Grime is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) that emerged in London in the early 2000s. It developed out of the earlier UK dance style UK garage, and draws influences from jungle, dancehall, and hip hop. The style is typified by rapid, syncopated breakbeats, generally around 140 beats per minute, and often features an aggressive or jagged electronic sound. Emceeing is a significant element of the style, and lyrics often revolve around gritty depictions of urban life.
Maxwell Owusu Ansah, known by his stage name Lethal Bizzle, is a British rapper from Walthamstow, London, of Ghanaian origin. He emerged in 2002 as a grime MC as part of More Fire Crew, with their grime single "Oi!" charting in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. His debut solo single "Pow! (Forward)" attracted attention for its aggressive content, charting at number 11 despite being banned from airplay and clubs. Although known notably for his single releases, Lethal Bizzle released his debut studio album, Against All Oddz, in 2005, followed by Back to Bizznizz in 2007.
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken beat, grime, and drum and bass. In the United Kingdom, the origins of the genre can be traced back to the growth of the Jamaican sound system party scene in the early 1980s.
2-step garage, or simply 2-step, is a genre of electronic music and a subgenre of UK garage. One of the primary characteristics of the 2-step sound – the term being coined to describe "a general rubric for all kinds of jittery, irregular rhythms that don't conform to garage's traditional four-on-the-floor pulse" – is that the rhythm lacks the kick drum pattern found in many other styles of electronic music with a regular four-on-the-floor beat.
Oliver Dene Jones, known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream has released records on several British record labels, such as Tempa, Tectonic, and Big Apple Records, and has performed throughout Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan, as well as the UK. Skream is known as an early and influential architect of the dubstep genre.
Skream! is the self-titled, debut album by dubstep producer Skream. It was released in 2006 on the Tempa label. The album is considered to be an important stepping stone for dubstep. BBC Music described it as having "accelerated dubstep’s transformation from hyped underground scene to [a] sort of influential [genre]", as it fuzes more "old-school rave" sounds with more accessible "pop" sounds. The album predates the highly popular and influential dubstep works by producers such as Skrillex, sometimes disparagingly referred to as "brostep". It essentially serves as an accessible entry into "classic dubstep".
Horsepower Productions are an English electronic music duo, initially a larger musical collective who released experimental garage recordings, and helped pioneer the dubstep genre.
Chase & Status are an English electronic music duo composed of Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status). In addition, Andy Gangadeen is the drummer when the band performs live. MC Rage formerly performed as MC with the group, but left in July 2021 to focus on solo ventures. The duo are from London, and formed in 2003 after meeting at university in Manchester. The duo have since released six studio albums and collaborated with major artists such as Plan B, CeeLo Green, Rihanna, Example, and Tinie Tempah. They run the independent record label MTA Records. William Kennard founded ELAM in 2014.
Georgina Cook is a British photographer, artist and writer based in South London.
Gary McCann, known professionally as Caspa, is a dubstep music producer from West London.
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.
Tectonic is a British electronic music label, founded and run by Rob Ellis (Pinch) which focuses primarily on dubstep and its related genres. As one of the founding dubstep labels, alongside Tempa, DMZ, Hyperdub, and Hotflush, Tectonic became a focal point for the Bristol scene, as well as introducing artists and releases that were among the first to bridge a gap between dubstep and techno.
Trim is an English grime MC from East London and a former member of Roll Deep. Trim has an eclectic subject matter, beat selection and delivery.
"Pow 2011" is a song by grime MC Lethal Bizzle, featuring fellow grime artists Jme, Wiley, Chipmunk, Face, P Money, Ghetts and Kano – who are usually credited as 'Grime All Stars'. The song is a sequel of Lethal Bizzle's hit single "Pow! (Forward)" which was released in 2004. "Pow 2011" was released as a single on 6 February 2011 for digital download and was produced by Teddy, also known as Silencer. It was the first single from Bizzle's compilation album, Best of Bizzle. Soccer AM used the song for the background music to a part of the show called "Frimponged".
"Hypest Hype" is a song by electronic music duo Chase & Status. It was released on 8 November 2010 as a promotional single for their second studio album No More Idols, which was released on 28 January 2011. It also serves as the third overall single released from the album. The song features vocals from English grime MC Tempa T.
Brandon James Theophilus Jolie, known professionally as Maniac, is a British grime producer. Maniac has produced for various artists such as Wiley, Tinchy Stryder, and Chip.
Darq E Freaker is an English electronic music record producer and DJ from Peckham, London, England. He is best known for his work with and as a member of grime collective Nu Brand Flexxx. Freaker has released multiple EPs, most notably "Cherryade" on Oil Gang and "Blueberry" which featured Danny Brown. Freaker released 'Minger" on UK record label Numbers in June 2014.
Chronik is a grime MC from Maryland, east London. Active in underground music for a number of years, he has released two solo mixtapes; Blaze More Dan U (2007) and Free Chronik (2011). He released his first album, Rise of the Lengman in 2014. He is known for his underground hit Ring, variously released in Free Chronik and Rise of the Lengman. Chronik is a member of the underground grime group Slew Dem crew along with Tempa T, G-Man and the now deceased Esco "Big Bars".
Tre Mission is a Canadian musician, known as one of the first North American artists to be associated with the predominantly United Kingdom-based grime genre. Tre Mission is a member of the Tizzy Gang grime crew alongside London based MCs Merky ACE and Cadell.
Lex Johnson is a British designer, director and creative executive. He is the founder of creative agency DAZZLE SHIP, a former lecturer at Swedish design institute Hyper Island, and the founding online director of RWD magazine and RWD Forum.
