Inside a packed-to-the-gills Hammersmith Odeon, three men in army fatigues stalk the stage. Wearing sunglasses and carrying Uzis, the men perform mili - tary step drills while ranting about ‘Armageddon’ and ‘revolution’. Through the speakers, the wail of sirens fills the air, not quite managing to drown out the scream of whistles emanating from the crowd. The date is 1 November 1987. Hip hop is already on its way to becoming a world-conquering genre, thanks to the slick rap-rock of Run DMC and the frat boy japes of the Beastie Boys. But it’s fair to say no one in London has ever seen anything quite like this.
One of the uniformed men raises a fist and turns to the crowd. ‘London, England,’ he bellows over the sirens. ‘Consider yourselves… warned!’
