Now that's me above in case you didn't know, and the little badge thingy I'm holding is a VIP pass for the 2011 Rock Assembly event that took place at the o2 recently. The event was aimed at young school children, the purpose being to enlighten them on the importance of education and bettering them for their futures and careers. Now this is right up WYGU's alley as WYGU is a social network for careers guidance, development and mentoring intending to help individuals find their perfect careers so #TeamWYGU had to be there right? Of course! So Steve Taylor and myself rolled up to the o2 representing WYGU as well as Full On Mag and made the most of it.
As soon as we entered the place I already got a sense of it being a very busy atmosphere. There were fans crowding around waiting to see stars, and other press organisations doing the same. A lot of people in suits and skirts too so maybe the Umbro tracksuit wasn't the best choice of outfit for the day but I made it work lol.
Before I continue I have to give a big shout out to my boy Luke Smith who was originally set to go to the event but couldn't so he called me up and asked if I'd like to fill in. Let's just say I'm glad I took up the opportunity. (Luke you definitely gotta be there next time! Thanks again)
So back to the story, I was told we'd be interviewing Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder, little did I know I'd be meeting a couple other cool artists as well. Steve and I caught glimpse of what appeared to be a girl band so we thought let's go for it, see what they're about and holla. Turns out it was girlband Soundgirl and they were very enthusiastic to talk to WYGU.
I asked them a couple questions, firstly on how the show was for them, the crowd and upcoming projects, then we went a little deeper and spoke on how important education is in their opinions. Little Nikki, Izzy-B and Olivia are surprisingly young teens preparing for their GCSEs (I thought they were older!) And they explained how despite being in the music industry, education is still so important to them as anything can happen, education is that backbone in a sense. It was good to see that the young stars had their heads on right. Plenty good vibes with the young ladies, especially when it came to discussing the best super power lol. It was a clash between being able to fly and being able to do something then have the ability to reverse it. Which power would you choose?
In between interviews myself and Steve were able to see part of the show from a private VIP suite. Got to catch Chipmunk performing his hit "Champion". The crowd were really into it. But I think seeing Diversity on stage interacting with the audience is what was really amazing. They got over a thousand people to do dance moves all in time with each other. It looked mad!
Once they had finished being cool with the crowd they came back to the bar area and I was able to ask a few members of the crew about education and future careers. See what they had to say below!
One of the highlights for me was meeting girlband Parade (because they're all smoking hot lol) but also it was a highlight because they were very down to earth and talked a lot of sense when it came to education importance, their experiences at school. We had fun, the super powers question came up again and once again flying seemed to be the top choice, although I do remember hearing something about being able to be in more than one place at once as well. Seems like a cool super power to me!
Check out Parade representing WYGU.com in the photo below:
Now we did try our best to holla at Tinchy Stryder, but you know how it is with stars, management can be a bit pushy sometimes and want to keep things moving so we missed out a little bit, but I can say from overhearing Tinchy speaking to other press organisations he too believes in the importance of going to school and bettering yourself for the future and was happy to come down and perform and help push that fact to the children. And I personally thought it was really nice to see some of the young fans so happy to meet Tinchy Stryder. Was kinda touching I must admit.
But its all good because when we miss one we get another! I caught up with Grace Coleman from the Transformation Trust who told us about their work, including Rock Assembly and its intentions. Check it out below!
At some point Steve thought it'd be cool if I voiced some thoughts and opinions on the events as well as some career advice so I did the best I could. Was what I said cool? You tell me :)
Last but certainly not least, the main event so to speak! Chart topping UK artist Mr. Munk himself, Chipmunk. Quickly questioned him on how the show/audience was as well as some future projects on the way. I thought it was a cool interview, the guy is pretty humble and genuinely blessed. He even sorta told of someone who tried to rudely interrupt us which I thought was cool! Check out what Chippy had to say as well as him repping WYGU in the video below:
And there you have it people! My day out at the o2 for Rock Assembly. Have to admit this was my first time doing something this big but I really enjoyed it and just went with the flow. I gotta thank Luke, Steve and the whole WYGU team for the opportunity and giving me that epic experience because that's what it was and is totally along the lines of one of the things I wish to venture in in the future. I look forward to hopefully doing it again.
To check out any more pics/vids from the event just simply sign up and stay tuned on http://www.wygu.com and Steve shall fill ya in on all you need to know.
Thanks for reading! Til next time, keep it bless! Peace.
Yusuf "Ridez" Orekan
