Photo: WENN
You may have heard a festival called Wireless took place last weekend in London and Birmingham. If you didn't go, all you'll probably know of it is that Kanye West had a really long rant, and Drake cancelled and everyone got mad. However, there was rather a lot more to it than that. Here's the 8 best things we saw at Wireless festival.
Pharrell performed some of his classic tracks
P aired some of his finest Neptunes cuts such as Nelly's 'Hot In Herre', Busta Rhymes' 'Pass The Courvoisier' and his 2003 debut solo single 'Frontin'. The crowd loved it, and the 25 degree sunshine was a nice little accompaniment.
...however, there was proof 'Happy' is over
We expected a singalong of epic proportions for P's omnipresent smash, but it seems as if everyone is FINALLY sick of 'Happy'. Phew.
Pharrell @ Wireless
'Fancy'
Aussie rapper Iggy Azalea performed a solid set, mixing tracks from her mixtape Ignorant Art with cuts from her debut album The New Classic, but it was clear everyone was mainly there for one thing - 'Fancy'. It was pretty damn good, especially the snippets of dialogue from Clueless (the 90s teen classic the video aped) that preceded the track's intro.
Iggy Azalea @ Wireless
Kanye, basically
The atmosphere for the rapper's headlining set was electric - on the Friday, the day he had always been scheduled to perform - as a mix of 70s classic rock blasted over the speakers. The stage suddenly lit up and the commanding guitar riff of 'Black Skinhead' roared into life, and everyone went nuts. The setlist had clearly been tailored for the mainstream Wireless crowd - we'd like to have heard some more tracks from Yeezus - but it was all immensely enjoyable, especially when Kanye at one point told the crowd he was going to play something "underground, a song no-one knows". As the opening strains of the epic 'All of the Lights' blared out and the crowd roared their approval, Kanye asked bemusedly "you guys know this one?"
Kanye West @ Wireless
The rant
Contrary to what's been reported, Kanye's little monologue went on for about 15 minutes - it just felt like longer as the energetic crowd wanted him just to do what he does best; perform. Plus, it had started to rain. Yes, he touched on the usual themes - the fashion industry, racism, Kim - but there was one LOL moment when he launched into a diatribe about his celebrity status. "That’s why I got this fucking mask on, cuz I ain’t worried about saving face. Fuck my face!" Everyone laughed. Kanye realised what he had just said, and laughed too. But it's true that everyone was booing - we're English, we don't like big emotional statements, just get on with it.
Earl Sweatshirt
Not even a DJ set by Tim Westwood where he repeatedly insisted on shouting "Girls! Twerk that ass up and down!" and "I'ma beat that pussy up tonight!" prior to Earl's set in the Pepsi Max (honestly) tent could ruin the Odd Future rapper's highly-anticipated set. The crowd was one of the livest of the weekend (a man in front of me lost both his hat and shoe) as Earl stormed through cuts from his Doris LP with the confidence and abilities a rapper twice his age could only dream of. (Sweatshirt is only 20, unbelievably).
Schoolboy Q
Q was given a tricky daytime on the uninspiring setting of the main stage, but overcame it thanks to a setlist featuring the likes of 'Collard Greens', 'Hands on the Wheel' and 'Man of the Year' and witty interaction with the crowd (sample: "All the ladies in the crowd, let me hear you" [crowd cheers] "If you came tonight with your boyfriend, lemme hear you" [more cheers] "Nah shut the fuck up, I don't wanna hear from you."
Schoolboy Q at Wireless
Vic Mensa
The Chicago rapper was the second act to open the festival's main stage, and his energetic, charismatic set got the crowd off to an impressively lively start, storming through tracks from his Innanetape mixtape as well as airing his should-be-smash 'Down On My Luck'. 90% of the Wireless crowd most likely had no idea who Mensa was, but they will do now.
