A MULTICULTURAL melting pot of garage, hip-hop and raga help make the unique flavour of The Chosen Cru.

The up and coming stars from Droitwich and Worcester have played a number of storming live gigs in Birmingham and Milton Keynes, but feel there are no venues for garage acts in Worcester.

"There's no scene for garage whatsoever at the moment in Worcester. The only place is Birmingham," says Cru member Rolento.

"Our music is our very own flavour and we take our influences from many music genres.

"Garage is fairly new and we're making our own contribution to it because its Britain's answer to hip- hop.

"We can say that we make UK garage but we can never lay claim to hip-hop."

Rolento says that the Cru are also influenced by drum and bass and even metal.

He stresses that the band want to stay true to their UK roots and refuse to emulate American accents which is often the case with other garage acts.

"We are making something distinctly from a UK background. We wouldn't use American words over our sounds. We don't put on American accents - we're purely British," he says.

"We're representing or own little country."

The Chosen Cru consist of five members ranging from 16 to 26; MC Rolento, DJ Cold Blood, MC Fuller, MC Raka and DJ Ash Smooths.

Rolento recently tasted sweet solo success when he won an MC competition on Radio 1 when putting his own rap to the So Solid Crew's former number one hit 21 Seconds.

The competition was run on DJ Dave Pearce's early evening slot and judges including Pearce and So Solid members Mega Man and G Man.

The judges decided Rolento and Plymouth MC Danny P were the most original entrants and the pair remixed the hit 21 seconds in Radio 1's studios.

"The recording went really well and we got to keep a copy of the tune on DAT and a CD which we can give out as promotional material," says Rolento.

Most of the Cru have been rapping and DJing for 10 years but have only been together for around six months.

They gig at least once every fortnight but not necessarily as a five-man outfit.

"We play in different places but not necessarily together," says Rolento.

"For instance, one MC and DJ may go to one venue."

The next plan of action is for the Cru to tour the whole UK and to get them back on the radio again.

"We're working on a promotion pack at the moment," adds Rolento.

Anyone interested in the Cru can e-mail them on thechosencru@breathe.com