Be Discovered Blog by Vanessa Carby

Together in an intimate setting, fans and industry folk alike gathered at the decadent Hospital Club in Covent Garden for a night of gripping, thrilling and hilarious performances. Brought to us by Starcount, ‘Be Discovered’ can only be hailed as the go to gig for upcoming artists and deserving fans and for the first show of what we’re expecting to go on and on, Starcount delivered.

The night kicked off with the 20 year old singer Ojerimee, with a deep and rich textured voice beyond her years, and song writing skills to match as she shared a collection of penned songs, plus an eerily smart refix of Drake’s ‘Hold On We’re Going Home,’ plus a stunning rendition of Wale ft Tiara Thomas ‘Bad.’ As the first to the stage Ojerimee portrayed confidence within such close proximity of the crowds and kept it pitch perfect.

Mixing things up next was the cheeky Kojey Radical who had listener’s hook, line and sinker, introducing his friends on stage as well as ribbing his guitarist (what are friend’s for, ay?) before letting rip. Kojey kept it real with subjects ranging from the pride of his mother, political unjust, drug fueled life styles and so much more. His flow from one topic to another was ridiculously smooth and where he plunged us deep into one narrative , he successfully lifted us into another. He incorporated memoirs, history and adventure, whilst getting the crowds to chant before we took time out for a group selfie. The experience was altogether humbling for us as well as for the word smith.

Then came the turn of UK rapper Smiler who brought along with him some infectious beats, plenty of play on words and effortless flow. Having worked with the likes of Professor Green, Icona Pop, Lana Del Rey and more recently Ed Sheeran on the upcoming track ‘Brand New Style,’ it’s clear that Smiler isn’t a musician to be pigeon holed, as he delivered Hip Hop and Retro vibes laced with Rock elements. Another humble artist Smiler let us know his plans for the future and spoke of his experience within the music industry so far, and on that note we look forward to the release of Smiler’s debut album next summer.

The evening itself had such a mellow atmosphere and it was refreshing to see artists stood among everyone else, lending support and bringing that electricity for others to give 100%.

Little Nikki is a star who at only 17 years old has bags of stage presence and you could tell she was loving every moment. Some of the fashionista’s of the crowd would have recognized two of her songs ‘Yoyo’ & ‘Little Nikki Say’s’ from those Boohoo adverts but seeing them up close and personal brought them to a new dimension. Adding the moves of Little Nikki and her on point dancer, each song was like a glimpse into a Little Nikki night out and I couldn’t help but sway and jiggle along to her sound, fusing Reggae, Old Skool 90’s, Drum ‘n’ Bass and Jungle. It seems that this teen can lend her voice to anything she wants to.

Looking exceptionally dapper, shakka took to the stage next and it was evident from the word go that this was going to be a fun ride. The camera phones were whipped out as Shakka worked the stage like a true professional, belting out supernatural vocals and busting out some seriously vigorous moves. Some of you may know Shakka from his partnership with Wretch 32 on the hit ‘Blackout,’ so I was pleased as punch when he treated us to it on the night but he’s got some stonking tracks of his own like the Ska sounding ‘Sooner Or Later’ and the heartfelt truthful lyrics of ‘Just Want To See You.’ It was a prominent moment of the evening when Shakka mashed up the tracks of Disclosure & Chris Malinchak’s ‘Latch’ and ‘So Good To You.’ I’d say that it deserves a release in it’s own right.

Not only bursting with talent, we too had the comedic skills of the evening’s host Julie Adenuga, as crowd interaction was high on her agenda. The masses weren’t shy to get involved as they divulged weird facts about themselves, took part in catwalks, joined together for sing songs and acted out random scenes.