Two and a half years ago, a new party launched in Dalston. Masterminded by Neil Prince, alongside fellow DJs David Oh and QBoy, R & She was born: A night dedicated to the queens of R&B and Hip-Hop from 90s to present day.
An instant success, the early Facebook event walls for R & She became bombarded with requests and favourites from fans of the genre. When the first party became full within the hour, the boys knew they were onto something special.Vogue Fabrics was the venue of choice. A place the boys all loved, with a great team of staff which gave the club a real house party vibe, with oversized posters of the various R & She queens blazoned all over the walls.
The queues didn’t stop and in April of this year, R & She celebrated it’s second birthday at Vogue. Festival appearances at Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party and Lovebox followed, as well as trips to Amsterdam, Madrid and joining forces with the similarly themed Sissy party in Berlin for Christopher Street Day.As word spread and the buzz grew, the boys found themselves in the tricky situation of wanting to stay at Vogue but not being able to get everyone into the venue.
And so a new venue was found: Tipsy. A bigger basement just two minutes from Vogue Fabrics, nearer to Dalston Junction.
Neil: It was of utmost importance for R & She to find somewhere that would retain the same vibe: a sweaty basement (only this time with air con!) for the intensely passioned sing-alongs, with the ‘She’ers’ all trying to out-diva each other.
David: R & She is all about the party favourites, with some filthy jams thrown in to keep things nice and dirty. Dropping ‘Addictive’ by Truth Hurts sees the club spasm into uncontrollable grinds. We won’t even mention what happens when we play the masturbation classics by Toni Braxton and Tweet!
Neil: We’ve had Stedman from 5 Star busting his moves on the floor and Aluna from AlunaGeorge falling down the stairs
Marcos: I adore playing R & She. It’s my favourite party EVER! The fact I get to play my favourite songs to a crowd who cheer to every song played, and the vibe is so friendly, full of love and expression. It’s one big karaoke lovefest.
Top 10 R & She Tunes
To celebrate finding their new home, Neil, David and Marcos have compiled their ultimate R & She playlist, using ten of the ‘cover girls’ they’ve used so far on their posters:
SALT-N-PEPA – ‘SHOOP’
We still remember the choreography from the video for Shoop, one of the best Salt-N-Pepa anthems! It was one of the first hip-hop videos to buck the trend and objectify men.
BEYONCE – ‘NAUGHTY GIRL’
David once had a slut dropathon to this that saw him not being able to walk for two weeks after. He still can’t climb a ladder properly. Totally worth it.
KELIS – ‘TRICK ME’
We love Kelis the chameleon, always coming back with something fresh and different every time!
MISSY ELLIOTT – ‘PASS THAT DUTCH’
One of our parties was so sweaty that a dancer literally moulted Missy off of her poster and we had to get a re-print!
JANET – ‘ALL NITE (DON’T STOP)’
Best thing she’s done this century. Makes Marcos (and the rest of us) totally lose his s’**t on the floor!
MARIAH CAREY –‘HEARTBREAKER’
Some of our crowd are the biggest Mariah fans around, so imagine our delight when she popped in to join us! OK it was a cardboard cutout, but who could tell the difference?
NICKI MINAJ – ‘ANACONDA’
Sends the whole venue into a frantic tweaking frenzy!
TLC – ‘NO SCRUBS’
ALWAYS the rap version and a bonafide R & She anthem.
RIHANNA – ‘PON DE REPLAY’
‘Let the bass from the speakers run through ya sneakers’ is as good advice as any.
IGGY AZALEA – ‘FANCY’
A new venue deserves a new queen for our cover girl. She’s the hottest thing in female rap right now.
R & She is at Tipsy (20 Stoke Newington Road, Dalston, N16 7XN) on Saturday 25th October, 9pm-3am. FREE before 10.30pm/£5 after.
