South Rakkas Crew are one of the hottest production doing the rounds at the moment with their Riddims CDs holding a legendry status among DJs. With the release of a mixtape and the promise of a tour, I thought all my Christmases had come at once. Unwrapping the mix CD, I was anticipating one of the best dancehall CDs ever, yet I was bitch slapped in the face with a cold wet smelly fish of unsatisfying limp electro meets watered down soggy-biscuit 80s sampling. While the tunes might move a young clubber with familiar lines that remind them of their older brothers record collection when they where 12, it’s got a mere half a cup of the good stuff.

But when it came to their gig at Oxford Arts Factory, I was still stoked that Jimmy Sing had the vision to bring such a talent production crew to Australia. Oxford Arts is properly in the top three venues in Sydney at the moment and was nicely full with that mixed bag crowd that a new venue tends to draw for the first year or so. Adding to the vibe of the night is the influx of So You Think You Can Dance contestants that have been voted off, and now seem to be trying to show Sydney their moves. Support duties on the night where held down by Killa Queenz, and they run a tight ship with rock-solid hip hop meets dancehall vibes. It was a little surprising not to see Basslines on the bill as they where one of the pioneers of the modern dancehall sound in Sydney, and have help introduce South Rakkas via both the dance floor and radio.

In all honesty I was 50 per cent scattered by South Rakkas’s performance: they started out strong, but it wasn’t too long before the front man started his never ending hyping of the crowd. Many times he left me wishing that he would just shut the fuck up, leaving me hungering for just a straight-up DJ set. And while we’re on the subject DJing, I have to admit the supports acts like Killa Queenz held their own and rocked it with South Rakkas boys in a bit of freestyle. But the DJing after South Rakkas had finished would have been more suited to a blue light disco or maybe a Moby Disc job for under 18s parties on the North Shore. But the crowd voted with their feet and the room emptied. What happened to dancehall? The same could be said fore the turning point in South Rakkas set: who gives a rat’s left testicle about your ‘Beeper’? Apart from that shocking song, there were a few too many obvious tracks and way too much cheese for even a Bega factory worker to handle.

All up, not the orgy of excellent dancehall that I was expecting. But major props still go out to Jimmy Sings for serving up the unexpected, even if the international headliners didn’t live up to my lofty expectations.