Words by Jesse Serwer, Photos by Martei Korley—
In what is sure to go down as one of the most memorable LargeUp Sessions yet, Pressure Busspipe and Protoje stopped by RadioLily.com this past Thursday, flattening the place in their own respective ways. Pressure got things started, chatting with hosts Jesse Serwer and Kieran Meadows about his new album, The Sound, and the overwhelming local response to his recent single, “Virgin Islands Nice.” I-Grade Dub (St. Croix-based Pressure collaborator and I-Grade Records label head Laurent “Tippy” Alfred) then took over the controls and took us to the USVI with a dub set, setting the tone for Pressure to work the quickly-filling room with a three-song live set of “Stand Firm,” “Serious About It” and “Virgin Islands Nice,” each backed with live dub accompaniment.
After some more talk with Pressure (who came to us direct from an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show) and selections from our resident DJ TK, Protoje joined us in the booth to talk “Who Knows,” the reggae revival and his early love for hip-hop, before dropping a freestyle over some classic Sly and Robbie riddims, and some classic hip-hop in what turned out to be his first live appearance in NYC.
Get the full audio from the show below (as well as Pressure’s individual performance and Protoje’s freestyle), click here for Martei Korley’s photo gallery from inside Miss Lily’s Variety, and tune into the LargeUp Sessions every Thursday night from 6-8 p.m. EST.