Tinchy Strydes on after electric display at Bournemouth's O2 Academy

Urban grime superstar Tinchy Stryder delighted a buzzing crowd at the O2 Academy in Boscombe, Bournemouth last month, with supporting act Example warming the crowd up in no small way for a huge night of musical mayhem.


The night kicked off with Example’s flawless rendition of recent hits Won’t Go Quietly and Watch The Sun Come Up - both going down a storm with a packed crowd crammed into the small arena on a cold February night on the south-coast. Always the showman, the Hammersmith-born rapper involved the crowd in every song, provoking chants and choruses sang by fans whilst energetically bunny-hopping to the music seemingly at every occasion.

Half way through his performance, Example (arguably) congratulated his crowd for being “the loudest and possibly oldest crowd ever”, which was somehow amazingly received with ruptures of approval from the Bournemouth faithful. 

The crowd went wild regardless as lyrics streamed virtually endlessly during Example’s electrifying set - and with a vast array of styles and rhythms, Example ensured the crowd were always on their feet, mimicking his over-exaggerated bunny-hopping to his heavy beats.

Of course, the 27-year-old was only to be a warm up for a crowd ultimately only there for his 23-year-old counterpart. Under the pseudonym ‘Star In The Hood’ and donning all-black, Tinchy Stryder appeared on stage behind a white curtain. Screaming fans deafened the arena, as Tinchy soaked up the love before returning it as the curtain dropped with superbly performed recitals of his biggest hits. Appropriately chosen, Tinchy led with album favourite I’m Landing before laying down an even better performance of Warning. Tinchy’s unique prowess was clear for all to see, majestically laying down bars of rap accompanied by a pulsating backing beat that could be felt on the streets outside. Tinchy controlled the crowd effortlessly – at one point, he mockingly walked off stage as a sea of teenagers chanted his name, begging for more before the rapper returned to thrill his crowd with smash hit Number One.

Hands covered the air as hundreds of mobile phones lit up the East Londoner’s adoring fans’ faces, desperately trying to get footage of the superstar on stage, and with support on the night in the form of fellow rappers Maverick Rap and Rapid Rick, music continuously flowed through every crevice of the O2 Academy until the night’s end. Simply put by 2nd Year BU Law Student Sarah Maverick, “the gig was amazing”, with not one person looking unimpressed by the night’s show as fans headed for the exits.

There’s no doubt that both men are well on their way up in a competitive music business, and if screams and satisfied faces were anything to go by, both performances were superb, with fans begging for more as both rappers  respectively left the stage. The only dampener on the night - if there had to be one - was Tinchy’s performance time, which perhaps didn’t quite justify a £14 ticket price for just over an hour on stage. 

More on both performers can be found at www.trythisforexample.com and www.starinthehood.net.