Konnect in Paceville was turned into hip-hop Jungle on Saturday Night, thanks to the guys behind The Tale.
The Tale launched just last year but are already well on their way to becoming the quintessential urban music event organizers on the Island.
They proved this once again on Saturday night by providing some serious talent on stage and creating unbelievable energy in the crowd, making for a powerful evening that will go down as one of the best showcases of Hip-Hop of the year.
It was kicked off in style by Jay Rilez, one of the guys behind The Tale who has put blood, sweat, and tears into making his mark on the underground scene in Malta.
East to West Coast
He delivered three straight hours of some of the biggest tracks from the most beloved artists in the rap game from both sides of the Atlantic. With tunes from everyone from Biggie to Dizzee, there was not a rap stone unturned.
Incorporating all rap genres was what made his set such a memorable one. He played everything from the old school to the new school, including classic East Coast and West Coast, as well as Trap and Grime, making sure all bases were covered.
Rilez was relentless with his selection of bangers and you simply couldn’t call what was coming next,
Providing a comprehensive selection of true Hip-Hop and keeping all the die-hard rap heads in the venue not just content, but gagging for more.
Rilez broke boundaries and sound barriers to give the rap fans of Malta a plethora of the finest urban music and give attendees a taste of massive things to come in the future from him. Not just an event organizer, but as a top DJ too.

Enter JFB
However, if 3 hours of Rilez dropping the baddest beats from across the two continents didn’t do it for you, half twelve brought something even more special and dynamic, headliner, JFB.
Originally from Brighton, UK, he was on the Island for one night only off the back of a Canadian tour, but he looked fresher than ever when he came on the decks.
Dropping and mixing some major bangers from an obviously vast back catalog, he served up a full two-hour set of mash-ups to blow your mind.
Mixing elements of numerous genres, with his own take on Rage Against the Machine, Fatboy Slim, and numerous others in his mix, he showed real versatility in his set. However, he still stayed true to the Hip-Hop vibe, always coming back predominately to rap and making sure even the roots were covered, with Sugar Hill Gang getting a play.
If the music selection was good, his scratch routines were outstanding, the fastest hands in the UK without a doubt. With the whole set filmed on a live stream and visible on a projector behind him to the crowd,
There was no margin for error and the whole performance was perfect.
Hip-hop – drum & bass
The most impressive thing of it all, hip-hop isn’t even his main genre. Usually specializing in drum and bass, he came to Malta for the one event to shut it down out of his element, delivering such an impressive set that the crowd could think nothing else than that JFB must be a hip-hop DJ and through. A truly remarkable talent.

He’s now got two weeks off to refresh, make some more tunes and come back better than ever. Next stop, South America, and then more locations in Asia, where he played last year too, so if you happen to see him on the rota at any events in the near future, on any continent, you need to check this guy out.
The night concluded with a selection of Drum and Bass tunes, but even before that, the night was as good as wrapped up, with an impossible task to match the atmosphere created by the main men, Rilez and JFB.
Stay tuned
Fans came for a Hip-Hop rave and were treated to just that, a night that will live on for a very long time for the attendees, who are no doubt, already gassed up for the next one.
Worth a shout out too was a group of breakdancers who were chucking some serious moves throughout the event and waving the flag for the underground dance scene on the Island. This linked the audio and visual aesthetic perfectly and we could have just as easily been attending an event in Brooklyn, opposed to Malta.
Overall, two exceptional DJs and a crowd repaid them with just as much passion.
The energy that could be found in the Tale on Friday night is going to be a tough act to follow for other promoters of the same genre in the coming weeks. The Tale has set the precedent for any similar events well into the future, so stay tuned for more from these guys if Hip-Hop is your vibe.
Photography courtesy of TALE