Some of the world’s greatest music has come from Greater Manchester.
Indie. Electronic. Hip-hop. Whichever genre you explore, you’re sure to find Mancunian fingerprints in there somewhere.
Even in a category as niche as early mobile music.
Case in point: The Kersal Massive.
This infamous trio of MCs recorded a rap video in a Salford shed back in 2006 and cemented their place in history as some of the first ever viral video stars.
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Sure, their music was great for a very different – and unintentional – reason. But it was still great nonetheless.
Even today, the very mention of Kersal can prompt an impression of: “Get on the bus with me daysavahhh, smoke da reefa in the cornahhh”.
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In the mid-noughties, The Kersal Massive were as big as their name suggested – with their freestyle being bluetoothed between more mobiles than Akon’s “Smack That”.
The group – which consisted of Clio-driving leader C-Mac, helium-voiced bus enthusiast Lil’ Kev, and hypeman Ginger Joe (essentially Kersal Massive’s very own Flava Flav) – only ever shot one music video.
But whilst most media from the blurry-looking, scruffy-sounding world of mobile videos – which was largely populated by happy slapping and donk music – has died out, Kersal’s track lives on.
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With fingers in the air and frowns on their faces, the wannabe rappers managed to squeeze lyrics about drugs, money, cars, women, public transport and a hatred for Levenshulme into their 45-second freestyle.
Kevin Powder – a presenter known for his zany schtick – actually ventured up to meet the gang on their own stomping ground several months after the video appeared, asking Kersal to perform a second rendition of the song that became synonymous with the Sony Ericsson.
The gang – by this point a little older with broken voices – generously obliged, reciting the lyrics word-for-word.
Powder is then flagged out of the estate, the video ends, and poof, Salford’s young Gs disappeared.
The popularity of their video, though, was a sign of things to come.
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Little did they know it, but Kersal were the first faces of the original viral content boom – which suddenly began turning obscure figures in Britain into overnight celebrities via the magic of the internet.
One of the most successful examples was market trader Muhammad Shahid Nazir (AKA One Pound Fish Man), who earned a recording contract after being captured on camera singing about the price of seafood at Upton Park.
Still, despite the increasingly congested arena of viral stars, The Kersal Massive continued to resurface on social media from time to time. And, whenever they did, people would always ask the question: Whatever happened to those guys?
It’s been thirteen years since the gang were seen on camera together, and all signs seem to suggest their lives have taken very different paths.
The Tab claimed they’d tracked down frontman C-Mac in 2016, who didn’t appear to look back on his five minutes of fame with too much nostalgia.
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He apparently told the website: “The video still does the rounds now and then, but that’s about it. I don’t get noticed about it anymore so it’s done and gone for me.
“I am not in touch with the other two lads anymore.”
C-Mac’s sidekick Kev made his own headlines in 2017. But not for the right reasons.
GMP
Local police posted an image, whom the Reddit community believed to be Lil’ Kev, online in the summer of that year, appealing for information on his whereabouts after he was suspected of gun offences.
The enigmatic Ginger Joe, fittingly, has yet to resurface.
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But we like to think he’s still out there somewhere. Over in the corner. Being the main man he always was…
The Pussycat Dolls announce major comeback with huge global arena tour
Daisy Jackson
Global pop icons The Pussycat Dolls have announced a major global tour, with 50+ shows across Europe and North America.
The pop icons will be performing a massive show here in Manchester as part of the tour, which kicks off this summer.
The Pussycat Dolls have been teasing their return this week, plastering hints on venues across the UK – including the Co-op Live, which displayed a pink digital ad reading ‘Don’t cha wish you knew who we’re announcing tomorrow??’
The multi-platinum pop supergroup will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut record, PCD. They’ll be supported on the European leg of the tour, which will bring them to the UK in September and October, by Lil’ Kim.
The PCD Forever tour will span a whopping 53 dates, where they’ll perform their chart-topping hits including the 5x platinum Buttons, plus Don’t Cha, and Stickwitu.
The Pussycat Dolls were pop heavyweights in the 2000s, known for their electrifying choreography and live performances.
The Pussycat Dolls have announced a major global tour with a Manchester date. Credit: Rankin
Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberly Wyatt, and Ashley Roberts will be back together once again this year for what will be their biggest international run in years.
They’ll be releasing a new song for the first time since 2019 – Club Song is produced by Mike Sabbath (RAYE, Jade) and written by Nicole Scherzinger with Sabbath, Caroline Ailin (Dua Lipa) and Solly (Teddy Swims).
General tickets will go on sale from 10am on Friday 20 March, but fans can sign up for pre-sale at pcdforever.com by Monday to access tickets early.
Country 2 Country music festival is coming to Manchester next year
Danny Jones
Hold on to your cowboy hats, country fans: the smash-hit Country 2 Country music festival is coming to Manchester.
The massive live music festival specialising in all things country, folk, bluegrass, Americana and more has slowly been expanding its presence across the UK and Ireland over the last decade or so.
Starting in London at the O2 Arena, before hitting the Emerald Isle in 2015 and debuting in Scotland just three years later, it has seen some of the biggest acts from the world of country music cross the Atlantic to show off the Stateside genre, plus plenty from around the globe already immersed in the culture.
We’ll confess, even prior to the official announcement, we had a feeling this was coming when we spotted these posters dotted about in town:
Like so many of those buzzing in the comments, we cannot wait for this to come around.
With this year’s respective events taking place simultaenously place over the coming weekend, Friday, 13 to Sunday, 15 March, it’s fair to say they’ve timed the news perfectly.
Everyone from established names such as Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, to up-and-coming bands as well as fast-rising artists working in and around the genre, like Nate Smith, Lainey Wilson and, of course, the now well and truly massive Luke Combs.
For instance, the likes of Keith Urban, Noah Rinker, Alana Springsteen – no relation – Zach Top and many, MANY more, are playing across London, the OVO Hydro in Glasgow and Belfast’s SSE Arena for the 12th edition of the now annual celebration.
Set to arrive in our city centre for the very first time, Country 2 Country (C2C) will be making its Manc debut at none other than the legendary AO Arena, where so many of the biggest names and current generation of stars alike have played.
You only have to look at recent examples like Darius Rucker last year and the ever-growing Tyler Childers, helping kick off this season of country gigs here in Manchester.
Meanwhile, as you can see for Country 2 Country music fest’s Manchester debut, it’s coming in March 2027, and they’ll be teaming up with other local gig venues and bars to turn 0161 into a little slice of Broadway – we just hope we get a bit of Austin weather to boot.
It’s fair to say that this particular part of the music industry is definitely enjoying a big boom right now, with lots of different acts dipping their toes into the bayou, if you will.
However, C2C have been flying the flag for country music over here for ages now, and with it being hailed as remaining “one of the UK’s most spectacular annual festivals” by the likes of The Express and countless, among countless other reviews, we think it’s time you give it a go.
Better still, let’s show everyone that we can do it even better up North, and here in what everyone knows is Britain’s real musical home: Greater Manchester.
Tickets will be available from 10am next Friday, 20 March, and you can sign up to get early bird pre-sale access right HERE.
Credit: Niko Moon/Luke Dyson Photography (supplied)
The Manc Audio -
22nd December 2020 
