Westwood @ Po Na Na in Hammersmith
 On Monday 16th April, Westwood threw a party at Po Na Na in Hammersmith, for the Radio 1 Rap Show (broadcast on Friday 20th April, 9pm). With the first 1000 ladies to turn up let in free, the night was definitely going to be one very stylish affair. We jumped into the crowd to find out just where people got their clothes in London, and where were to good places to hang out. But first these words from Westwood...
Where are the best places to find hip hop in London?
To find hip hop in London, it can be a little hard - maybe go to an airport and get on a plane to New York! If you wanna find hip hop, there are hot parties which take place at club Po Na Na - the next one is the Ludacris tour, coming there on Wednesday 9th May - that's gonna be real big. You've got that tour going throughout the UK, to Birmingham and Bristol.
For record shops which specialise in hip hop, you've got Wild Pitch in Soho, which is kinda hot. Deal Real is another hot shop as well. And on the radio, you get all the flavours that you need on a Friday and Saturday night courtesy of Radio 1! Anything else is extra and local.
 You've got your album out right now - how's it been going with that?
Very good. It's shipped silver and is on its way to gold. It's still in the Top Ten three weeks down the line. I'm very happy with it. Looking forward to doing Vol. 2, hopefully in July. It's all the big records that we support on the radio and play in the clubs - DMX, Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Ludacris. We've got Miami Bass on there, Dirty South, some thugged-out s***, some real hot party records.
Where are your favourite areas of London?
West End is cool, there's always a lot going on in the West End. I'm pretty based West London nowadays, so I'm hanging out there quite a bit. Just go to where the hot parties are, where the girls are, man!
Which did you choose to do your show at Hammersmith's Po Na Na?
The thing which I love about Po Na Na is that it lets me play in here. There's not many clubs in London that let you blast off, so I'm really grateful for the opportunity to let me hold that down for them. I've done a lot of shows here. Onyx was real hot here, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, Nice & Smooth were there, and the last party I did up here was my launch party when I joined Radio 1, with Biggie, Craig Mack and Puffy. After that, I was banned from the venue. To come back and do good things here is good. I was at The Temple for a few years and we put on a lot of great acts and had some great parties. What holds us back in London is getting clubs to play in. Club Po Na Na is a great spot. I'm really happy about being here.
 Have you got any new tunes you'll be playing on the show?
Yeah, the joint which I really wanna rock is the new Redman record - Redman and DJ Kool - 'Let's Get Dirty'. That's the hottest record of the year and it's gonna blast. Obviously records like Missy, Eve - they've got hot records out at the moment, but I think Redman is gonna be the hot joint.
And finally...
I wanna thank everyone for coming down to Club Po Na Na and big up my 1000 free ladies! It was definitely a hot party and there was a lot of love up there. Look forward to seeing you at Ludacris on Wednesday 9th May at Po Na Na.
 Names: Tola, Shade, Tosin and Ese
From: West London
Favourite London clothes shops: Top Shop, Selfridges, Oasis, H&M, Camden Market, Warehouse
Favourite London hangouts: Gass Club on Thursdays, Hanover Grand on Wednesdays, Yum Yums at the Gass Club, Subterania on Fridays
Name: Piero
From: New Cross
Favourite London shop: Razor Records on the Walworth Road for picking up garage records
Favourite London hangouts: Subterania for hip hop, Colosseum for garage, Atlantis
Names: Alexis, Shady Flex and Fola
From: Wembley
Favourite London clothes shops: Wembley market, Roman Roads, Top Shop, Morgan
Favourite London hangouts: Exposure at the Colosseum for garage, Garage Nation
Name: Cheve (and friend)
From: New Cross
Favourite London clothes shops: Next, Top Shop, Selfridges
Favourite London hangouts: Emporium for garage, Corks on Oxford Street, Ministry Of Sound on garage nights
Names: Mary and Michelle
From: Tooting and Dulwich
Favourite London clothes shops: Joseph, Gap, Harvey Nichols, and my sister's wardrobe!
Favourite London hangouts: Hanover Grand, Corks, Cynthia's in London Bridge for garage
Name: Scourge
From: West London
Favourite London clothes shops: Rock Bottom in New Cross for hip hop clothes
Favourite London hangouts: Hanover Grand, Subterania, Capital Club
Words & Photos: Zoe Fletcher / Helen Pendlebury
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