Born in Clapham, South London Richard claims he always wanted to be a performer. His inspiration has come from other comedians like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock, and his comedic style can be described as an amalgam of these three, with a healthy dose Afro Caribbean and South London humour. After graduating with a business degree, he did a one-off gig at ‘The Spot’ in Covent Garden, and from there his popularity grew. He did guest spots on ‘The A- Force’, BBC2′s late night black entertainment programme, as well as sketches on ‘The Real McCoy’ and ‘Five Night Stand’. He has had his own talk show on Channel Four, hosted ‘Singled Out’ and ‘MTV Select’ on MTV, and currently does work on the BBC digital channels 2011 saw Richard turn to aacting where he played the role of Russell the Store Manager in Anuvahood.
Amaru Don TV has gained over 400,000 views on youtube and a reputation for being a respected provider of original content with substance. Over the past 11 months Amaru Don TV has conducted interviews with the music industry’s leading names including Keri Hilson, Neyo, Trey Songz, Big Sean, Wale, Chipmunk, , Wretch 32, Giggs, The Foreign Exchange and many more. Amaru Don TV’s content is distributed globally and has been featured on some of the biggest online platforms in the US & UK such as; AOL, Thisis50, The Source, Rap Radar and Necole Bitchie. In addition to the interviews Amaru Don TV also conducts professional photo shoots with interviewees, participants have included Britain’s Next Top Model runner up Alisha White, Will Young , Chipmunk, Dwele, Bilal, Kimberly Wyatt, Aml Ameen, Talay Riley and singer Alexis Jordan among others.
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ALLAN OKOH: Entrepeneur
Allan Okoh is the founder of Newtrepreneur Coaching. It is a personal development consultancy that specialises in coaching new entrepreneurs. “What inspired me to become an entrepreneur coach was the desire to help people start up their own business” Allan, who is also a published author, recalls “I know a lot of people that want to start their own business but have no idea how to go about it. I wanted to create something for them to assist in helping them achieve their goals.” His techniques help clients discover the way that they behave and think in order to maximize their performance. “I believe that three of the key principals from the 10 mentioned in my book are important to a successful business - discipline determination, and action.” His advice to young people who have what they believe is a great idea for a business but are unsure about the first steps to take is, take time laying solid foundations.
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KWASI AND KENNY, FOUNDERS ‘PLAY DOT APPAREL’ FASHION LABEL
Play.dot Apparel is the newest urban fashion experience soon to be in all good urban outlets within the UK. Play.dot Apparel specialises in caps, polos, jackets plus more. Their designs are based around a variety of increasing innovative characters so there is a character for everyone. Play.Dot Apparel has been worn by Lil Wayne, Dappy plus more.
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POSTY: Founder GRIME DAILY
Posty is the founder of Grime Daily, one of the UK’s most popular websites to showcase ‘UK urban culture’.
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SEBASTIAN THIEL, Managing Director ‘It’s Upshot’
Sebastian Thiel is Managing Director of It’s Upshot, a pioneering youth entertainment brand which has become a shining example of what hard work, dedication and creativity can produce. The It’s Upshot brand was created with its motto of “Educate, Empower and Inspire” in mind. Although the company’s name is a reference to Sebastian’s former career as a promising basketball player, It’s Upshot is also a reference to the importance of aiming high and standing tall despite hurdles and obstacles placed in front of you. The team produces a range of distinctive t-shirts that use different concepts to generate humor, surprise and provoke thought. The It’s Upshot Dream series of t shirts is a best seller and has been donned by the likes of Bashy, Chipmunk, Sway, Dynamo and Flawless. Sebastian also runs Upshot TV, an online entertainment website that broadcasts comedy sketches, dance and music videos, filmed poetry performances, documentaries and short films. “We will show anything that elevates people. We wouldn’t show or design anything that has a destructive message. For example our ‘Drop me your digits’ t-shirts which are part of our ‘joker’ series. It’s funny without being destructive. It’s not like we’re asking a girl to drop her knickers.”
His advice to budding entrepreneurs who want to create their own business success story is to “work hard. And if you want it enough then you will attract all the necessary things needed to make your dream happen. The key thing is to do it and not stop.”
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KANO: Actor, rapper
Kano made his first major acting debute in 2011 playing the role of Sully in the 2011 Channel 4 drama Top Boy. 2011 Also saw Kano back in the recoridng studio recording a 4 track collaborative EP with producer Mikey J. The EP was title ‘Not For The A List’ because Kano didn’t want anything to stand in his way when it came to making the music.
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Uche Chukwu, Founder & Editor ‘Pappzd Magazine’
Uche Chukwu, the previous head of Bang FM founded Pappzd online magazine in 2011. He say’s
“I felt we needed a gossip magazine dedicated to UK urban acts with a fun, light-hearted approach…..Pappzd is all about creating a regular, ongoing hype about UK urban artists, based around quick, sharp gossip articles. We believe that it’s gossip that allows fans to engage with artists on a personal level, whether it’s because they love or dislike what that gossip is. Remember that all news, including bad, is good news.”
Pappzd reaches a massive 85,000 people in the UK each month!
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Marcus Noble: actor, producer and writer
Marcus Noble has acted in Harry Potter and The Bill. He is mostly known for his hilarious online comedy sketches which have recieved over 300,000.
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Chuka Umunna, Labour Politician
Chuka Umunna is a BritishLabour Partypolitician and employment lawyer. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Streatham since 2010. After less than 18 months in Parliament, he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Business Secretary by Labour Leader Ed Miliband on 7 October 2011. Umunna has described himself as being “One Nation Labour” and has written articles promoting the Blue Labour trend within the Labour Party.
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Marvyn Harrison – Founder of The Sunday Show
Marvyn has worked in the music industry since 2005, previously having cut his teeth in Marketing and Digital Consultancy for brands such as BetFair and The Sun Newspaper. He moved into music working with Levels/EMI, sourcing and developing fresh talent within the industry. He now runs and produces several popular national events including the Sunday Show which has developed a loyal and regular fan base and media coverage.
Marvyn won BROWN-EYEZ MAN OF THE YEAR 2010
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JAMAL EDWARDS: Founder SB.TV
Jamal Edwards founded SB.TV in 2006 . He began filming rap freestyles with a handycam, which he would then upload to his YouTube account. For the first three years Edwards acted alone to provide amateur footage regarding many British grime artists, such as Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder, with the first SB.TV video being uploaded in February 2007.As the channel began to attract more attention, it also began offering lifestyle interviews and event coverage, and a production team of ten was established. Recently, the company has cited its aim to become a more ‘diverse youth lifestyle broadcaster,’ incorporating more genres of music.This has been seen in the inclusion of acoustic artists such as Ed Sheeran and Nicki Minaj. In February 2011, SB.TV launched their own music label Just Jam (an imprint of Sony RCA) and recently announced their first signing as east London MC, Maxsta. In March 2011 it had been suggested that the company are expected to go into business with restaurant chain Nandos. In August 2011, Jamal was seen starring in a Google Chrome advertisement, which tracked the emergence of SB.TV as one of the UK’s rising youth broadcasters. The SB.TV site subsequently crashed as close to a million people googled “Jamal Edwards. This was revealed to be the most watched YouTube video advertisements in 2011.Such has been the success of SB.TV that Edwards has been credited with helping to ‘reinvigorating’ the UK Rap and Grime scene.
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Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka, PHD Student
A CAMBRIDGE-EDUCATED chemical engineer whose research has been used by the World Bank has topped a list of Britain’s most outstanding black graduates. PhD student Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka came up with the genius idea of using sugar cane to produce fuel while spending a month in impoverished Haiti as an under-graduate. His study earned the 24-year-old an entrepreneurship award at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2007 while on a one-year exchange program at the leading US university. The following year, his vision was a winner at the World Bank Global Development Marketplace Competition which is just one of a collection of plaudits the former head boy from south London can reel off his list of achievements.
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KOJO: Comedian, raidio presenter, actor
Dubbed “The Fresh Prince Of Hackney” Kojo is fast becoming one of the biggest talents to come out of the black comedy circuit. In 2000 Kojo signed up and joined “The Comedy School” which was set-up by fellow comedian Rudi Lickwood and Keith Palmer. There he learnt to perfect the art of performance on stage and the different sides of comedy. In the Summer of 2005, Kojo was recruited by the CBBC channel where he co – presented a kids show alongside presenter Reggie Yates called ” The Mighty Truck Of Stuff ” on Saturday afternoons for 2 years. Kojo is now a firm favourite on MTV and MTV Base with all his comedy shows. He has appeared on MTV Base with the Fresh Prince of Hackney (Sold out Hackney Empire), The Young Gods Of Comedy and now Kojo’s Comedy Funhouse. He is also part of the MTV presenting team who interviews some of the top artist in entertainment. Kojo worked on a show with controversial comedian Jim Davidson called ” So you think I’m an asshole” for Virgin 1. Kojo acts as a mentor in changing his views and outlook on life and people. He was recently seen performing on The 5 O’ Clock show on Channel 4 presented by Lenny Henry and The Stephen K Amos show on BBC2 acting within various comedy sketches. He has had his own show for 2 years called Kojo’s Comedy Funhouse on MTV and MTV Base. He is much more than a comedian. He also runs his own production company called Small Print Productions which involves writing movie scripts, and putting on comedy events. Kojo has just written is first feature movie called “THE WEEKEND” which is an urban comedy movie set to go into production summer of 2011.
Kojo has sold out the hackney empire twice with solo shows and plans to tape is first solo DVD in 2012. An engineered steady rise to fame includes a stint on digital radio station BBC 1Xtra and now he’s been signed up by Choice FM’s Breakfast show.
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ASHLEY WALTERS: ACTOR, RAPPER
Actor and rapper Asher D made quite a few appearances on our screens this year. He starred as Jack Holt in the ill-fated drama Outcasts (TV series) on the BBC. For the BBC Learning project “Off By Heart Shakespeare”, Walters delivered one of Shakespeare’s best known speeches, “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” from Romeo and Juliet. Walters starred in the Arjun Rose slasher ‘Demons Never Die’, he was also the main character (Dushane) in one off drama (4-DAY) ‘Top Boy‘ .
Urban Development presents Re:Definition. A conceptual showcase designed to redefine urban music as we know it, Re:Definition is all about uniting established acts and emerging talent from East London through collaboration and blurring the boundaries between theatre, multimedia and live music.
So jump aboard this musical excursion to discover the loves, conflicts, traditions, adventures and aspirations of the real East Enders and get ready for a rollercoaster journey set to take urban music beyond Olympic proportions…
Performances by:
KANO, GHETTS, TALAY RILEY, LOVELLE, ROXXXAN, MIKE HOUGH, DONAEO, SELAH, MPHO, SHEZAR, SCRUFIZZER, JAY NORTON, MIKILL PANE, ABEL MILLER, LADY CHANN, WONDER
Directed By: MATTHEW ‘EXCALIBAH’ XIA
Visuals by: JAK FRSH
UDTV: Mikill Pane – Re:Definition 2011 ft. Kano, Ghetts, Donaeo, RoxXxan, Scrufizzer & more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7o3Xwv14rI
EVENT: Re:Definition
DATE: Thursday 7th July 2011
TIME: 8pm – 11pm (doors open 7.30pm)
VENUE: Hackney empire, 291 Mare Street, London, E8 1EJ
TICKETS: £10 / £12.50
BOX OFFICE: 020 8985 2424 or BUY ONLINE here: http://www.hackneyempire.co.uk/?lid=2298#b
I’m looking forward to seeing RoxxXan perform! Check out her version of ‘Pon Di Floor’ which I think is much better than Beyonce’s annoying “Run The World”!
‘Its Dench!!!!…..I’m Fully GASSED!!!’ lol lol….I hope after all this excitement the song lives upto all of this hype!!!
Bizzle also confirmed that Ghetts, Wiley, Chipmunk, Kano, JME and Lethal Bizzle himself as confirmed names for the song. There are thought to be three more spots on the song to be announced…..It would be great if a female appeared on the track too!
On December 4th Adidas launched the new official match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Bashy, Kano, Jermain Defoe plus a few others were asked to pronounce the name of the ball – “Jabulani” – which means to “celebrate” in isiZulu.
Who paid attention in school and remembered their phonic blends?
