Review: Jehst, The Fleece

It’s safe to say that Jehst, aka William Shields, known to some to as Billy Brimstone is one of the most significant artists in UK Hip Hop to date. From Jehst’s EP Premonitions (1999) to his most recent album The Dragon of an Ordinary Family (2011) pushing the boundaries of his earlier boom bap production style, Jehst proves himself to be a stable figure-head in UKHH fans hearts and speakers loved for his mix of socially conscious lyrics and laid back flow.

That being said, a gig at the Fleece was something that Bristol UKHH fans were massively looking forward to. MANIK MC kicked off the night of treats, those who made it to Loyle Carner’s latest tour will know of MANIK MC’s introspective lyrics with classic HIP HOP instrumentals. His vulnerable stylings and clever word play make him one to look out for treating the early goers to a spoken word piece reflecting the current times and struggles under our most recent Political Policies. Booda French switched up the vibe later with some bouncy New York loft party stylings. You might think Booda was a seasoned professional as he confidently got the crowd of fan’s eager to see Jehst bobbing their heads and in the party mood, with more American influences in his delivery the UKHH crowd were still enjoying what Booda had to offer, people greeting each other and the crowd just kept coming till the Fleece became rammed.

As the crowd became just the right amount of rowdy Jehst makes it to the stage dropping a personal favourite track, Starting Over from his “The Dragon from an Ordinary Family” Album, despite sound issues the crowd immediately start head bobbing and repeating lyrics with ease, going straight into Citizen Smif track from his “Falling Down” as people hold up their red striped along with the lyrics, “Don’t ever hand me a dead mic, hand me a light and a Red Stripe”, he immediately had the crowd in his palm as only highly respected artist can.

Jehst almost had fans running backstage for him as he mused over needing a swig of his Henny and a toke. Shouting out, “Bristol. How you know all the lyrics from music from an underground electronic label”, Bristol crowd proving ourselves to be the Hip-hop and general music nerds we’re known to be. Shouting out Carner yet again as he slips in ‘No Worries’ which he features on with Rebel Kleff and always bigging up the UK scene and artists from his production company YNR including Confucius MC who makes a welcome appearance back on stage. The crowd, typically of Bristol, gets most hyped over a classic Jehst track about “sticky green trees”, Res from Split Prophets making an appearance on stage and Jehst going into the crowd to find someone who could really spit one of his verses. The best part of the gig was the overall love for the UKHH scene that seeing a legend and hearing the classics from them also means seeing and soaking up music from new artists as the scene is stronger than ever. Hope to hear some new stuff from you soon though Jehst!