CityLife

Work It: Tina Turnover + WAH Girls + Think Twice + Maxwell Jaye

A paid up member of the Work It massive

THE days when every R&B star could actually sing and all MCs could make more than a couplet rhyme are sorely missed.

And the reaction to East End nineties club night Work It, on its Manchester debut at The Deaf Institute, proved that the 10-plus years since the likes of Notorious B.I.G and a controversy-free R Kelly ruled hip-hop and R&B has been too long.

Hi top haircuts, retro Nike trainers and neon cropped T-shirts of London scenesters bump and ground side-by-side with the platform heels, checked shirts and skinny jeans of the northern crowd to a soundtrack of classic tracks.

These included songs by LL Cool J, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Destiny’s Child, Toni Braxton and Blackstreet.

While many R&B and hip-hop nights around at the moment attract people that get their kicks out of looking better than anyone else, the only kind of posing that went on at Work It was shameless moves on the dancefloor.

The crowd showed also off their vocal skills to ‘Fantasy’ by Mariah Carey and Old Dirty Bastard, ’Poison’ by Bel Biv Devoe and ‘All The She Wants’ by Ace Of Base.

Popular tracks were mixed in with some underground cuts such as Mos Def, Zhane and Foxy Brown which satisfied the hardened fans, but the UK garage was unfortunately a step too far for people who were more interested in reminiscing over En Vogue, Will Smith and SWV’s chart hits.         

Despite the amount of tracks that were spun, artists like Missy Elliot, The Fugees, Common, Monica, Brownstone, Jon B, 702 and Faith Evans were all missing from the playlist – but maybe they’re being saved another Manchester Work It. Please?