Dele Fadele
Dele Fadele wrote regularly for NME in the late '80s and early '90s, focusing on hip-hop, acid house, shoegazing and grunge. Courtney Love claimed that his review of Hole at the Camden Underworld was the worst she ever received. Tragically, news of Dele's death in 2018 did not emerge until the summer of 2020. (Photo: Martyn Goodacre)
James McMahon remembers Dele Fadele
189 articles
List of articles in the library
Einstürzende Neubauten: Heaven, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 September 1985
COLLAPSING NEW Virus Spreaders, Volcanoes Still Active, Last Few Day's Sounds capers — Einstürzende Neubaten: more than all this. Whispering in Heaven brings you closer ...
Echo & The Bunnymen: Warren Peace
Interview by Dele Fadele, ZigZag, November 1985
WHEN THE CONSCIENCE AND SOUL LIE – A BODY'S GOT NO CHOICE. ...
Psychic TV: National Club, Kilburn, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 March 1986
THIS IS THE STORY OF GENESIS P, HE'S THE BLOKE IN PSYHIC TV. ...
On-U Sound System, Adrian Sherwood, Tackhead: Adrian Sherwood: Ministry of Dub
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 16 August 1986
Producer ADRIAN SHERWOOD has spent a decade deconstructing and rebuilding music dubwise, from Ministry and New Age Steppers to Mark Stewart, Tack Head and Keith ...
Art of Noise: The Big Kiss-Off: Art Of Noise: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 30 August 1986
THEIR TIME, like the strained smile on celibacy's face, is desperately short. Like the tame, trained, caged bear all their disregard is now marshmallow; their ...
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 September 1986
THE THIRD person entered store after store, priced nothing, spoke no word, and looked at all objects with a wild and vacant stare – having ...
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 13 September 1986
HAS THE vocabulary been conceived, reduced or minimal enough to transmit the gravity or even sonority of those emotions laid bare on this, this, this ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 September 1986
RUN LIKE HELL ...
Cameo: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 4 October 1986
DOCTOR MY EARS ...
The Residents: Hammersmith Palais, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 8 November 1986
IF YOU often wondered what fate befalls ex-members of that most teenage of teenage groups, Menudo, don't. Their hearts are left in San Francisco where ...
The Residents: Hammersmith Palais, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 8 November 1986
VAUDE-VILE ...
Holger Hiller: Oben Im Eck (Mute)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 November 1986
A SAMPLER IS always back-to-back with an array of possibilities. At her/his index finger. The choices: to either steal in an indiscriminate manner without discretion ...
The Durutti Column: Durutti Column: Valuable Passages (Factory)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 3 January 1987
SOMETIMES, WHEN you're kept rooted at one spot by something, you stay. None the more sure about what it was that pushed you there, yet ...
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 March 1987
First and biggest! METALLICA stumbled across the secret of speed-metal and threw open the door for the hairy hordes that followed. In the process, they've ...
Happy Mondays: "Everything Else Is Foreign, Innit?"
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 May 1987
HAPPY MONDAYS box ears as Factory's rhythm frenzy new boys. DELE FADELE is welcomed to their working week. ...
Public Enemy: The Enemy Without
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 16 May 1987
PUBLIC ENEMY are the latest hard rap attack from Def Jam's box of tricks, but very different from all that's gone before. Toting Uzi machine ...
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 30 May 1987
Woah, boy. This is LL COOL J, sitting behind the wheel of an automobile, sensing disrespect! Our man in the wraparounds and the probe-stick: DELE ...
Davy DMX: Now the beat is dope
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 June 1987
New York — urban hell special!: DAVY D, Run DMC/Beasties support star and longtime New York DJ, entertains DELE FADELE with a shot of drug ...
Trouble Funk: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 11 July 1987
SOME CLAIM Angel Dust is a one-way ticket to oblivion that brings out the random psycho in you. Forget it. These bona fide purveyors of ...
Einstürzende Neubauten: A Berlin of the Mind
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 September 1987
As EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN return from their two years of self-imposed exile, group-face Blixa Bargeld tells DELE FADELE why they remain the best burst on the ...
On-U Sound System, Lee "Scratch" Perry: Lee Perry: Revenge Of The Totally Bananas
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 3 October 1987
Dub President LEE SCRATCH PERRY holds court with DELE FADELE, and predicts the apocalypse. ...
The Dave Howard Singers, Spacemen 3: Spacemen 3, The Dave Howard Singers: University of London Union
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 November 1988
THE PROBLEM with most purveyors of ersatz electronic soul is they invariably forget the random element while building citadels of software perfect pop. Dave Howard ...
Pussy Galore: Mean Fiddler, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 3 December 1988
FORGET THE conveyor-belt mentality and face up to the facts: using the latest fancy gadgets and accoutrements doesn't automatically make you contemporary or a late ...
Diamanda Galás: Sometimes Words Are Not Enough: Diamanda Galás: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 January 1989
SELF-CENSORSHIP destroys our richest dreams before they're executed. Just as redneck hysteria is the last refuge of the foul-mouthed scoundrel, so does restraint cast doubts ...
Souled American: Fe (Rough Trade)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 11 February 1989
STILL TRAPPED in the much-vaunted US grassroots revival's clutches, Souled American are floudering. It's no surprise that the search for authenticity petered out, as the ...
Kym Mazelle, Ten City: Ten City, Kym Mazelle: Town and Country Club, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 8 April 1989
KISS IT BETTER ...
Band of Susans: Love Agenda (Blast First LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 April 1989
AS DOYENS of the New York post-everything underground scene and inheritors of the glistening mantle once worn by Television, Band Of Susans never clutch at ...
Todd Terry, T La Rock: Fridge, Brixton, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 May 1989
ONE MOMENT you're doubled up with paroxysms of laughter, the next you're seized with rhythmic convulsions. Suddenly, everything makes sense — Todd Terry isn't past ...
Swing Out Sister: Kaleidoscope World (Fontana LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 20 May 1989
THE SAFEST way to keep ahead of the pack is to reinvent yourself every time. Swing Out Sister are aware of this; from their debut ...
Band of Susans, Throwing Muses: Throwing Muses and Band Of Susans: Loving The Aliens
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 1 July 1989
THROWING MUSES, BAND OF SUSANS: GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL, SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY, BIRMINGHAM HUMMINGBIRD ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 3 July 1989
SO WHY AREN'T James chartbusters both sides of the Atlantic? The nascent uplifting strains of the new songs are certainly well-crafted enough. And they're no ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 July 1989
SURVIVAL OF THE BRUTISH ...
KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, Poison, W.A.S.P.: Spheeris of Influence
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 August 1989
The macho world of Heavy Metal is not the most likely place to find a female film director, but PENELOPE SPHEERIS took her camera and ...
Richie Rich: Brixton Fridge, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 September 1989
RICHIE'S RICH PAGEANT ...
Schoolly D: Am I Black Enough For You? (Jive LP only)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 September 1989
SOMETHING'S CREPT up the stairwell and shat on your perfectly-formed oriental rug. Schoolly D has just moved in, and, as the old adage says, your ...
Nick Cave: Scala Cinema, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 16 September 1989
THIS IS a remarkable, grandiose conceit. The idea of Nick Cave reading from his first novel, The Ass Saw The Angel, is initially as antiquated ...
Buffalo Tom: Fulham Greyhound, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 October 1989
BUFFALO TOM don't trade on their American ancestry, it's just there. Immobile, inviolate. Watching them burn bright and spark off tonight, one wonders why we ...
Stereo MCs: Werner Seelinbinderhalle, East Berlin
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 October 1989
FEAST IN THE EAST ...
Kym Mazelle: Hell, Brixton Fridge, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 December 1989
HELL IS FOR HEROES ...
Alexander O'Neal: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 16 December 1989
THE LIFESTYLE stemming from competent professional soul is utterly despicable. Ostentatious displays of wealth inherent in the flashy cars and gaudily overpriced fashions turn my ...
Die Kreuzen: Islington Powerhaus, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 January 1990
PERHAPS IF more people knew about Die Kreuzen they wouldn't undergo such sweeping stylistic changes. From hardcore freaks to metal maniacs, from purveyors of soft ...
Ministry: The Ritz, New York NY
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 January 1990
REMEMBER MINISTRY? That hot Dance act from Chicago who influenced House and soaked up exclusively European acts? Well, they've changed. It's 1990 and all that, ...
N.W.A: NWA: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 June 1990
BAAAAAD ATTITUDE ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 23 June 1990
WORD OF mouth has drawn a near sell-out (To a free gig? — Ed) crowd to catch the legendary Sun Ra. Amidst rumours that he'll ...
Bim Sherman: Subterania, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 11 August 1990
BIM SHERMAN'S reputation precedes him: either as the slinky-voiced singer on a host of Jamaican 45s in the 70s, his numerous collaborations with Adrian Sherwood ...
Crime & The City Solution: Paradise Discotheque (Mute LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 1 September 1990
THE WAY Crime And The City Solution have transgressed rock's outer limits for the last five years hasn't registered with pundits who only know them ...
Aswad: Too Wicked (Mango LP/Cassette/CD)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 22 September 1990
ANYONE FAMILIAR with the sussed militancy of Aswad's early 'Three Babylon' period would never have expected them to take an easy option and 'go commercial'. ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, Vox, October 1990
DELE FADELE TALKS SOUL TO SOUL TO A WOMAN TAKING CONTROL OF HER LIFE ...
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 3 November 1990
"I DON'T like words," says the erstwhile centre of attention with the shock of bright red hair. "Why?" Inquires the journalist querulously. "Oh, I'm gonna ...
808 State: State of the Manc Union
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 24 November 1990
The Haçienda's half full and "you have to go out of town on a Saturday night to have fun"... so can 808 STATE survive the ...
A Tribe Called Quest: Why Are You Being So Treasonable Now?
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 December 1990
Our reigning monarch scores as highly on the diss-o-meter as pop rapper Vanilla Ice for hip-hop hotheads A TRIBE CALLED QUEST. But a spot of ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, The Face, January 1991
DJ GILLES Peterson's Talking Loud afternoon club (Sundays at Dingwalls, London) has a reputation for showcasing distinctive acts on the jazz tip, but recently moved ...
Billy Idol: Crockabilly!: Billy Idol: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 January 1991
THE HEADY STRAINS of pulsating drums and long-forgotten African chants fill the cavernous room: "Zumbayeh, Aikobayeh". Billy Idol's intro tape is 'Cult Of Snap' by ...
Lunachicks: Mammary Weer All Crazee Now!
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 January 1991
Yowza! It's ladeeez night every night in the weird 'n' wunnerful world of American underground rock 'n' roll, with the totally outrageous LUNACHICKS leading a ...
Omar: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 January 1991
THE HAIRCUT speaks volumes. A multi-storeyed do with the sides shaved, it confirms Omar's refusal to exchange street fashions for something more upmarket. His has ...
Tippa Irie: Original Raggamuffin (Mango LP Only)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 January 1991
FORTUNE HASN'T exactly smiled on Tippa Irie recently. After falling victim to the biggest tragedy the pop charts can offer — reggae toasters having novelty ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 January 1991
THE HYPE and shoddy promotional tactics surrounding Blur would surely stifle a lesser group. ...
Front 242: The Number of the Beat
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 January 1991
We are coming to your House! Paradise crumbles to the sound of FRONT 242's tyrannical Techno ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 February 1991
War broke out just as BOMB THE BASS released their first single for two years and the censors swooped. Now TIM SIMENON goes under his ...
Butthole Surfers: Piouhgd (Rough Trade/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 March 1991
PIOUHGD — WHAT A SCORCHER! ...
Massive Attack: Blue Lines (Wild Bunch/Circa)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 April 1991
IMMENSE AT WORK ...
Teena Marie: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 April 1991
EVEN IF you frequent arthouse cinemas like others do toilets, sometimes you can't avoid the craving for glitzy Hollywood entertainment. By the same token, anyone ...
Swans: White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity (Young God/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 4 May 1991
WHITE LIGHT, WHITE BLEATS ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 11 May 1991
IN NOVEMBER 1989, Manchester's Free Trade Hall opened its doors to a host of spivs, reprobates, ecstasy-casualties, groovy people and businessmen, unwittingly becoming the focus ...
Bomb The Bass: Subterania, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 May 1991
THE TRANSFORMATION is now complete. Tim Simenon has finally shaken off the last vestiges of novelty-type pop stardom and embraced a glorious future-funk noise. Anyone ...
Profile and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 May 1991
CURVE may now be the drop-dead coolest group in indie rap-dom, but life-patterns weren't always so sweet for Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia. DELE FADELE ...
Coil: Love's Secret Domain (Torso)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 May 1991
FROM THE provocative cover which displays a severed penis ejaculating capsules of Ecstasy to the way the title track wryly quotes Roy Orbison's 'In Dreams', ...
Ice-T: O.G. Original Gangster (Sire)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 May 1991
FOR ALL the descriptions of graphic violence, sexism and general anti-establishment stances, Ice-T is a committed moralist at heart. Not for nothing did he portray ...
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 July 1991
NO CELL OUT ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 24 August 1991
IF YOU want a creative and intellectually stimulating evening, go seek out RW Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant. Mudhoney are experts at ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 October 1991
DIRE STRAITS fans are huddled in masses in the near vicinity, oblivious to the fact that the real revolution is being televised in this makeshift ...
Kirsty MacColl: Mean Fiddler, Harlesden, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 October 1991
"SO THAT'S what you look like!" Kirsty MacColl exclaims, faced with an altogether too respectable crowd of 30 and 40-somethings, then launches into an eerie, ...
Shabba Ranks: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 October 1991
LIKE THE herbsman grassed upon by his neighhours, some nasty rumours have been circulating recently about Shabba Ranks. To wit: that he's completely lost the ...
Digital Underground: Sons Of The P (Big Life/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 October 1991
YOU'RE TUNED in to the mutant descendants of P-Funk. Digital Underground are updating George Clinton's '70s blueprint to reflect much more worrying times. The larger ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 26 October 1991
He once sang with Flipper, but now MOBY — aka straight-edge Techno DJ RICHARD MELVILLE HALL — is having a whale of a time out ...
Hole: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, November 1991
YOU KNOW WHEN you're feeling elated, lost in wonder, not out of your cranium but wondering why there seem to be continents on the moon, ...
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 November 1991
RECENTLY SOME DEEP-SEA divers stumbled on an underground cave thousands of feet below sea level. Stalagmites, stalactites and mini-icicles greeted their brave entrance, almost too ...
N.W.A: NWA: Efil4Zaggin (4th & Broadway/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 30 November 1991
BLAXPLOITATION OF MILLIONS ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 December 1991
Praise the Lord and pass the platitudes! PM DAWN may be worshipped as 1991's brightest, dippiest new rappers, but they're keener to be set adrift ...
Mercury Rev: Nice Merc If You Can Get It
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 4 January 1992
THE FRIDAY afternoon rendezvous with Mercury Rev isn't quite going as planned. Police have cordoned off a large stretch of Harrow Road, West London because ...
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien: I Wish My Brother George Was Here (Elektra/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 January 1992
THE GROOVY, art-directed cover image finds Del Tha Funkee Homosapien in repose: scared stiff and crouching in a forest, hounded by numerous disembodied eyes. Like ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 8 February 1992
LAST NIGHT A PJ SAVED MY LIFE ...
PJ Harvey: Scrumpy's Trusted Nut
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 February 1992
Way out West Country! Cut off from television, newspapers and all your favourite bands, PJ HARVEY is brewing up an intense, sexual storm that's set ...
Ride: Blank Re-Generation: Ride: Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 March 1992
YOU KNOW the future has arrived early when Ride make mincemeat of the whole sorry teen-pop equation. ...
The Fall: Code Selfish (Cog Sinister)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 March 1992
"THOUGH PROUD of the way I've avoided prison.../When the cell door slams/I walk to the wall.../These are the words of success expectation/These are the words ...
The Sugarcubes: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 March 1992
HIT THE NORTH ATLANTIC ...
Saint Etienne: St Etienne: Clubber Soul
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 May 1992
Stop farming your hair for an instant and smell those flowers! Perfect pop is back and ST ETIENNE will be drifting it blissfully up to ...
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy: Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury (4th & Broadway/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 May 1992
GREATEST AMERICAN HEROES – In-Disposable! Rono and Michael take their message to the streets ...
N-Joi, Orbital, The Shamen: The Shamen, the Prodigy, Basti, Orbital, N-Joi: Sound City '92, Norwich
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 May 1992
FRIDAY ...
Fugazi: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 23 May 1992
LIVE AND LET DIET! ...
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 23 May 1992
ARE YOU ready to have your heart skewered on a grill? Just remember, if you will, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds' cover version of ...
Mary Margaret O'Hara: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 July 1992
THE NIGHT is only three songs old when a lone, drunken heckler decides he's had enough. "Stop singing, Margaret," he admonishes. "You'd better stop that ...
Morrissey, The Smiths: Morrissey: Caucasian Rut
Essay by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 22 August 1992
POP STARS are especially strange creatures when it comes to giving that all-important 'image' an overhaul. ...
Babes in Toyland: Marquee, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 September 1992
SHRIEK LIKE A CHILD ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 September 1992
CHARITY GIGS are decidedly advantageous in that they encourage strange bedfellows to share a stage; there's none of the usual persecution of support acts to ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 September 1992
IN THE grey area between barrow-boy techno and lumpen flannel-rock, there exists a community of enthusiasts who refuse to let their output be dictated by ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 24 October 1992
AFTER ALL the earache, the broken promises, the mad mullahs chasing after dollar signs and the sheer Zen apathy of the times we're dying through... ...
Sebadoh: 'Doh What A Lovely War
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 November 1992
Sick of plaid-toting, attitude-brandishing, Seattle-worshipping corporate rock wannabes? Then seek a cure with SEBADOH, who speak the unspoken and think music is a huge and ...
Huggy Bear, Pavement, Sonic Youth: Sonic Youth, Pavement, Huggy Bear: Rainbow Club, Bristol
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 December 1992
SONIC THE HEADSHOCK 3 ...
Einstürzende Neubauten: Apocalypse Neu!
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 23 January 1993
Be honest, you missed the sheer noise terror, the rampant metal-bashing, the power drills and the quite literally explosive live show didn't you? Well now, ...
808 State: Town and Country Club, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 March 1993
THE COMPUTER-DRIVEN orchestral score that is Moby's opening gambit comes as a blessed relief. After two hours of beat-fascism courtesy of the hardcore DJ that ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 June 1993
Be gone with your rich kid, shoe-gazing, dilettante prejudices about SLOWDIVE, for the kebab-loving, apolitical enemy of the Manics are shaking off those untrendy pigeon-hole ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 August 1993
GOOD VIOLATIONS ...
The Pharcyde: Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (East West)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 August 1993
"DADDY, WHAT does 'crossover' mean?" ...
Buju Banton: Voice Of Jamaica (Mercury/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 August 1993
THE FURORE provoked by Buju Banton's virulently anti-gay lyric to 'Boom Bye Bye' last year has had lasting repercussions on music in general and raggamuffin ...
The Wonder Stuff: Irish Centre, Digbeth
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 September 1993
BRUM UNDAUNTED EVENING ...
Afghan Whigs: Astoria 2, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 September 1993
HIP LIBS... IT'S POWER! ...
KRS-One: Return Of The Boom Bap (Jive)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 September 1993
HIP-HOP pioneers have always found it difficult to get respect in any true sense years down the line. ...
PJ Harvey: 4 Track Demos (Island)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 16 October 1993
ROCK'N'ROLL EXISTS in a parallel universe to straight society. In this kaleidoscope of pleasures, people with suss, savvy and imagination are allowed to re-invent themselves, ...
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 December 1993
Just as grunge crossed over from the streets to the catwalk, RAGGA made the shift from underground to mainstream in 1993. Laying siege to the ...
Suede: Kentish Town Forum, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 8 January 1994
Figgy Star Lust ...
Underworld: Dub No Bass With My Head Man (Junior Boy's Own/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 January 1994
THE HIP MAN AND FREUR ...
Dr. Dre, Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: Snoop Doggy Dog and Dr Dre: Every Dogg Has His Dre
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 May 1994
They called him an "evil bastard", said he shouldn't be allowed in the country, that there would be riots outside his hotel and gigs. But ...
Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart: Take Me To God (Island/All Formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 May 1994
BE ON YAHWEH! ...
Nine Inch Nails: Barrowlands, Glasgow
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 4 June 1994
IN HIS dreams, Trent Renzor is the last great warrior of industrial culture. As the Nine Inch Nails lynchpin. he wants to scare the living ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 June 1994
BLARNEY ARMY! ...
The Lemonheads: Lemonheads: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 June 1994
HOW HAS EVAN Dando managed to survive the Russian roulette games and hoop-jumping required of a heart-throb by the shark-infested music industry? How does he ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 July 1994
MOST OF THE people Nas looked up to during an eventful adolescence in Queensbridge, New York City, are either dead or in jail. His DJ ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 3 September 1994
From their early militant days to today's mellowed-out elder statesmen, ASWAD have hauled British reggae into the '90s, sidestepping genres and influencing everyone from Ace ...
Coolio: Con Voyage: Coolio: Camden Underworld, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 10 September 1994
SOME PEOPLE with hidden agendas berate Arrested Development and Public Enemy endlessly for touring with rock bands. ...
Ice Cube, Public Enemy: Ice Cube & Public Enemy: Patinoire De Malley, Lausanne
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 17 September 1994
Yodel, Bum Rush The Show ...
Massive Attack: The Three Racketeers
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 17 September 1994
With the follow-up to their 1991 monster Blue Lines in the can, MASSIVE ATTACK are out to prove that homegrown soul fusion can take on ...
Body Count, Ice-T: Ice-T: Seine In The Membrane
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 November 1994
It's not all being grim and Malcolm X when you're ICE-T. You also get to go on the road with your mates, play metal and ...
Pearl Jam: Mo' Vedder Blues: Pearl Jam: Vitalogy (Epic)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 26 November 1994
NOSTALGIA MIGHT BE the last refuge of the scoundrel, but is it too late to turn back the clock? Can we return to a time ...
Blackstreet: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 January 1995
MODESTY might not be Teddy Riley's strongest suit, but he's certainly earned the right to project himself as a streetwise megalomaniac from the forgotten projects ...
R Kelly: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 January 1995
"IF YOU'RE 16 or under, don't try this at home." ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 4 February 1995
TUMMY GUNS ...
Tricky: Maxinquaye (4th & Broadway)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 February 1995
THE SEVERN ALLIANCE ...
Gravediggaz: Rock City, Nottingham
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 March 1995
THE HITMAN AND HEARSE ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 April 1995
WHEN COURTNEY LOVE tries it on, people think she's the defiant survivor shrugging the weight of the world off her shoulders. Yet, when Moby decides ...
Method Man: Method in the Madness
Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 April 1995
Welcome to Florida, land of Disney, Dayton Beach and glorious Orlando. And paranoia, machine-gun toting security guards and camcorders shoved up strangers' crutches. METHOD MAN, ...
Cornershop: Water Rats, King's Cross, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 20 May 1995
WHO COULD have foreseen a re-birth on this grand scale? The basic struggle for Cornershop has always been one for identity and, while they've been ...
Royal Trux: It's All Chauffeur Now
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 3 June 1995
They're the most notorious rock band on the planet. They're wilder than a starving lion. So how come ROYAL TRUX are afraid of pre-teen Washington ...
Therapy?: Infernal Love (A&M/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 17 June 1995
SOME PEOPLE work down in the sewers. Others dispense hard-earned wisdom to spotty adolescents in the name of hard rock. Which job would you prefer? ...
Primus: Tales From The Punchbowl (Interscope/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 1 July 1995
AS THE cerebrally challenged Austrian King in Amadeus would have no doubt averred, there's but one simple problem here: "too many notes". ...
Goldie: You Can't Beat A Bit Of Bullion!: Goldie: Timeless (Metalheads/ffrr)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 August 1995
TO VENTURE INTO Goldie's world you must suspend conventional notions of time. Double-speed breakbeats fly past at irregular intervals; solemn strings swell, as if for ...
Cath Carroll: True Crime Motel (Teenbeat/CD only)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 September 1995
TO SOME people, Cath Carroll needs no introduction. Tony Wilson, the situationist supremo behind the sadly-defunct Factory Records, is certainly aware of her, having bankrolled ...
Green Day: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 October 1995
THEATRE OF MATES ...
The Chemical Brothers: Astoria, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 28 October 1995
OH NO, not the eyelids again... Nurse! ...
Cypress Hill: Prophets of Boom
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 November 1995
Welcome, disciples, to the Temple Of Boom (temporarily relocated to Baker Street). Marijuana monks CYPRESS HILL are in attendance, ready to dispense sacred knowledge on ...
The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Slayer: Russell Simmons: Def Shepherd
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 9 December 1995
Yeah Boyee! DEF JAM, the record label that put the ROCK in hip-hop and brought you the likes of Public Enemy and Beastie Boys, is ...
Teenage Fanclub: Kentish Town Forum, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 16 December 1995
SHOULD YOU happen to care about affection and chrysanthemums and heartache and damp bedrooms lit with a warm glow, then Teenage Fanclub will not only ...
Eazy-E, N.W.A: E Bygone!: Eazy-E: Eternal E (Virgin)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 January 1996
THE BIBLE says that, in the last days, men will actively seek death and death will flee from them. So, as sad and ultimately preventable ...
The Congos: Heart Of The Congos (Blood And fire/LP/CD)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 20 January 1996
THAT WAS the mother lode year, 1977, set in timeless stone for reggae, and the year that, as Rastafarians would have it, two sevens clashed. ...
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Murder Ballads (Mute/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 3 February 1996
HOW DO you prevent any rational person from committing murder? ...
Profile and Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 13 April 1996
Like Michaelangelo and his Ninja mates, they're mutant crossover crazies in a half shell! They are Chicago's TORTOISE and, supporting ver 'Lab on their British ...
Geto Boys: Southern Discomfort
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 May 1996
Deep in the heart of the redneck Bible Belt, squillion-selling rap supergroup GETO BOYS are living up to their paranoid bad-boy reputation. Bushwick Bill has ...
Grant Lee Buffalo: Copperopolis (Slash/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 1 June 1996
SOME MIGHT fiddle while America burns. Grant Lee Phillips, however, has seen the writing on the wall. A vague premonition of disaster troubles him very ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 1 June 1996
GANGSTER'S PARADIGM ...
The Fugees: Forum, Kentish Town, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 22 June 1996
THE 'GEE-FUNK ERA ...
M People: Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 June 1996
HAIRDO WELL! ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 29 June 1996
Having adopted the moniker of one Pablo Escobar, NAS ESCOBAR set about creating vivid lyrical depictions of life in his native New York tenement slums. ...
Busta Rhymes, Shyheim: Club UN, Tottenham, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 July 1996
POPPED-UP TOASTER ...
Lewis Taylor: Lewis Taylor (Island/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 24 August 1996
THINGS COULD be a lot worse, of course. Lewis Taylor could turn out to be the new George Michael. Either that or his renaissance soul-man ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 September 1996
HOLLYWOOD IN THE 1930s wasn't the ideal environment for a feisty, independent actress with an inquiring mind who couldn't stomach the iniquities of the studio ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 September 1996
HOW THE WESTWAY WAS WON ...
Chuck D, Tricky: Chuck D and Tricky: Conversation Terrorists
Interview by Dele Fadele, Vox, December 1996
It was a most unlikely summit meeting when Chuck D, Public Enemy's motormouth mainspring and founding father of political rap, met Bristol maverick Tricky, hip-hop's ...
Dodgy: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 11 January 1997
SOME ARE born happy, some achieve happiness and some have happiness thrust upon them. Dodgy were born happy. In their minds they're the antidote to ...
Blind Melon: Nico (Capitol/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 1 February 1997
IT'S EVIL to speak ill of the dead... Therefore, any suggestions that late Blind Melon vocalist Shannon Hoon got cheated by Lucifer when he went ...
De La Soul: Kentish Town Forum, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 8 March 1997
LIZA MINNELLI and Liberace don't even come into it. Once a long-serving band become a parody of themselves and start trawling around in ever-decreasing circles, ...
Death In Vegas: Dead Elvis (Concrete/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 March 1997
FOR SUCH trendy purveyors of Londoncentric dance music, Death In Vegas are surprisingly steeped in rock'n'roll lore. ...
The Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death (Arista)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 April 1997
THE UNFORTUNATE and tragic death of Christopher Wallace in the early hours of March 9, 1997 will leave a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of ...
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 19 April 1997
THE EARNEST young man sitting in a corner of London's empty Colombia Hotel bar on this late March afternoon doesn't look like a difficult customer ...
The Jungle Brothers: First among equatorials
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 14 June 1997
INTRODUCING... Native New Yorkers and old-skoolers Mike G, Afrika Baby Bam and Sweet Daddy Sammy B, collectively known as the JUNGLE BROTHERS ...
Wu-Tang Clan: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 June 1997
ALL TOO FAMILIAL ...
Oasis: Here's Looking At You, Our Kid: Oasis: Be Here Now (Creation)
Review by Dele Fadele, Vox, September 1997
OASIS ARE CAUGHT in the eye of a hurricane. What a shitstorm the Gallagher brothers have been through at the hands of the tabloids and ...
David Holmes: Let's Get Killed (Go! Beat/All formats)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 6 September 1997
AS FAR AS career opportunities go, being a top-level DJ in the '90s is on par with being an early-'70s rock star... More money than ...
Toni Braxton: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 10 October 1997
WHEN a church-woman goes bad, she really goes bad. ...
Jay Z: Jay-Z: In My Lifetime Volume 1 (Northwestside)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 25 October 1997
THE FIRST WORDS you hear are spoken by Jay-Z himself, assuming a parodic Italian-American accent, imagining himself as a dying Al Pacino in Carlito's Way, ...
Shola Ama: The Next Generation: Shola Ama
Interview by Dele Fadele, Vox, January 1998
An 18-year-old with attitude who thinks global and acts loco ...
Review by Dele Fadele, Vox, April 1998
IF THE YOUNG Jim Kerr; who fronted Johnny And The Self Abusers in the late '70s tailspin of punk, knew what fate had in store ...
Beenie Man: Many Moods Of Moses (Shocking Vibes/CD/LP)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 11 April 1998
TO CALL Beenie Man a prolific artist is an understatement. The self-styled 'ghetto president' normally records singles in the time it takes others to have ...
Common: Camden Jazz Café, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 13 June 1998
OLD FEUDS die hard. While Common takes great pains to point out his argument with Ice Cube has been settled, it's still with some relish ...
Report by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 September 1998
THE CURRENT economic boom may have transformed large swathes of London's East End, but not Stratford. As the queue for FRESH '98 snakes around the ...
Redman: Doc's Da Name 2000 (Def Jam)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 January 1999
A PSYCHE AS twisted as Redman's would be hard to find in a psychiatric hospital, let alone on the streets of New Jersey. But here ...
Everlast: the Neverending's Story
Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 13 February 1999
EVERLAST, THE former lead rapper in House Of Pain, has never seemed more humble. The arrogant extrovert on the Irish-American crew's worldwide Number One pop ...
The Roots: Things Fall Apart (MCA)
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 23 March 1999
ERUDITE, LITERATE and keenly aware of their surroundings, Philadelphia's the Roots have become an anomaly in hip-hop – even though they arguably stay truest to ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 October 1999
LIVE HIP-hop is such a rare occurrence it's almost a duty to disregard the actual quality. However, Gang Starr don't need any excuses made for ...
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 15 January 2000
A DEEPER, MORE revolutionary group than Goodie Mob would be hard to find, even if World Party is the rap quartet's concerted attempt to go ...
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 12 February 2000
OF ALL practices displaced Africans brought to the New World, voodoo remains the most potent. ...
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 2 September 2000
PEOPLE HAVE KEPT a safe distance from Sizzla in recent times. Since he made remarks at an open-air concert to the effect that he doesn't ...
Black Eyed Peas: Mean Fiddler, London WC2
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 21 April 2001
NOW THAT hip-hop is a global lingua franca, anyone with the slimmest of credentials can lay claim to authenticity. ...
Lil' Kim: Hello Nasty: Lil' Kim: Kentish Town Forum, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 July 2001
THERE'S SUCH A thing as hip-hop time. It doesn't generally apply to gigs, more to long-suffering journalists kept waiting for hours on end for an ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 20 March 2002
USHER RAYMOND IV sure has his priorities right. This R&B heavyweight and MTV posterchild understands his hormone-obsessed teenage fanbase. That's why tonight, spectacle is all. ...
Busta Rhymes: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 18 May 2002
BUSTA RHYMES is massive. Not necessarily in a physical sense — though he cuts an imposing figure — but in a metaphysical kinda way. ...
Foxy Brown: Stratford Rex, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 1 June 2002
ON A BILL heavy with London-based garage crews, motormouth MCs and well-dressed ruffnecks striking thug poses, Foxy Brown is the main attraction. ...
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 October 2002
ARTISTS ARE usually content with whatever audiences they attract. Not so Beenie Man, a former child prodigy turned dancehall reggae veteran at the age of ...
Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 16 January 2003
IN THE LATE 1960S, civil rights struggles, and demonstrations against the Vietnam war in America, gave birth to heavy psychedelia and searing soul music. 2002 ...
Comment by Dele Fadele, The Quietus, 1 March 2016
Dele Fadele looks back to The Bad Seeds album that has odd parallels with gangsta rap ...
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