Boy Better Know

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Boy Better Know
BBK transparent.png
Boy Better Know logo
Background information
Also known asBBK
Origin London, England
Genres Grime
Years active2005–present
LabelsBoy Better Know
Members
Past members
Website boybetterknow.com

Boy Better Know, often abbreviated as BBK, is a British grime collective and record label. The collective was founded in North London in 2005 as an independent record label by brothers Jamie and Joseph Adenuga, better known as Jme and Skepta, respectively. The former also serves as a sole owner and director of an associated company, Boy Better Know Limited, incorporated in 2008. [1] All members of the collective use the record label as a means to publish their music, and is digitally distributed by The Orchard, a subsidiary of Sony Music.

Contents

History

In the early 2000s, Meridian Crew, consisting of MCs President T, Skepta, Jme, Big H, Bossman Birdie, Meridian Dan and Paper Pabs regularly appeared on pirate radio stations, including Heat FM and later on Déjà Vu FM. [2] In 2005, Meridian Crew dissolved after affiliates of the crew were convicted on attempted murder charges. [3] After this event, Jme founded Boy Better Know alongside his brother Skepta while other Meridian members reformed as Meridian Bloodline, known later simply as Bloodline. [4] [5]

In its early period, "Boy Better Know" was well known for its line of eponymous T-shirts. The crew also had a regular show on Rinse FM with DJ Maximum. [6] Jme's debut album, Famous?, was released on the label in 2008. [7] "Too Many Man", the first single from the album, was released on 25 May 2009. [8] The song is also featured on the Wiley and Skepta albums, Race Against Time and Microphone Champion , respectively. The song was written because of Skepta's annoyance over 'the lack of women in clubs'. It entered the UK Singles Chart on 6 June 2009 at number 97, reaching number 79 the next week. [9] The second single from the album V.I.P, titled "Goin' In", was released for download on iTunes on 13 December 2009.

Jme's second studio album, Blam! , was released on 4 October 2010. Three singles from this album were released; "Over Me", "Sidetracked", which features Wiley, and "CD is Dead" featuring UK grime artist Tempa T.

In 2008, Boy Better Know pioneered a short-lived dance fad called the "Rolex Sweep" which accompanied the song of the same name by Skepta. [10] [11]

In November 2011, Boy Better Know Mobile was established, a 3G network which leases network bandwidth from Hutchison 3G. [12] This venture was ended in mid-2013.

In October 2018, Wiley began a feud with Skepta and Dizzee Rascal over Skepta working with Dizzee on the track 'Money Right'. [13] [14] On 19 November Wiley released the track 'Flip the Table', where he refers to Dizzee as the 'Grime scene quitter'. [15]

Notable members

Musicians

Discography

Albums

^ = Released on CTA Records; not released via Boy Better Know Records

Singles

YearTitlePeak chart positionsAlbum
UK
2009"Too Many Man"79V.I.P
2010"Goin' In"
2018"Athlete"
(featuring Goldie1)
Non-album single

Related Research Articles

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Dylan Kwabena Mills, known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiley (musician)</span> British rapper (born 1979)

Richard Kylea Cowie Jr., better known by his stage name Wiley, is a British grime MC, rapper, songwriter, DJ and record producer from Bow, London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roll Deep</span> British grime crew formed by Wiley in 2001

Roll Deep are a British grime crew. They were founded in 2001 by Wiley shortly before the disbandment of UK garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel.

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Run the Road is a series of compilations released on 679 Recordings and Vice. It is intended to showcase a wide variety of grime artists from the genre such as Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and Kano.

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Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr., known professionally as Skepta, is a British grime MC, rapper, record producer and DJ. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding members of Boy Better Know in 2005. With Boy Better Know, Skepta clashed with fellow MC Devilman for the video release Lord of the Mics 2, in what is remembered as one of the biggest clashes in grime history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jme</span> British grime MC (born 1985)

Jamie Adenuga, known professionally as Jme, is a British grime MC, songwriter, record producer and DJ who was born in Hackney, and raised in Tottenham. He is the co-founder of the crew and label Boy Better Know. He also serves as a sole owner and director of an associated company, Boy Better Know Limited, which he incorporated in 2008. He was previously part of the grime collective Meridian Crew and later Roll Deep alongside his older brother, Skepta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skepta discography</span>

The following is a discography of Skepta, a British MC from Tottenham, London. He is a producer and DJ commonly associated with the North London grime scene, including Roll Deep and Boy Better Know. Skepta released his debut album Greatest Hits on 17 September 2007. It was released on the Boy Better Know label. Skepta self-released the first single "Rolex Sweep" in September 2008, which reached number 89 on the UK Singles Chart. He released the album Microphone Champion on 1 June 2009. The single "Too Many Man", with JME, Wiley, Frisco and Shorty, charted at number 79.

<i>Microphone Champion</i> 2009 studio album by Skepta

Microphone Champion is the second studio album by English grime MC Skepta, released on 1 June 2009. It includes the single "Too Many Man" featuring Boy Better Know, also featured on Wiley's own album, Race Against Time, and Shorty's "Short Man Syndrome".

<i>The Ascent</i> (Wiley album) 2013 studio album by Wiley

The Ascent is the ninth studio album by English rapper and producer Wiley. The album was released on 1 April 2013, by Warner Music Group and Boy Better Know, after being delayed twice. The Ascent succeeds Evolve or Be Extinct which was released in January 2012. The album features a variety of experimental genres, varying from dance pop to grime.

Meridian Dan is a grime MC from Tottenham, North London. He is best known for his 2014 single "German Whip", and is a former member of seminal grime crews Meridian and Bloodline.

Dean Fullman, best known by his stage name DJ Slimzee, is an English DJ who currently hosts a show on Rinse FM, returning from his previous show on NTS. He is best known for his show on pirate radio station Rinse FM in the early noughties and its influential role in the development of grime music.

<i>Integrity</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Jme

Integrity> is the third album by grime rapper Jme, It was released on 4 May 2015 independently on Boy Better Know. Throughout the years leading up to the album, Jme released numerous singles such as "96 Fuckries" and "Work" that were included on the track list of Integrity>. "Calm" was originally credited as Tommy Kruise featuring Jme, and appeared on his October 2014 EP entitled Fête Foreign. The album was commercially successful, entering the UK Albums Chart at number 12. It is one of the 19 records nominated for the IMPALA Album of the Year Award 2015.

<i>Konnichiwa</i> (Skepta album) 2016 studio album by Skepta

Konnichiwa is the fourth studio album by British rapper Skepta. The title is the greeting "hello" in the Japanese language. After numerous delays, it was released on 6 May 2016 by Boy Better Know. Konnichiwa features guest appearances from Jme, Boy Better Know, D Double E, Novelist, Wiley, Chip, Pharrell Williams, ASAP Nast and Young Lord. Konnichiwa was executively produced by Skepta himself, who produced all but three songs on the album. Pharrell also worked on production with Skepta on the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Too Many Man</span> 2009 Single by Boy Better Know

"Too Many Man" is the debut single by English grime group Boy Better Know, released on 25 May 2009. It broke into the UK singles chart on 6 June 2009, peaking at #79 the following week.

Deshane Cornwall, known professionally as Frisco, is a British grime MC, songwriter and record producer who is part of the Boy Better Know (BBK) music label which includes Jme, Skepta, Jammer, among others. He has released three solo albums and a series of mixtapes, guested on tracks by his label mates and established a successful monthly grime event in East London, contributing to the popularity of grime within the UK music scene.

Pay As U Go or Pay As U Go Cartel were a UK garage crew formed in 2000. In 2002, the collective achieved a No. 13 UK hit with "Champagne Dance". After Pay As U Go disbanded, Wiley went on to form the grime crew Roll Deep with fellow Pay As U Go members. Roll Deep would eventually include prominent artists such as Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder and Skepta.

References

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  2. "I am nothing but a grime MC": Introducing Meridian Dan (14 April 2014). ""I am nothing but a grime MC": Introducing Meridian Dan". fabric blog. Fabriclondon.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  3. "BBC NEWS – UK – Gunman who gloated in rap jailed". Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  4. "Niet compatibele browser". Facebook. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  5. Adabra, Michelle (25 August 2005). "Boy Better Know Now", New Nation (602): 15.
  6. "Maximum – Rinse FM". RinseFM. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015.
  7. "Jme – Famous?". Ukrecordshop.com. 14 July 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  8. "Bigga Fish Bigga Valentine's Bash @ matter, Tues 16th Feb". altsounds. 23 January 2010. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  9. "UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive – Boy Better Know – Too Many Man". Official Charts Company. 13 June 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  10. "Fresh links: do the Rolex sweep!". The Guardian. London. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  11. Mistajam (17 June 2008). "MistaJam: Coldplay do the Rolex Sweep". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  12. "Boy Better Know launch pay as you go mobile network Archived 29 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine ", The Wire (magazine).
  13. "Wiley calls out Skepta for working with Dizzee Rascal: 'Why is everyone such a pr**k?'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  14. "Wiley calls Skepta and Dizzee Rascal "paigons" in rant on Instagram Stories". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  15. "'The war has officially started' – Wiley takes aim at Dizzee Rascal and Skepta in new track 'Flip The Table'". NME. 19 November 2018. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  16. "The Wiley-Dizzee-Skepta beef triangle explained". NME. 3 March 2019.