City centre food hall, supermarket and entertainment space Hello Oriental is hosting a huge Hip Hop Karaoke event later this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beloved music genre. Hip hop, karaoke and scran? Dreamland stuff.
Serving up everything from pan-Asian street food to fresh baked goods, cocktails and more, Hello Oriental is now mixing up its already stellar lineup of Sunday brunch events for 2023 with this cool live music new concept — and you know full well you’re getting involved.
Hip Hop Karaoke, founded by DJ Rob Pursey with host Bobby Champagne Jr and a team of seasoned hip-hop aficionados, has helped thousands live out their rap fantasies over the last decade.
After first launching at Boxpark in London back in 2001 and appearing at numerous festivals and venues worldwide, these two hip-hop pros are now bringing the renowned brand to Manchester to celebrate 50 years since the genre took the music world by storm back in the ’70s.
Credit: The Manc Group
Taking place on the popular Circle Square spot on Sunday, 1 October 2023, there’ll be hundreds of songs to choose from. Whether it’s old-school bangers from the 80s and 90s, or the latest joints from Drake, J. Cole or Kendrick Lamar, there’ll be something in the playlist for your to belt out.
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‘Regulate’, Nate Dogg and Warren G is our pick — simply has to be done.
Describing what you can expect from the event, co-founder Pursey, says: “Hip Hop Karaoke is a euphoric, addictive experience and definitely something to cross off the bucket list. It’s your chance to experience what it’s like to feel real crowd energy as they take on the rhymes of their favourite rappers.”
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If you weren’t sold already, here’s what a typical Hip Hop Karaoke night looks like:
Hip Hop Karaoke will obviously be prioritising getting people on their feet early doors and making sure brunchers get up on stage to deliver their flawless bars in front of their adoring fans, but there’ll also be the usual food and drink vendors available on the day.
From noodles, Chinese roasts with rice, bao buns, dumplings and countless other items on the menu, you’ll be as spoilt for choice on food as you will be with the tunes.
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Tickets go on sale from 20 August and you can sign up for the mailing list to hear about the first release and to make sure your name is first on the karaoke call sheet.
As for how long this party is going to go on, well, that’s up to you now, isn’t it?
Featured Image — The Manc Group/Hip Hop Karaoke (via Instagram)
Eats
All the free things you can get with a Great Manchester Run finisher’s medal this year
Danny Jones
What’s the best part about doing the Great Manchester Run, we hear you ask? All the freebies, of course. You’ll be glad to hear there are more free things than ever for finishers this year.
More than 35,000 runners are set to take on the challenge, be it the half marathon or the 10k, and we firmly believe every single one of these legends should be entitled to as much free stuff as possible.
If it were up to us, they wouldn’t pay for anything all day, but hey, we make don’t make the rules.
So yeah, without further ado, here are all the freebies you can get for taking part in the Great Manchester 2025.
Free stuff and offers for Great Manchester Runners to cop in 2025
Without further ado, here are a tonne of freebies, discounts and deals you can grab by simply flashing your finisher’s medals:
Credit: The Manc/Supplied
Dishoom –Complimentary 330ml Kingfisher/Kingfisher Zero (0.0%) for anyone with anyone dining with a finisher’s medal.
Blacklock –Free glass of fizz on us with your medal.
Maray – Free glass of fizz/pint (or non-alcoholic beer/soft) for anyone with a medal who is dining on Sunday
Electric Shuffle – Free house wine, prosecco or pint for anyone with a 2025 medal.
Salon Madre – 2-4-1 margaritas all day Sunday for anyone with a race medal.
Suki Suki – Free bao bun for anyone with a medal.
Refuge/Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – 100 free pints of Manchester Union Beer (first come, first served)
Hello Oriental – Discounted soft serve ice cream, plus a free beer or soft drink with any meal for all finishers
The Shack – Flash your medal to claim a free glass of Prosecco or beer, plus parties with medals get 20% off their food bill.
Dough Religion (House of Social) – half price slice at Manchester Jazz Festival on Sunday
The purpose of this happy hour spotting app has definitely been a topic of discussion between friends while over a few drinks on a night out, and now this idea has been brought to life.
Titled ‘Hoppy’, the all-new app shows you all the best happy hours in Manchester, even going as far as planning nights out for you and telling you what times each venue is hosting their exclusive offers.
Crazy Pedro’s are just one of the bars featured on this Happy Hour app.Trof is another venue that has a happy hour offering and has made its way onto the app.
Whether you’re after £6 margs at Ramona, two for one cocktails at Rewind or £4 draught pints and cider over at Arcane Bar, this app spells everything out for you plain and simple.
They even go as far as using their social media accounts to plan nights out in Manchester to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.
In a post on their Instagram, they plan out the ultimate Tuesday night in the Northern Quarter, making the most of the various happy hours in the neighbourhood.
The happy hour app stops off at multiple pubs and bars, including frequently visited watering holes like Wolf at the Door, Trof, Bay Horse Tavern and Smithfield Social, before ending the night at Crazy Pedro’s.
Sounds like all the ingredients for the perfect crawl, if you ask us.
Revolución de Cuba, has a huge marg menu, is another drinks spot on Hoppy.Mother Mary’s serves some seriously good Guinness alongside some savvy savings too.
Go on, tell us looking at those hasn’t made you thirsty…
Next time you go out for drinks, why not download this happy hour spotting app along for the ride with you, and you won’t only thank yourself but your bank account will too.
‘Hoppy’ is available on the App Store now for everyone to make the most of their next night out and make finding the best happy hours in Manchester even easier HERE.
See you at the pub – provided happy hour is still on, of course.
Danny Jones -
7th August 2023 
