Plug & Play: A Celebration of UK R&B
June 28 | Written By Simon White
6th June 2023: Hosted by Jaz Unplugged at Shoreditch’s Looking Glass Cocktail Bar, Plug & Play is about to begin. This is no gig, however. This is a fresh take on an artist showcase. The evening will showcase six up-and-coming R&B artists and two “special acts”, each with three minutes to impress. The twist, each artist will be receiving essential feedback by not only a panel of industry professionals, but also the audience. Each member of the audience will have a QR code where feedback can be submitted and read out by the host, followed by the expert opinion. The industry professionals are, A&R manager and marketing assistant for Louder Than Words, Shaiyann Fairweather, music publicist and co-founder of MYBLAQBOOK LTD., Brenda Juilet, relationship manager and Black Music Specialist at PPL, Terence Daniel, and Footstep, AKA Foot, a music producer and co-founder of F&F Music Studio.
Plug & Play was created by Jaz, a multifaceted creative who uses her platform to share her playlists and love for R&B. She also works in A&R giving her great insight into the music industry and making her a well knowledged industry professional. Plug & Play was created as a spotlight event for up and coming musicians, a fantastic opportunity for new faces in the music industry.
Plug & Play began with a short Q&A with the judges, where each told the audience (and artists) who they were, how long they’ve worked in their profession and which notable artists they have worked with. This definitely removed the anonymity and intimidation from the panel, which definitely benefited some of the more nervous performers. Unfortunately, due to the lack of cell service in the venue, the QR code participation had to be abandoned before the music started. Alas, the show must go on! First up was Shanay Maliya: the song very much had an old school R&B vibe which the judges found refreshing. Shanay was clearly very talented, but lacked stage presence, however that could have been nerves so it would be harsh to criticise that. The judges asked Shanay (and indeed each successive artist) what she needs to propel her to the next level (i.e. funding, management, etc.), what they have coming up (i.e. releases, gigs), and for social media handles. The audience and judges alike had positive feedback, notably on her voice and believability of her lyrics, but the ultimate takeaway was that Shanay needs to release some music, as she is yet to do so.
After a strong start, Danny Bones was up next. Having only one artist to compare to thus far, the general feeling was that Danny was subpar to Shanay, despite dominating the stage. His rapping did not captivate the audience, and was singled out by one of the professionals. Additionally, the lyrics were a touch cringeworthy, however the vibe changed when Danny started singing. He is clearly very talented, with a beautiful, soulful voice reminiscent of Avant or Tyrese, but ultimately was let down by a myriad of factors as pointed out by the judges, despite his powerful stage presence. Regardless of a mix of positive and negative feedback, Danny Bones still proved himself as a talented performer.
Third on the bill was Kateshia Marie who filled her three minutes on stage with two songs; the first was a cover, the second was her original ‘Emergency’. The most talented singer thus far, Marie had a beautiful nasal tone to her voice which worked, and was noted by the judges. The judges complimented her voice, the songwriting, and the use of instrumentation. The latter felt in stark contrast to Danny Bones performance as Kateshia had a guitarist and box drummer on stage with her. Moving swiftly on, up next was J Lavaly who performed an old school R&B style original, very heartfelt, and truly owned the stage, encouraging the audience to sing the hook along with him. This seemed to be the judge’s favourite; Lavaly was slick, talented, but humble, and the judges could not believe he was still unsigned. They complimented his confidence and voice, stating he was “captivating”, a sentiment shared by the audience who had been somewhat stunned into a lull.
Following Lavaly seemed like a tough ask at this stage of the evening – it seemed it would take a lot to top that performance. Up steps Vicky Trantou, and with a shaky start courtesy of her guitarist for the evening, Vicky’s fate seemed all but sealed. Matching, if not exceeding J Lavaly’s talent, Trantou brought the house down! By far the best crowd reaction of the evening, there were clicks, claps, whoops and “mmhmm”’s all over the shop. Trantou had a gorgeous Mariah Carey vocal style, riffed to perfection, managing never to overdo it, all whilst staying sat down. This was not a sit of shyness, it was sleek professionalism, with one of the judges saying how effortless Vicky made her performance, without taking away from her stage presence. Shaiyann Fairweather commented that she “was going to put [Vicky] on her [Instagram] story, but then I thought about my rival A&R people”, which speaks for itself. The feedback was very short, all noted her voice, but outside of this had little to say as they had no notes on her performance as she was just that incredible.
Last, but certainly not least, to take the stage was South London’s finest Natalie C. Natalie took the stage with swagger, with confidence; the stage was her home. Despite Vicky being the most talented, J Lavaly being the judges favourite, Natalie was the fan favourite – the people’s princess. Natalie’s voice can be easily compared to Jorja Smith, her breath control and riffs were flawless, and the audience really connected with her. Natalie’s used of South London slang and pronunciation was perfect and clearly helped with her song’s relatability. During her audience feedback, one stated they felt empowered by her lyrics, with another saying her voice was so soulful that she should never talk again, only sing. The judges complimented her stage presence, riffing and voice, however did think it was Natalie’s first performance which a quick look on social media will tell a different story.
Following the performances by new artists, came two “special acts” – Tee Valentine and Zitah. The difference between the new acts and the established two was instantly recognisable. The production on the backing tracks was sublime, the subwoofers were called into action for the first time in the evening. Additionally, their stage presence was far superior, even of the most confident of the first six. Valentine bordered on arrogant the was he commanded the stage, but can hardly be a bad thing as the audience fully engaged with him, and even recognised one of his tracks. After the two performances came a short Q&A with Foot, a DJ set from Digital Mozart, and a networking mingle to round off the evening.
Plug & Play was a hoot, to put it simply. The audience, artists, and industry professionals all enjoyed themselves, and had the QR code idea been possible, the evening would have been a full success. The lack of QR code did not make the evening less enjoyable at all, however artists would have definitely received more feedback on their performances, which would have been more inline with how the evening was advertised. However, as far as live music for under a tenner goes (this is London after all), this was like a local X-Factor audition, but with guaranteed talent. Sounds fun! Finally, follow @jazunplugged to be notified of any future Plug & Play events, and all things up-and-coming R&B.
A huge thank you to Jaz for inviting The Music Mag to this event and congratulations to her and all the artists for the success of Plug&Play! A night of enjoyable music, talent and one or the history books.