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Big Smoke Festival – A celebration of Black electronic music
From Ossie to SYREETA, we take a look at the Black electronic music artists playing Big Smoke Festival this summer
“If you like music, you like house. You just haven’t realised it yet.” So says rapper, DJ, fashion designer and British cultural tastemaker Skepta, whose upcoming Big Smoke Festival will feature an all-electronic music line-up on the Más Tiempo stage.
As house, dance, garage and more electronic subgenres become increasingly ubiquitous with new generations of listeners; and in the advent of the rise of the TikTok DJ, it should come as no surprise that Skepta and more artists are finally able to express their admiration for electronic music to wider and more receptive audiences. Skepta himself is one of the pioneers of the grime genre, which draws from jungle, D&B, breakbeat and garage, and he regularly DJs as part of the duo Más Tiempo with fellow BBK rapper Jammer.
Skepta’s views on house music are correct – a genre built off the intersections of Black, Latinx and LGBTQIA+ culture; NYC club culture and disco; synth experimentalists from Europe; and the inimitable Frankie Knuckles’ innovative sounds at The Warehouse in Chicago. From the underground to the forefront, house music is in constant dialogue with the world around it, drawing from and influencing global sounds including hip hop, K-Pop, Tanzanian singeli, grime, kwaito and more. It’s a genre that is irrevocably woven into the history of music and culture, and one that you can enjoy on 6 July at Big Smoke with a line-up including Uncle Waffles, SYREETA, Loco Dice and more.
However, despite its Black origins, there is often an erasure of the historical and contemporary contributions made by Black electronic music artists. Big Smoke Festival attempts to rectify that, and so will this article – with a spotlight on the artists you can see on the Más Tiempo stage next month.
HoneyLuv
London-based producer and DJ HoneyLuv blends elements of R&B and soul with dance and house to create her Ibiza-ready, BBC Radio 1 ‘Future Star’ sound. Having remixed Annie Mac, Seth Troxler and more; plus, releasing her own singles with features from Cakes Da Killa, NEZ and Dope Earth Alien; HoneyLuv is poised to have a polished house set spanning deep cuts and modern classics.
Jammer
First making a name for himself as a member of Boy Better Know, the former NASTY Crew member and grime MC, multi-hyphenate artist Jammer has moved into the DJ space, forming half of Más Tiempo alongside Skepta. Not just the name of their DJ duo, but also the pair’s house label – which aims to provide a platform for producers and DJs to “bring a new flavour to house music.” Having played DC-10 and Circoloco, and released the singles ‘Touch Me’ and ‘Mas Murder’, Jammer and the Más Tiempo team are in for an interesting journey – one which you can be part of at his set at Big Smoke festival.
Kitty Amor
A bastion of the UK Afro house scene, Kitty Amor’s immersive and diverse selections of deep house, techno and African dance music have made her one of the most sought-after contemporary UK DJs. Lauded by Mixmag, and a resident DJ at her club night Motherland, Kitty has built a formidable career as an Afro house DJ, playing The Warehouse Project, Tomorrowland, Printworks and more.
Ossie
A Boiler Room regular, east London native Ossie has risen through the ranks of the UK electronic music scene with his percussion-led house sets that blend live instrumentation with house tracks. From his FACT mix to his own EPs – Space Odyssey, Ossie Baba, To Make You Smile, and Unstable, which was released on the Más Tiempo label – his forward-thinking approach to house takes centre stage in every project, production and DJ set.
SYREETA
Whether she’s playing headline sets at Ushuaïa Ibiza or the Más Tiempo stage at Crystal Palace, fans can expect an unabashedly queer, Black and melodic tech-house set from DJ and producer SYREETA. She has remixed some of house’s biggest names including Inner City and Shermanology, released her own original work, and played some of music’s biggest stages including Glastonbury, Coachella, Parklife and Creamfields.
Skepta
We know he needs no introduction, as not only will he be headlining both the Big Smoke and the Más Tiempo stages, but this is his very own festival. However, we think that it’s just as important to highlight Skepta as an important figure platforming and creating Black electronic music. As a DJ and producer, Skepta has played DC-10, Circoloco, KOKO, Drumsheds and more – an extension of his longtime affinity for tech, deep and minimal house. While he has previously DJ’d under different monikers to keep his work as an MC separate from his DJ career, Skepta is ready to merge the worlds, with sets spanning garage, UK funky house, techno and more. While we’re sure his Big Smoke stage performance will be a showstopper, his Más Tiempo DJ set is a rave that’s not to be missed.
