Rebekah Lucy Loves Supa Dupa Fly

I love 90's R&B right. Like, that's it for me - that's when music was Officially Awesome.

You grow up listening to whatever your parents play, or whatever is on the radio, or whatever they force you to dance to at Hutt City Dance Centre (represent) - and then eventually you get a taste for something you like, someone gives you a Tower Records voucher for your birthday, you use it to buy Mariah Carey MTV Unplugged (on cassette tape, good God) and your musical fate is signed, sealed, delivered.


Original love.

I know Ms Carey tends to the poppier end of the R&B spectrum but she was my first true musical love (we're Birthday Twins you know, it was meant to be). She's had her ups and downs, but I'll still happily listen to her today - and that Unplugged album was something else. Say what you will about the woman she is very good at what she does.

I remember falling in love with Deborah Cox's Who Do U Love (despite the spelling) around 1996. I wanted the lime green shirt, the black boot-leg trousers, the Rachel-from-Friends-ish hair, the sweet, sweet dance moves, and all of the sass. That video was like Christina Aguilera's Can't Hold Us Down - just seven years earlier, and seven times more sassy, with seven times better hair. I would get up every Saturday to watch the RTR Countdown (which later became the Coca Cola Countdown... I think...) and I hung out for Mary J Blige (I still love the video for Everything), Keith Sweat, Blackstreet, TLC, Mista (Blackberry Molassess anyone? Tune!), Brandy, En Vogue, Tamia, Aaliyah (RIP), Toni Braxton, Ginuwine, Diddy (when he was still Puff Daddy), Dru Hill, Usher (remember You Make Me Wanna? There was a lot of purple in that video right? And some goldfish? At least in my mind's eye, that's the way it was...), Montell Jordan, Destiny's Child (way back when there was no Michelle), Dru Hill... on and on and on and on (which reminds me, Erykah Badu too!)

The point? I love 90's R&B.

So when Hobbs told me about this magical, marvellous thing called Supa Dupa Fly - regular 90's R&B and Hip Hop club nights hosted in Camden and Brixton, I was like YES PLEASE. Right. Up. My. Alley. So a group of us locked down some tickets around three months ago (planning in advance for the win!) (I was actually just far too excited for words!) and waited... and waited... and finally, the big second super duper (supa dupa) birthday event rocked around on Friday night. We met up at the Camden Eye (soon to be venue for my 30th Birthday also. 30! Ergh!) for some pre-drinks before bowling over to the Jazz Cafe for the main event.

Annalies likes little drinkies.

Gorgeous girlies. Pre-drinks.

It. Was. So. Fucking. Good. And I have decided I want to live there.

Dancing Queen. Suddenly shy.

Sup.

Every time I thought I might be ready for bed, another cha-hoon would crank and I'd have to stay just a little bit longer. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and I think some of the girls were less excited which is cool - each to their own, but I had just about the best night out I've had since I moved to London. I mean, they even played Heartbreaker. Come on.

Shimmy.

Cheese 'n peace. I look like I'm standing in a hole. Damn that Zanelli with her long legs.

Classy broad. Yes, I have spilled on myself. Yes, my arm is FATTTTT. Ignore it, pretend I'm skinnay.

Double parked. Drunky little drunksters.

Ivory & Ebony. Hanging with Am for the win.

For real, everyone was dancing, singing, rapping, cheering. I didn't think the joint was too rammed either, which is most excellent when one is in the mood for shaking one's groove thang (see earlier comment re: turning 30, I am an old lady and therefore allowed to use phrases such as 'groove thang' and 'hip'). And shake my groove thang, I did. Four, maybe five solid hours of shimmy shimmying around the d floor meant I could barely walk yesterday or today. Worth it? Fuck yes. There was a bit of uninvited grinding (standard?) but I just pulled out the boyfriend / husband card and the grinders in question were respectful enough to back it up. Good vibes all round. (I'd like to give a shout out to all the cheesecake of my past for my apparently 'half-Jamaican' ass...ets also.)

To summarise: amazing music + hanging with some lovely ladies who I don't catch up with nearly often enough = basically awesome. Happy Second Birthday Supa Dupa Fly. Thanks for having us. X

PS. To the girl who window-punched me at the end of the night (long story) - even your random fat-lip-giving actions couldn't spoil it for me. Play on, player.