Hip-hop straight outta ... Westminster reference library

UK producer Telemachus is launching his new album with a gig at a London library. Will Stig of the Dump and Foreign Beggars be following suit?

by: Rob Boffard

Westminster Reference Library no longer seems satisfied with just being a place to examine art books and dusty legal tomes. In recent years, the library's upstairs exhibition space has hosted acts such as British Sea Power, Polar Bear and – yes – Mr Hudson & the Library. It has even staged the odd, slightly awkward grime event, and a cameo appearance by Polar Bear collaborator Jyager.


But there's never been a dedicated hip-hop gig there. Certainly not an album launch, like the one that'll take place tonight when UK hip-hop producer Telemachus launches his new album, In the Evening.

With collaborators such as Jehst, Mr Thing, Con & Kwake and Rag N Bone Man providing backup, it's probably going to be the rowdiest event the library has ever seen.

"I just love the idea of playing loud music in a working library," says Telemachus. "The power that a library holds over people and in turn how they behave is amazing. I'm looking forward to flipping the script."

The launch party will have Telemachus taking the stage with a full band, including guitarist, drummer and sitar player. "I hope that my show will be a little more musical than your standard hip-hop gig," he says.


The strange thing is, a library is probably the perfect place to launch a Telemachus record. His lush, textured, instrumental hip-hop comes off as ever so slightly peculiar – I'd even go so far as to use the word "bookish". It owes as much to classic folk and jazz records as it does to regular hip-hop.

The producer himself is one of those slightly obscure figures who has helped British hip-hop move along more than most people will probably ever know. Born David Webb, he uses the name Telemachus only for his solo material – to the rest of the UK hip-hop universe, he's known as Chemo, a producer and mix engineer whose Kilamanjaro Studios in London have become a focal point for UK rap. In them, he's worked on projects with rappers such as Jehst and Kyza, dance DJs such as Calvin Harris and US heavyweights such as Roc Marciano and Sean Price .

"We like supporting acts who are not necessarily signed or being supported by big marketing campaigns," says Rosella Black, the library's events coordinator. "It's great to do be able to do that because we are, after all, a public service, not a commercial one. We like offering these artists a platform."

Admittedly, it might be difficult to imagine other UK hip-hop artists such as Stig of the Dump or Foreign Beggars tearing down the bookshelves. But it's good to know that there's a place for the slightly more scholarly hip-hop out there.

from: Guardian