If you’d have predicted 15 years ago that Peckham’s Giggs and US rap mogul Diddy would one day share a stage in Shepherd’s Bush, you might have received some strange looks. Road-rap legend Giggs half-talks quintessentially British bars (“Walk in the party sporting Armani / half of the crowd’s all snorting my charlie”) sounding like someone who smokes 40 a day while driving through south London drizzle. Diddy, meanwhile, is all exuberance and flashy catchphrases, the shiny suit-wearing personality that helped launch the careers of everyone from Mary J Blige to the Notorious BIG.
Yet UK rap’s ascent to the mainstream is such that it feels natural for them to share a stage. “We could have done an arena, but we wanted it to be intimate and a real party, bruv,” reveals Giggs to the adoring sold-out crowd, whose ticket fees are donated to charity. The hyper-confident, black-tracksuit-wearing MC then launches into the hell-raising sirens of Whippin Excursion and his landmark verse on Drake’s KMT, its Batman punchline screamed back by the crowd. Giggs’s posture on stage is resolute, like someone taking a final stand.
In stark comparison, his friend Diddy (now 54 and recently releasing a surprisingly good R&B-inflected album) is dressed, giddily dad-dancing, in opulent white. In-between rushed renditions of his most ubiquitous hits (including Bad Boy for Life) he barks hilarious instructions to the DJ: “Don’t play explosion noises when I say the word Love!” He endearingly admits to feeling nervous and, therefore, looks most comfortable when surrounded with unexpected guests (including Shyne, the former Bad Boy rapper turned Belize prime ministerial hopeful).
The show soars when Diddy and Giggs combine for their bass-heavy, euphoric duet Mandem. It’s a shame there aren’t more of these moments, because when Giggs briefly takes on a call-and-response bar during Diddy’s performance of Warning, by the late Biggie, it’s pure magic – but is cut off way too quickly. The show needs fewer solo moments and more of a focus on the pair’s unlikely chemistry.
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However, the hits and guests are so relentless – UK star Potter Payper also comes out – it’s impossible not to feel energised. Giggs standing with Diddy is a reminder of UK rap’s journey from British accents being openly mocked to universally embraced, and how the bridge between London and New York City rap now has foundations so solid that gigs like this feel anything but strange.