LIVE: Queen City Stoop Kids, Liverpool Sound City, 29.05.16:

A lot of any festival for a writer is loitering, poking your notebook into random stages; like a cross between Hunter S Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. The Aussie stage offered only a collection of straining ginger hipsters mourning their ex. The Canadian stage looked promising. True to form, I got lucky. As a newly engaged man, not in that way.

As a genre, Canadian hip hop is an unsung one. True, Drake has made a load of cash talking freudianly about how big his wallet is. I’d suggest you to listen to the nebbish rapping of So-Called; or Forest In his Heart’s comedy crie de coeur.
Queen City Stoop Kids bounce on stage, and the crowd starts bouncing with them. It’s party hip hop, strongly influenced by Phracyde or Beastie Boys. The songs are prosaic, smoking pot or shagging. But the raps are tight, they move around each other like hockey players. Even old school rap tricks like call and response go down a treat.

This slot only offers a glimpse at what they can do. I met them afterwards, they seem like nice kids. You should investigate their music more; I am still trying to get the grin off my face. My back is still a bit stiff from doing ‘The Gangster Lean’, but hey: I got lucky.

@KevMcCready