own kind of open secret. The people who came forward deserve better than the venue’s statement and a news cycle. I hope the accountability doesn’t stop there.
In the evening, I went to see Lily Allen at the O2. Entirely underwhelming. The set was cool to look at, but I wanted more from the show inside it. And no opener?? At the O2?? Ridiculous.
Wednesday
M&S are making their London Fashion Week debut this September. Great news for the BFC, who are presumably being paid a shit ton of money. Less clear what M&S are adding to the schedule, exactly. But the BFC needs the money so I’ll take it, I suppose.
In the evening I gave a lecture at Lost Property on some of my favourite London urban legends: the one about Sneakbo turning into a cat, the Highgate Vampire, the Beast of Hackney. Good fun, though I learned the hard way that a room can be entirely Highgate Vampire-literate and have not one single Sneakbo head in it. Wrong crowd, I guess.
Thursday
Jorja Smith answered 20 questions for AnOther. I would love to interview her; she comes across so unbothered, so genuinely chill. And I am, admittedly, a sucker for a Midlands accent (cough cough Jude Bellingham).
Ted Childish has announced his debut exhibition, ‘BE KIND TO HIM WORLD,’ opening 23 July. I’m intrigued. I’m also braced: I hope it isn’t one of those shows that’s so busy being internet-ready and forward-thinking that it forgets to be any good.
In the evening I went to the Surfinia exhibition at the Koppel Project. Didn’t do a thing for me, if I’m honest. Possibly I’m missing something. Tell me if I’m missing something.
Friday
Roots Manuva’s ‘Witness (1 Hope)’ turns 25. An all-timer, and the video too. Twenty-five years and it still doesn’t sound like anything else. Iconic isn’t the word, but it’s the word.
Joe James released his debut album, ‘The Ends, Never Ends.’ I’d been counting down to this one, so it pains me to say I was a little let down. I think he could’ve gone harder, and I think it could’ve been more considered, which, yes, is a contradictory ask, but you know what I mean when you hear it. There are flashes. The Kelela album is supposed to be excellent and I’ve still not got to it. Next week, promise.
In the evening we celebrated Corbin Shaw’s birthday at Avalon Cafe in Bermondsey. Really lovely. I finally met a few people I’d only ever spoken to online, bumped into faces I hadn’t seen in a while, and met a handful of new ones. Rare that a night does all three.
Saturday
To the pub with my friends to watch England (narrowly) beat Norway. Bellingham fever in full swing. I fancy us against Argentina, and I’ve got the pun locked and loaded already…if we win, it’ll make the newsletter.
Sunday
Went with a friend to the Dove’s Words’ first pop-up. Nice to see Mya Nicoll again (my Cypriot twin) though I left empty-handed. Saving for uni and a new laptop, but if I wasn’t I would’ve left with the whole shop.
Until next week (fr this time),
Sik
P.S. I wanna write a book.