GRIME: The Documentary | History, Culture & Legacy of the UK's Favourite Underground Music Scene

This mini-documentary explores #Grime - the UK's most cherished homegrown culture from 2002 to now. Made for decade-long and brand-new Grime fans alike, I aim to dispel a lot of confusion as to what Grime really is. From Wiley to Stormzy, Rinse FM to Radio 1, and Channel U to SBTV, a lot of the key events, people and platforms have been covered. This #Documentary will contain interviews, music videos, sets, freestyles, stage shows and more, representing Grime from it's roots to it's success.
ABOUT:
This was a first attempt at informative content, and may be quite amateur audio-visually in some areas, but the aim is to educate. This essay was made in response to the growing hype and use of 'Grime' in media. I have been listening to Grime for 15+ years, and was one of the first types of music I ever heard. So a lot of this is based off of personal experience with the culture.
NAVIGATION:
02:00 WHAT ABOUT US? - Why did the scene emerge, and who was responsible?
04:33 WOT DO U CALL IT? - A brand new sound on the airwaves, a brand new culture in the making...
09:18 ROLLING IN THE DEEP - Striving for success, with fans by the thousands.
15:33 POLICE AND GRIEF - Police, crime, and other obstacles the Grime scene fought.
20:29 NEW DECADE, NEW ME - New genres, new oppurtunities, new attitudes.
24:40 SONS OF GRIME - The doors have been kicked open...
29:00 HONOURABLE MENTIONS - Some important names missed.
SOURCES:
SBTV: / smokeybarz
Rinse FM: / rinsefm
VLAD TV: / djvlad
Risky Roadz: / rsky
Tim & Barry TV: / timandbarrytv
Tim Westwood TV: / timwestwoodtv
Lord of the Mics: / lotmvevo
GRM Daily: / grimedailymedia
Link Up TV: / linkuptvuk
Grime Report TV: / grimereporttv
NFTR (Not For the Radio): / @notfortheradio
Noisey: / noisey
ManBetterKnow: / manbetterknow
BBC Radio 1Xtra: / bbc1xtra
MUSIC USED:
Nu Brand Flexxx - Anthem: • Nu Brand Flexx feat MA...
Wiley - Wot Do U Call It?: • Wiley "Wot U Call It?"...
The Streets - Let's Push Things Forward: • Lets Push Things Forwa...
Heartless Crew - Heartless Anthem: • Heartless Crew 'Heartl...
DJ Pied Piper & The MC's - Do You Really Like It: • Video
Pay As U Go Cartel - Champagne Dance: • Pay As U Go Cartel - C...
More Fire Crew - Oi!: • More fire crew- Oi
Wiley, Skepta, Ghetto, Frisco, Scorcher, Wretch 32 Freestyle: • Wiley, Skepta, Ghetto,...
D Double E Just Jam 2009: • Just Jam 009 D double ...
Wiley - Eskimo: • Wiley - Eskimo
Griminal - Fuck Radio: • Video
Wiley (Eskiboy) - Morgue (ft. Roll Deep): • Wiley (Eskiboy) - Morg...
Chipmunk & Ice Kid Westwood Freestyle: • Wiley, Chipmunk & Ice ...
Dizzee Rascal - I Luv U: • Dizzee Rascal - 'I Luv U'
N-Dubz Vs NAA: • N-Dubz Vs NAA - NDubz ...
Lethal Bizzle - POW! (Forward Riddim): • Lethal Bizzle - Forward
Wiley vs. Kano - Lord of the Mics 1: • Wiley vs. Kano - Lord ...
P Money - Slang Like This: • P Money | Slang Like T...
D Double E - Aim High Freestyle: • D DOUBLE - AIM HIGH DV...
Wretch 32 ft. Badness & Ghetto - INA DI GHETTO: • Wretch 32 ft. Badness ...
Devlin - London City: • Video
Chipmunk - Who Are You?: • Video
Devlin - F64: • Devlin | F64 [S2.EP5]:...
English Frank - Warm Up Sessions: • English Frank | Warm U...
ESCO BIG BARZ Freestyle: • BIG BARZ
Ghetto - Esco's Spirit: • Ghetto - Esco's Spirit...
Crazy Titch - I Can C U: • Crazy Titch - I Can C ...
Skepta ft. JME - That's Not Me: • Skepta ft. JME - That'...
Wretch 32 ft Josh Kumra - Don't Go: • Wretch 32 ft Josh Kumr...
Marco Del Horno v Swerve - Ho! Riddim ft. P Money: • Marco Del Horno v Swer...
DJ Maximum ft. Boy Better Know & Newbaan - Shaky: • SHAKY - DJ MAXIMUM FT ...
Wiley ft. Stormzy & Solo 45 - Grew Up In: • Video
Skepta - Shutdown: • Skepta - Shutdown
Big Narstie - Fire in the Booth Part 3: • Big Narstie - Fire in ...
Wiley - On A Level: • Wiley - 'On A Level'
Lethal Bizzle - I Win ft. Skepta: • Lethal Bizzle - I Win ...
Nines - I See You Shining: • Nines - I See You Shining
DISCLAIMER:
All footage and audio used is used to represent commentary, and is not intended to plagiarise. The purpose of this commentary is to inform and/or educate, and care has been taken to ensure large amounts of referenced content are not seen or heard for extended periods of time.
SPECIAL THANKS:
Most footage used is courtesy of Risky Roadz, GrimeReportTV, Link Up TV, GRMDaily, SBTV, Tim & Barry TV, Vlad TV, NTFR, BBC Radio 1, Channel 4, LOTM, Red Bull Culture Clash, Eskimo Dance, Rinse FM.

[@Smith89123]

Nobody touches Kano, his lyrics, body of work and flow is impeccable

[@dd185]

Goodz

[@Aiconspiracytheories2024]

Wiley is the best ever

[@mackenziek8499]

Chip is highly underrated for bringing the spotlight back to grime with his beefs‼

[@j-rox8551]

mackenzie k 100%

[@k12rising]

He is top ten selected.

[@yellayettithemythical7045]

Agreed

[@bhvillaman4401]

Just no mate, grime is better with 5k views not 5 mil

[@prodonlythejugg]

@@bhvillaman4401 why

[@darrenwilson146]

young stormzy fans - take note of this documentary.

[@MFordE2001]

Take note of how stotmzy has spread grime futher than anyone else in the scene fam i live in nz and hes the reason at 18 years of age ive been listing to grime for the past 3 years. You old heads need to realise these people in the video are the torch lighters and stormzy is here to guide yall into the next era. Aka King of Grime

[@twilonbashmer186]

@@MFordE2001 shutup

[@Lauryn80]

reece b you shut up 🤐 I’m 39yrs old & have seen/heard it all & yes Wiley stared grime but it’s like any type of music 🎶 he’s paved the way for the next generations but Wiley just wants beef 🥩 with any1 he see’s going at it hard & have a massive fan bass as he is always trolling (facts)Big up ALL GRIME Artists & especially Stormzy, skepta, krepts & Konan Jaykae Dizzie Dave, Jhus, Bugsey Malone, Dot Rotten Jay1,Big Narstie Devlin Chip etc (facts) #TIMESCHANGE

[@paulies5407]

@@MFordE2001 Without a doubt. Old school, new school. It don't matter. People of the UK should take a bit of pride in what these artists have done for their country

[@twilonbashmer186]

@@Lauryn80 neek

[@YouTubePlaylists]

This documentary is 100% Netfilx worthy.

[@becky270391]

Love this!!! So nostalgic - spending my teens watching channel u and then spending ages on KZbin watching grime grow in popularity! I like where UK rap has gone but I still love all the classics 😍😍

[@Sackettdude]

Love the documentary, dawg! I first heard about Grime back in ‘06-‘07 when I met a dude from south London in my neighborhood. I’ve only recently been getting into the UK artists. I love it and this sound should be more known in the US. Big up from North Carolina! Keep killing it! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@hypeicez2416]

It's Not Only Grime We Got. We Have Drill Trap And UK Rap But I Appreciate The Love G.

[@illford]

@@hypeicez2416 lets nit get into Borderline Crime Rap hete

[@vyltrix1908]

As an American, it really bugs me when people here talk about how UK Drill is almost 100% inspired from Chicago drill but yet not a single word is said about how UK Grime really helped shape the sound of UK/NY Drill. Even the group 67 (UK Drill pioneers) said it themselves that UK Drill is more of a successor to Grime than it is to Chicago Drill.

[@ukjamaican4488]

Americans think they invented everything. I bet most of them don’t even know US hip hop comes from Jamaican dancehall

[@MrChrisGordonE3]

DJ slimzee was the first person who started what grime became, everyone knows this, he used to mix garage tunes and speeded them up to 140bpm, man like Wiley was the first guy to spit bars over them and first called it grime, bless up Dean and Richard, if you know you know, E3 the home of grime real talk

[@leonpalmer2429]

People who did grime at first hated the word and tried to distant themselves from the word grime . Wiley called his ting eski beat. But yeah slimzee and wonder pushed the more mc focused garage

[@callumw3324]

Can't forget man like Danny Weed

[@leonpalmer2429]

Infact what about oxide for so solid he produced bare mc focused beats 🤔

[@nubianempresssphinx9807]

Fuck out of here he was brought in. He didn't create shit again white people trying to re right our history and make them the creator fuck of. Wiley from grime period.

[@Pete9Tails]

Big ups for slimzo

[@retroblak]

Beautiful tribute to the birth and history of UK Grime scene. Really enjoyed the context , content and narration 👊🏾🎧🎓❤️🤗🎤

[@KingKhupacabra]

Grime is still growing, I hope it becomes universal like American hip hop

[@young6drama]

Being mixed between African American and German, growing up in Germany. UK Grime ment more to me than German HipHop. Grew up on Dirty South Rap and UK Grime.

[@JesseTheMaestro]

Beautiful doc, deserve way more clout. One day they should make a Netflix movie about the OGs of grime

[@rh3836]

Bro you deserve more clout. You got some next level flows and bars. Respect.

[@bhvillaman4401]

Yeah but they'll make it about stormzy and aj not d double and skinmyman unfortunately

[@Bennybey123]

Like every other ‘grime documentary’ not one mention of Slewdem! No clout at all, dead out

[@thenumber1kidd811]

This just makes me happy of the old days and what’s happening now for the UK. Places like Stratford Rex and the rest. The attitudes and whole culture was dark and fun as fuck. I miss those days but I love how this has exploded to the world. I now live in New York and Americans are sat up and love it, it’s great. This is why music is the best communicator 💥 🤜🏼

[@Dub-C]

laura kidd I don’t even recognise Stratford now 😒

[@SkippaG]

Respect for making this!! Takes me back maaan. I was literally there from the start taping sets from deja and rinse.

[@TTBOn00bKiLleR]

discovered grime in 2013 and became my fav genre instantly. I was into rap anyway, but this, this was smth special, felt like unearthing a big lump of gold. too bad that old school sound only seldom pops up anymore

[@marksn4020]

Good history. I see the Americans are all over the grime tunes with their reaction videos

[@tyronemuaka5417]

fam this documentary 👏🏿

[@slapahater.4968]

Every part of this grime scene I've been apart of from the audience side. I've seen these artists growth in this ting. I've also seen man come an go. New wave Don's need to see this grime history.. respect for the upload my G. 💯💥🔥

[@MiracleMorris]

I'm an American that discovered grime in 2018. I wished I knew about it earlier I would've been a grime head for way longer lol. Rap never captured me like grime does

[@mebeardsta1135]

Hell lot of respect, straight outta Brazil! Grime is simply the best; I can't resist to a filth wobble accompanied by a cocky lad spittin bars! :P Big up!

[@danielarmstrong8503]

This is brilliant. Totally nostalgic listening back to some of the early cuts I'd thought long forgotten. More proud of Grime than anything this country has produced in the last 25 years 🙌

[@Pete9Tails]

The UK soundsystem vibe is the achievement man. Jungle/dnb, UKG, grime, dubstep, uk funky, bassline etc etc uk run ting

[@Steven_McCrae]

Wiley is the 👑GrimeFather👑

[@criminalferret9465]

This really takes me back ;) I went to school in South London so I grew up with not just knife crime, but a lot of grime music.

[@nickychimes4719]

For me, it was "the streets" original pirate material, I rated the Kano, Mitchell brothers side there... ...in next to no time,I found the "roll deep" massive, opened up the whole scene for me Skepta and JME felt the freshest, forming the sound, at the start,when dizzee was sounding more polished, a different angle Nowadays: Skepta is still the king, Stormzy the power house just behind... I really feel that grime is a #Wiley sound, that it is him the true Pioneer

[@darrenwilson146]

Couldn't agree more. I for me I like both Mike Skinner and Wiley. Unlikely the young stormzy fans who think he started the girme scence. Us mature grime fans were there from the start and know the facts.

[@top10animedickcellpiccells35]

Darren Wilson nobody thinks stormzy started grime that he’s the king of it cause he basically killed the maker of the scene

[@Bea.Sted.]

Nicely done mate, narration is 10/10! Took me back proper! Liked/subbed.

[@nathankay-doney2143]

Great video. I first heard Grime in year 7 (I was 11/12) when I heard Chipmunk & Ice Kid's freestyle on 1xtra. Fell in love with the genre immediately. Still a Grime head to this day!

[@ps5stuffguy]

Stormzy came in at the perfect timing for the fame

[@stannykush1399]

PS4 & Stuff might have fame but he ain’t free

[@eric-vu1jy]

Stormz capitalised on drill n sold it out.. he is trap not Grime

[@ps5stuffguy]

@@eric-vu1jy ?

[@maherhamadouch2005]

Actually Stormzy was doing grime even before 2015

[@DBZ483]

Fuck stormzy

[@JJ-oz9xx]

I feel the original spirit and energy of grime was bought back around 2015-2018 on radar radio with MTP, YGG, Jammz, Capo Lee, Mez, Merky Ace, Novelist, The Square, Crafty etc. The sets these man had and the energy they had was untouchable and they bought new vibes to the table bc they had not only been influenced by the past generations of grime guy also the early uk drill sounds and road rap. If this sound that these man had blew then grime would not just be looked on as a throwback genre or nostalgia

[@radioactivepotato2068]

I watched the genre develop. Born 1980, grew up in South London. Listened to Don FM, Flex FM, Kool FM, then Delight FM.. IMO, D&B had more of an influence on what would become Grime. MCs like Skibba, Shabba, Det, Hyper D.. built the UK MC sound as far as I'm concerned. R.I.P Hyper and Skibadee. Thing is, D&B never reached the heights that Garage did and was notoriously difficult for MCs to break through to the top tier. In the mid to late 90s, almost all pirates and clubs were banging out Garage. Most of the youts that grew up with D&B were moving over and carried that aggressive style with them. People like Wookie and Sticky forced a sub genre out of garage which had the DNA of Grime. But someone else who don't seem to get a lot of credit is Deekline. Some of his breakbeat dubplates on Flex FM, Sunday 4 - 6 pushed the boundaries and his MC (Hyperactive) was coming with different flows to match the sound. IMO, Hyperactive is one of the most versatile and underrated MCs this country has produced. That said, So Solid on Delight FM in them early days was the inception of Grime as we know it IMO. Particularly if we're talking about Grime as a culture. Just my two pennies.

[@UKxNZ]

in 2022 Grime is still,and forever will be ,its more then music

[@WumpyChumbo]

Thanks for this video! I'm American an obviously have been sheltered by my own culture for a long time. I got into the dubstep scene years back and always heard grime style rapping but never gave the time of day to research where it all came from. I very much appreciate the history and up bringing of this culture and I absolutely love it. Honestly so much better than the U.S rap scene.

[@Kylirr]

scout

[@finishhim6663]

Introduced to grime through SBTV by my little brother in its early days and I loved it straight away... Which is weird because I have always been metal head.

[@refused1]

Proper documentary with accuracy.

[@arrandodge9932]

I really enjoyed this documentary, it explains the evolution of the scene really well.Thanks to the journalists who put the programme together for us. Here's hoping the global recognition that the genre deserves comes to be before too long eh? Happy 2020 everyone.

[@manescreen4738]

THIS IS A WELL PUT TOGETHER, A+ PIN POINT ACCURACY DOCUMENTARY. SHIT BE TOOK BACK WHEN THE TIMES WERE HARD TO PUT YOUR NAME OUT. WHAT A CULTURE WHAT A HISTORY, GRIME CAME ALONG WAY

[@MFSGamePlay]

I've been on the UK rap scene for over ten year, D double , kano and wiley are some of my favs.

[@somethingelse_uk]

Hard bro. Good work. Better than most so called professional productions

[@maxinelawrence2332]

I enjoyed watching this👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾🧐

[@brownchicken5522]

jme pretty much the only one still keeping it a 100% grime till this day

[@andrewhenry3760]

p money, dot rotten, big zuu, ets, saint p, pk, devlin, even stormzy...he strays from the path but he hold it down for grime. fam, there arent old skool m.cs anymore, the days of deja are gone, but grime is alive and well, its just evolved like any other form of music...just look at hiphop g. trus me, grime is alive and well, we just need to do what we used to and give more props to the producers...

[@ScrimRa]

Are you joking Jme doesn't evolve and hasn't done grime in years he sounds exactly the same in every song hahahahshshshshahahsh P money famm

[@happ2808]

Andrew Henry nah cuz it’s pretty dead

[@yellayettithemythical7045]

Man soon as I heard More fire crew I was hooked no lies. That and 21seconds so solid crew.

[@a.ftp4207]

This documentary is sick bro One one uk dril would be good

[@ydb_tito]

I’m a Chicago rapper but I’ve got tired of all the dissing and killing in the drill scene now I listen to UK drill.. any good artist to suggest for me mates? Much appreciated 🖤💯

[@sus5770]

Uk drill has just as much dissing tho?

[@TrojanThugMusic]

Pete n Bas. Plugged in with fumez Never disappoints

[@grimekid666]

uk drill is just as violent, it's also shit, most good uk rap music is covered in this video

[@ylracci]

You killed the narration..hat off..

[@HazeGamesArcade]

I was around when a lot of this stuff was happening, but to be honest, I wasn't paying much attention to it at the time, so I feel like I learned a lot from this video. But I def remember Channel U and when SB TV when that was starting out. But if we're gonna talk pirate radio stations, for me, that goes back to the 90s when Jungle was big, I don't remember the names of the stations, but it was always WORK tryna get a good signal, lol, but when you did, and you got the fresh Jungle riddims come through, yeah man :D

[@CostaBlancaFrenchies]

I remember back in the very very early 00s listing to nasty crew and dizzy on pirate radio, it was d double e, armor, storming, sharky major and Mac 10, we would record the sessions on tape and have them all stashed together in a shoe box with no labels, when a good set was on we would have to sacrifice a set if we wanted to record it, showing my age there lol. Also on cable TV, rapture was the channel was one of the first televised raves with pay as you go crew and heartless crew. Early early days, it wasn't for a long time when channel U came up. Favorite MCs were d double e, sharky major and armor aka big timer.

[@KRXOVRmedia]

Thank you for this great work. You did a phenomenal job

[@kirksturips8629]

RIP STORMING nice documentary

[@a-a-ron8789]

Man....the new grime's got me into r&b

[@chrisrowland2549]

I'm 46 I found grime thru channel u loved it ever since

[@edofromtheghetto]

Listen...there are so many others!!! Ruff Sqwad and Terror Danjah to name two...Aftershock records was big...Jon E Cash and Black Ops, B-Live, Plasticman (before Plastician). P-JAM!!! I paid 40 bucks for an overseas delivery of 2 white labels - Sadie Ama “So Sure” and P-Jam’s “Anger Managment” with the Chardonnay vocal B-Side...

[@DouglasLeavitt]

Thanks for the video. Very educational, I probably should have been studying for my CCNA exam, but this was worth the time.

[@sinnombre1310]

Has grime been killed by UK drill?

[@kalifahkreol]

Grew up in the Stratford Rex era... snm 💯👊🏾

[@RileySerola]

This is a well put together documentary. Salute to you

[@xxxderekxxxvibez7840]

Chipmunk is who introduced me to grime or uk rap music at fact cause I wanted to hear more music from him and I came across grime Daily then I started listening to other artists from the UK being from the islands their slangs had similarities to what I'm used to

[@jamestaylor4343]

This documentary need putting out there for more to see. Well put together and keeping it facts. Channel u tho 💯🙌

[@gridformationracing2094]

Very well done. Thank you for sharing. Didn't know much about the history bring from Toronto. Really enjoyed this doc.

[@mr.abijah]

Great documentary.

[@arthurthuczek9141]

do dubstep next please, from then till now and still stronger than ever, from birth to rusko handing to skrillex/excision and all the new fam now

[@thesten6982]

This was great 👍

[@OKG2000]

ive been with grime since the start and literally never left and i never will....

[@johnbennet9868]

Anyone else pick up on his pronunciation of genre. Man was saying gaanra

[@Tommy.L4ng]

What I love about grime is it’s all About the music and to its core it’s about the rhythm and the lyrics none of this drill shit with their disgusting lyrics about killing and stabbing 13 year old kids. Grime has stayed true to itself I love that

[@eamo723]

Really great vid man

[@stkingful]

Grime peaked in the early days and peaked again in 2015-2016. Then it died out. Now days things sound a little differently than the true grime.

[@boobookittie9274]

Very on point depiction 👌🏾

[@shinaznavas]

Fantastic video - it would be great to see the adjascent UK 'conscious' rappers referenced in here too, who never got to the same level of acclaim, but still crushed it when it comes to raw bars and skill level - e.g. Akala, Lowkey, Logic etc.

[@birminghamcityfootballclub7587]

I was here from ratpack and happy hard core days then jungle , garage, grime now drill I feel old lol

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

Same asfollowed it straight from the dance days of bleep. Raving and pirate radio was a way of life. Wonder why the influence of ragga dancehall toasting/Mcing wasn't mentioned ?

[@TRTHEPRODUCER]

best grime documentary

[@IisKryptic]

so glad i grew up with grime

[@keithdavison2960]

I’m old as fu*+ I remember when it started as jungle moving to garage to grime to drill

[@SKEPTZ_CODM]

My childhood was sooooooo magical! And a BIG part of was due to grime ❤️

[@garrydan94]

Superb documentary

[@richardweekes9130]

Please explain to me why Stormzy's face is on the picture and not the Legend D Double E?

[@judechukwuelue617]

Well done !

[@ieattheburger]

Bro u broke this down on a ral, mad respect, would love to work with u .. charting our history

[@loloinhd]

Excellent documentary !!

[@pandroidigital]

From the U.S. I love grime! 🔥

[@richardmarkjones8931]

Amazing doc , well done

[@stemster972]

Its cold to Rast down here ,thats how i always wanna here the Weatherman

[@noseyparker8626]

Great.... Just an old man's observation. Very similar birth of jungle from back in the day.

[@furydj2311]

It was also spearheaded by Deja vu 92.3 FM.

[@Johnnybananass-_]

since this has been made Stormzy headlined Gladsotnbury, Grime has escaped the underground

[@freetruth6265]

Put Roadside G’s there too 🔥

[@shannonmoran408]

things i would do to get these days back man

[@MohammadAli-ne9yc]

I havent watched this yet but there better be JME hommage in this

[@BangtansMomma]

Great information and depth ❤ So many youths should watch this as it has all that that they need to know what got it all started and who 🤔 😉

[@krude-ck3wy]

I remember kiss being a pirate radio station and recording on to cassette

[@ADAMAkhi2024]

I was Introuded to Grime in 2017 Jan When my Classmate placed Section Boys. Then I was Woah I love this Music. It's Awesome.

[@prodonlythejugg]

Noice

[@RawSoundzProductionz]

For me it was coming home from school and finding a new channel called channel u

[@klofto212]

Great work

[@dontgetittwizted]

Channel u day's since 02/03💪

[@dask5687]

Sad i didnt get to live through the beginning of grime.

[@HumbleIsWisdom]

I really enjoyed this video.

[@detectivethinker3637]

Gaining knowledge from here!

[@darylcotzec6661]

Insightfull man rip stormin

[@dangarbs5651]

Can anyone tell me what the track is at 21.10. Starts with “I’m sick….” And finishes with “when you get the metaphor shout out”

[@bambersaur]

ho! riddim

[@awesomefrankrapid]

They really put the hardest English Frank bars in there

[@terrybriggs6016]

Decent info, be good for new and upcoming artists and for the grime consumers at large.

[@Ten1990D]

Giggs is a real g you know

[@EnjoytheQ.]

Time fucking flys