James Brown, The Roots, Public Enemy, Black Sheep, Dyke & The Blazers, Common, Gangstarr, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Breakestra, Organised Konfusion, Paul Nice, DJ Format, KRS One, Cut Chemist, Rakim, Nicolle Willis & The Soul Investigators, Black Grass, Baby Charles, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Crown City Rockers, Marva Whitney, J Dilla aka Jay Dee, Prince Paul, Madlib, Heiroglyphics, The Jimmy Castor Bunch, Mos Def, Lee Fields & The Soul Providers, Sugarman 3, El Michels Affair, Wu Tang Clan, D.I.T.C, Aretha Franklin, The Meters, De La Soul, Blade, Viki Anderson, A Tribe Called Quest, Curtis Mayfield, Marley Marl, Big Daddy Kane, Ed O.G. & The Bulldogs, Showbiz & AG, Kool Keith, The Pharcyde, Run DMC, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Percee P, Stones Throw, Treacherous Three, Biz Markie etc
Having been involved in the Brighton Hip Hop throughout the 80’s & 90’s, the guys behind Puma Strut and the Ill Technicians made a decision to put their heads together to organise a club night to bring back the classic Funk and Hip Hop party that has sadly been missed over the last few years.
Puma Strut records have been producing and releasing limited vinyl 45s and 12s since 2000. The label has focussed on releasing good quality underground Funk and Hip Hop tracks, headed up by Macca, aka DJ Beathoven a veteran in the Brighton Hip Hop scene.
The Ill Technicians are a group of Turntablists, DJs and Producers who have worked together for over 6 years, DJ’ing at a variety of pubs, clubs and bars. The also make Hip Hop beats and have a number of MCs that they have worked with including the Marxman, Whitey and Zilla. Their most recent release “Style” was featured on the Suspect Packages Mix CD, Suspect Files Volume 4.
The aim of their club night is to get people dancing and having a good time, catering for people of different age groups with different tastes in music and to create a friendly party vibe, hence the name “Positivity”.
Positivity provides a range of music, such as Soul, Funk, Breaks and Hip Hop from resident DJs, Beathoven, The Tipster, Mr Krum, Southpaw, Foly, OMC and Extract playing classics all night.
Finding a venue of the right style and size wasn’t an easy task, but the Loft (ex Enigma) in Ship Street has been the perfect venue as it has a good capacity of around 300 with plenty of seating, well positioned dance floor and good drinks promotions to allow people to have a fun night without burning a huge hole in their pocket.
After two successful nights already, the Positivity night has teamed up with the Rising Styles Hip Hop festival for the launch night of the festival on 4th July. A decision was made to schedule the night for the first Friday of every other month to allow proper promotion and planning for each night and to keep people wanting and waiting for the next night.
Although the third night will feature the resident DJs, Bobby Boucher, a Puma Strut legend will be playing a special 1-hour set to rock the dance floor. Future nights will aim to bring bigger name DJs to the night to ensure that people are always coming back for bigger and better nights.
The club night runs from 11pm to 3am, charging a mere £3 before 12am, £5 after and £3 for NUS. The Loft runs special promotions on some bottled beer and shots at £1.50 each.
Look out for excellent recognisable Positivity poster and flyer designs from Mr Krum, which feature bright colours and influential characters from the Hip Hop and Funk scene.
