Interview With N-Dubz

See the exclusive footage here...

Darnell Links with Giggs!?!?!

After becoming a household name over the summer appearing on Big Brother 9, Darnell Swallow, the 27 year-old singer/ songwriter is now going …ARD!!! He’s recently linked up with BET Award winner Giggs and had this to say on his MySpace. “What up with it?! Been working on a collabo with Giggs, getting to know why he's a BET Award winner and the best upcoming rapper in the UK... check it out... Congrats on the BET Giggs. ONE LOVE. DaRnELL”

Here is the footage…


Will Darnell and Giggs takeover the UK?

UUMMMMMM!!!!

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009: Essential Updates

Before you buy PES 2009, READ THIS FIRST…

The second leg of my Pro preview features everything you need to play PES to death this weekend. Yesterday we covered the things we noticed when we popped our Pro 2009 cherry and that was a lot (have a read). Today, we need to reveal the essential updates to make your copy sing and dance like Michael Jackson (hopefully, it will look better though).

Team and League Names…
Firstly edit the team names so that Merseyside Blue becomes Everton, London FC become Chelsea and so on. We all know who is who but if you’re clueless check out the squad names that are clearly visible in edit mode. This is like detective work for some teams but you’ll figure it out. You can also turn the ‘English’ League into the ‘Barclays Premier League’, which is handy when you’re choosing domestic clubs.

Team Kits and Emblems…
Kits and badges take a little longer to change but the new pixel edit mode makes it that little bit easier. Utilising the LIVE Vision Camera (you have got one of those, right?) you can take photos of kits, badges and sponsors to give your Pro that official look. You should see the Arsenal I made, it wasn’t too shabby. Doing all the unlicensed teams could take weeks, if you really want this you might as well buy FIFA; as we all know Evo is all about gameplay and Konami’s 2009 edition is just that.

Transfers…
Ok, so the squads aren’t exactly up-to-date but a few simple changes and everything will be as good as gold (like a winner’s Champions League badge).
Here are a few essentials…

Arsenal
Philippe Senderos – On Loan To – AC Milan
Armand Traore – On Loan To – Portsmouth
Mikael Silvestre – From – Manchester United
Justin Hoyte – To – Middlesbrough

Everton
Louis Saha – From – Manchester United

Manchester City
Robinho – From – Real Madrid
Shaun Wright-Phillips – From – Chelsea

Manchester United
Dimitar Berbatov – From – Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur
Roman Pavlyuchenko – From – Spartak Moscow
Pascal Chimbonda – To – Sunderland

There are more but I had to play Become A Legend mode. It’s so addictive I haven’t even started a Master League yet.

Last thing… If you’re pressed for time, make sure you sort out the team you support first, obviously fans of officially licensed teams like Manchester United and Liverpool don’t have to bother. And finally, we’ll see you online on Friday.

STOP PRESS!!! News just in: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is set to have a November update! The press release reads… The download will be available in about three weeks, and updates four Spanish sides – Athletico Madrid, Sevilla, Racing Santander and Valladolid, – all of whom will be officially licensed. Furthermore, it will also update the kits and team rosters of many teams within the game. The UEFA Champions League mode will also benefit from the new update, with twelve more teams added to the club list, with proper UEFA Champions League kits and kit markings added. Amongst the teams fully updated within this mode now will be Marseille, Juventus, and Basel.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009: The First Night

Last night was the first night of the rest my life… words by Danny ‘Evo’ Walker

Ok, so yesterday I opened a suspicious package and was rushed straight to hospital to my house to play Pro Evolution Soccer 2009. On the way, my creative cranium was carving out certain thoughts, ‘What if FIFA 09 outshines this year’s Evo outing?’, ‘What if I don’t like this year’s Pro?’ and ‘What if Bradley and Stacey never get back together?’ A very nervous journey home, I assure you.

With EA’s recently released football franchise improving tenfold it was a tentative start as the Lionel Messi featuring intro worked its magic on the Xbox in true 720p form (I need to upgrade, you’re right). After the first exhibition match – in new Champions League mode – I was clear the new Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is big. It’s deeper than the inside pocket of King Kong’s best dinner jacket.

The first thing I noticed that you don’t pickup in the annoying demo is that Pro Evo is slick. The new ‘Become A Legend’ mode is addictive as whatever Winehouse is on, hence the reason I was late this morning. After starting at a random non-league club I was soon snapped up by Sunderland, following that stint in the reserves I found myself being watched by talent scouts and during the Christmas break Newcastle came-a-calling.

From the 17th onwards…
When you get to play the full version on Friday you’ll realise each pitch feels different – especially Wembley – and the grass acts as an extra force of nature that will make or break your through balls. The re-worked passing model is exactly that, reworked and players no longer pass to Casper the Friendly Ghost on the touchline. You’ll also note the serious edit mode allowing you to pixel edit badges and more.

On reflection, last year’s Pro was a little lacklustre, 2009 features essential changes that make this the best Pro yet.

Long Review: Kano Smashes 140 Grime St Launch Party

Tuesday night was a grimey success…



After months of planning from Kano, adidas and RWD Magazine the ‘Biggest Grime Event of the Decade’ was exactly that. Celebrating both the launch of the all-sporting adidas adiZones and Monday’s release of Kano’s 140 Grime St, this one-off event had a lot to live up to. Luckily everyone on the bill brought their A game…

Greenwich’s IndigO2 was the perfect (secret) location for the thousands of revellers to flock to and from the boxfresh trainers, blatantly new outfits and amount of gel we saw in the queues we instantly knew the audience of complimentary ticket owners had brought their A game too. To the sound of bassy beats blaring from the adidas adiZone vans the audience soon flowed into the venue.

When they arrived they were met with the eye-capturing visual display from VJing outfit the Frame Butchers and the hosts for the evening, Kiss 100’s Manny Norte and Shortee Blitz, were as lively as ever and got the crowd in the mood for what was about to be a great evening. Manny draped in beige adidas windbreaker and white-rimmed shades had the ladies – who’d camped out at the front, obviously to be as close to the main act as possible – shouting all sorts and participating in various R&B-flavoured dance moves. When the music stopped and the cloth over the drums had been lifted, the whole venue knew what time it was. Time to once again quench our Thirst.

Starting with My Everything, The Thirst strummed though several hits and the reaction from each was a good to see. “Thanks again to Kano for showing us love,” frontman Mensah shouted in-between the likes of Ready To Move and RWD favourite Sail Away. Rhythm guitarist Mark later revealed to RWD the bands delight at nailing another gig. “Yeah, they loved it man,” he explained of the Brixton boy’s reception.

With their uniforms (sharp black adidas tracksuits with a red band across the midriff) the Peridot dancers were next on stage. To describe some of their moves would be hard as it was just synchronised sickness in the form of dance. They seemed more than well prepared and the IndigO2 insiders ate up all of their Peri-Peri moves like they’d just ordered from Nandos. The Peridot dancers were great mid-act entertainment.

Logan Sama - dressed in the Argentina football kit with Tevez (11) on the back – made his way to the DJ booth and instantly dropped some modern classics. The likes of So Solid, Ms Dynamite and More Fire Crew were all blended together in quick succession and his solid set was only interrupted by wannabe MCs. For entertainment sake Manny Norte grabbed any guy from Slough and a few girls on the stage to see if they had the mic skills to represent… lets just say they didn’t… but it was hilarious watching them try.

Ruff Sqwad’s Tinchy Stryder - with hypeman Fuda Guy in tow - then showed why he’s a Star In The Hood and got the crowd into a grime-based frenzy. Distributing t-shirts as they went, Tinchy killed it with Stryderman and it was plain to see the forthcoming grime-a-thon would go down a treat.



The main event kicked off with a 10 minute warm-up trailer. This was more like a behind the scenes movie and featured the ins-and-outs of putting together the event. Featuring a few surprise acting performances – like Ghetto working in Mr Jerk – it was a big start to the part of the show everyone paid their money for was waiting for. With footage of Kano looking nervous, throwing up and going though final plans, the East Londoner might just get an Oscar or at least a Blue Peter badge for his acting skills. Soon after the flick even Stevie Wonder – who just happened to be playing next door – could see that Kano had finally made it on stage as the roar from his dedicated fans was impressive.

Going through 140 Grime St nearly song-for-song, KA – draped in ‘where can we buy that?’ adidas – DJ Chopper, and producer-turnt-hypeman Mikey J had both levels of the audience glued to the stage. The live rendition of Hustler was really good but it was soon eclipsed by Hunting We Will Go as Ghetto dropped ferocious bars alongside Mr Robinson. The whole of the top level/ VIP area were on their feet and in the best position to see Skepta on the next track, These MC. Both going at it hard, Kano and Skeppy reeled off bars from the up-tempo riddim about MCs who simply can’t keep up. This was an immense performance and the fact that SKEPTA WAS WEARING ONLY A WHITE DRESSING GOWN AND SOCKS did the show’s culmination no harm.

Kane got a bit political as he freestyled at the start of the second half of his set. He unleashed: “If it wasn't for the Olympics them pr**** wouldn't have put money back in East London,” to a massive cheer that would have left Boris Johnson rocking in his VIP seat (had he been there). My highlight of the evening was when a camo jacket-clad Wiley joined Kano on Anywhere We Go and the two of them did the performance of the night. A big tune. The night continued with some Kano Klassics, like Bad Boy, Boys Love Girls (which both had massive responses), and of course the ladies favourite This Is The Girl (which even sounded good over the screams).



The very end of concert saw Wiley drop Wearing My Rolex, Skepta unpack Rolex Sweep, Ghetto let loose Sing For Me and a belated yet brilliant Ps and Qs encore. A very big night was had by all, if only more grime events could happen to this degree.