Infinity, London

4 / 5

When the rumour broke that Kano was to perform a hush-hush gig in Mayfair, his fans were a touch bewildered. Kano, rising star of east London's somewhat insular "grime" rap scene, playing a West End nightclub? On an indie night? During a blizzard?

But Kane "Kano" Robinson has already outgrown his roots, having been signed by the same label as his biggest acolyte, Mike Skinner of the Streets, and tipped as the next underground UK rapper to break through to the mainstream. He's also no stranger to west London, having played football for Chelsea in his youth, although at the grand old age of 19 the East Ham native has already ditched sport for music.

His sporting fitness is in evidence tonight though, in a high-velocity physical assault of a performance in which he barely stops for breath. Lightning fast, Kano spits his delivery out over pounding beats and menacing bass notes. And, just like football, grime is a team effort, so he shares the stage with a family of co-rappers, DJs and headnodding henchmen.

But Kano is king, the Wayne Rooney of the night, scoring vocal goals on subjects such as police racism, nightclub fights, and trying not to fall in love. Unlike Rooney, he's also blessed with a sex appeal that extends far beyond hard-up grandmas.

One eager audience member asks for a turn at rapping, but is soon seen off in an 8 Mile-style piece of verbal sparring when he tries to make trouble. "We can take this outside or we can do it live on the mic," assert Kano and co; "We kill 'em with knives or we kill 'em with style." Kano's chosen weapon is the word, and the faster the delivery, the deeper the wound. He protests on new single Typical Me that he's just got the sort of face that attracts aggro. "I'll probably get nominated then kicked out of the Brits," he pouts. Kicked out? If tonight's skills are anything to go by, he'll be presenting it.

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