- What is the M doing in MTV these days? The channel dedicates only four hours per day to music in The Netherlands, filling the rest with endless episodes of Catfish and Teen Mom. But the music television network turned reality soap producer is not ready to call it quits in the music industry completely. As well as hosting the EMA Music show in Rotterdam on Sunday, MTV sponsored a new underground festival that took place across seven venues over the weekend, with Skepta, Santigold, Mount Kimbie, Objekt and Palms Trax among the acts.
REC is the brainchild of three clubs—BAR, Transport and Annabel—situated around a parking lot hidden behind a small concrete tunnel painted yellow and black. Apart from graffiti-plastered rave hole Perron, not much has been going on in the parking lot for about a decade. But when BAR opened four years ago, something started to grow. More than a year ago, Perron was replaced with cultural venue Annabel and techno club Transport. From this came REC, a festival to show the world that Rotterdam's nightlife renaissance is in full effect.
REC searched for the right balance between concert and club night, with a strong emphasis on hip-hop, grime and soul. Headliners like Skepta, Santigold, Mayer Hawthorne, Lianne La Havas and Cody Chesnutt were tasked with drawing the crowds to Annabel, a 700-capacity concert hall. Some of these performances, though, got Friday and Saturday nights off to a slow start. Skepta didn't put in the same energy as he had during ADE two weeks earlier. Similarly, Santigold was less convincing that she had been at Pitch Festival in July, even if the supermarket visuals and dancers with selfie sticks were a strong anti-consumerism statement. Luckily, the smaller room upstairs hosted plenty of fresh talent, such as Swedish electro pop duo Niki & The Dove, who sounded like Santigold but seemed to be having way more fun. DJ Yoda showed off some insane mixing skills, juggling up to three records at a time. He played, among other things, psychedelic rock, Corey Heart's "Sunglasses At Night" and a weird edit of Talking Heads' "Burning Down The House."
On Saturday, Fatima Al Qadiri worked her crowd's hips with a mix of booty house and Latin-infused techno, before Nidia Minaj took over with an infectious blend of percussive African tracks that deserved a bigger crowd. But there was too much choice—Antal, Palms Trax and Palmbomen II, who played live, all clashed. Earlier that night, queer rapper Cakes Da Killa proved an unexpected highlight, delivering a captivating performance. While he created a runway in the crowd like a stewardess highlighting the emergency exits, his tour DJ acted out all his words in wild gestures, from "stretch" to "fuck." Cakes Da Killa rapped aggressively over fast, pounding beats served up by his animated DJ, who jumped about frantically, pausing every now and then to hit the alarm button. The contrast between Cakes Da Killa's bold sound and elegant ballroom dancing generated an exciting tension. The crowd hit the roof.
One of the best things about REC was the sense of inclusiveness you experienced when crossing the rainy beer garden to any of the five participating venues, which were all located conveniently close. Rotterdam's ethnic diversity was reflected in the lineup and in the visitors. On Friday night, there were hip-hop girls in Perron—which reopened last weekend—dancing intensely to Randomer's thumping techno. The following night, I spotted a 50-something woman dressed in traditional African garb in exactly the same spot. She took a drag on a joint, losing herself in the downtempo reggae of King Shiloh Soundsystem and their handmade speaker stacks.
REC had everything, from laid-back reggae to tantalizing techno. Objekt was great on Friday, as was Ata Kak with his feel-good highlife jams. During the Ghanaian's show, founder Kris De Leeuw told me he'd just signed a deal for a new soundsystem. That felt like a good move: the beaming singer, revived by Awesome Tapes From Africa in 2015, was barely audible, even with support from live musicians. Hiccups like this showed there was room for improvement.
The sound was better on Saturday night, when Rush Hour's Antal proved once again that The Netherlands need not look abroad for headliners. The crowds crept close to the DJ booth to watch him unleash his signature mix of exotic tunes, Chicago bangers and African cuts. He put the audience in a trance with the psychedelic rock of Turkish singer Barış Manço, then added a Keni Burke track to soften the vibe, before seeing people off with Krikor's remix of Aksak Maboul's "Saure Gurke." Don't let yourself be fooled by MTV's involvement in REC. There was no drama on set, just good music.
Photo credit /
Rene Passet - Niki & The Dove
REC had everything, from laid-back reggae to tantalizing techno. Objekt was great on Friday, as was Ata Kak with his feel-good highlife jams. During the Ghanaian's show, founder Kris De Leeuw told me he'd just signed a deal for a new soundsystem. That felt like a good move: the beaming singer, revived by Awesome Tapes From Africa in 2015, was barely audible, even with support from live musicians. Hiccups like this showed there was room for improvement. The sound was better on Saturday night, when Rush Hour's Antal proved once again that The Netherlands need not look abroad for headliners. The crowds crept close to the DJ booth to watch him unleash his signature mix of exotic tunes, Chicago bangers and African cuts. He put the audience in a trance with the psychedelic rock of Turkish singer Barış Manço, then added a Keni Burke track to soften the vibe, before seeing people off with Krikor's remix of Aksak Maboul's "Saure Gurke." Don't let yourself be fooled by MTV's involvement in REC. There was no drama on set, just good music. Photo credit / Rene Passet - Niki & The Dove