Here is a piece I wrote for the new issue of Pseudonym , I'm posting it after some Go*off history was requested on the forum. Please feel free to add to it.
The Go*off
Good times & good peoples.
Portsmouth has never had a particularly large hip hop community but over the years small clusters of people have strived to bring the music they loved to this strange island we call home.
It would be impossible for me to roll call everyone but I need to mention a few key figures. For a longtime the lifeline of hip hop in this city was pirate radio (thanks Tee) For several years & under various names (deltaforce/jamm fm...) the airwaves played host to local legend Dan Duce's "Infamous Rap Show" The rap show was always a pleasure & Dan became somewhat of a figure head for the local scene, he was also an incredible graffiti artist & passionate b.boy. Alongside Dan were Big Jimbrowski, Waxer, Panoramix, Lord Justice, IP & Dan Mondo . Trueskool. They did their best to keep the funk alive. World class B.Boy Adam from Second 2 None was a Pompey boy & grafitti artist Dreph also resided here.
A slightly younger group started to come up through the ranks & get involved including myself, Dharma77 & Theory.
A few of us put on nights in bars & I got my first taste of promoting when I started a monthly night in the Dog (now Havana) (circa 1997). Sometime later Dan Duce organised Portsmouth's first ever proper hip hop club night, a one off it was held at Harry Limes (Now E.Q/the Lounge) & featured Duce, Mex & Theory on the decks + Adam breakdancing.
He called it "The Go*off" named after an oldskool B.Boy term. Around this time I had set up Uncle Al's record shop
(@ Bored) & with the influx of students to the city a scene was starting to build.
A year after the first Go*off Dan & I were both itching to put on a regular club night so we decided to join forces & the Go*off as it is now was born.
Starting downstairs at E.Q where the dingy basement added to the atmosphere, our early guests included: S.T.N, Force 10, Dj Leacy (R.I.P) Mex, First Rate, Format &Task Force as well as local MC's & DJ's.
Eventually Duce moved to New York to work as an artist, I struggled on alone for a while & managed to put on our first big act - Company Flow. Help soon came in the form of Gentle Bren a keen young hip hop DJ who became my co promoter & is now without doubt one of the best party rockers in the South. We started to get bigger acts and moved venue to the Wedgewood Rooms.
It's harder to please everyone these days, we've gotten used to regular events & big name Dj's but I remember not long ago it was amazing just to be able to go out in Portsmouth & hear decent hip hop & funk. When did it all get so complicated? Sometimes organising club nights can feel like a stressful, thankless task & I wonder why I bother. Then I remember all the good times & good peoples. We've had some amazing times over the years & been privaledged to showcase some incredible artists who would otherwise have never have played in this town.
They include: The Arsonists, Kela, DJ Vadim, Mr Thing, Skinnyman, Lord Finesse, Charlie Chase, Paul Nice, People Under The Stairs, TY, JZone, A Trak, Diversion Tactics, DJ Woody, Cash Money, Company Flow, Cannibal Ox, Mr Lif, Blade, All natural, DJ Format, Jehst, Lewis Parker, Mr Thing, Yungun, Ritchy Pitch, Mark Ronson, Skitz, Rodney P,
Buck 65, & Afrika Bambaataa amonst others.
Other Go*off residents: Panoramix, Taz, Theory, Dharma 77, Richie Phoe, Second Hand Dan, & DJ Odin.
Thank you to Dan, Bren, Stu & everyone who has helped & attended the Go*off over the years. - Uncle Al
Southsea, the south south sea.
