Croydon

Croydon contributed South London's perspective to grime, most prominently through Big Narstie and various South London crews who brought their own flavor to the predominantly East London sound. The area's grime scene operated somewhat independently, with local pirate radio stations and sets that connected with but remained distinct from the East/North London axis. Croydon's involvement demonstrated grime's spread beyond its core geography by the mid-2000s, though it remained less central than the East London heartland.

Scenes

Artists from Croydon

• Stormzy

  Michael Omari grew up in Croydon and became the clearest face of grime's 2010s revival, eventually headlining Glastonbury in 2019 — the first grime artist to do so.

• DJ Hatcha

  Terry Leonard was head buyer at Big Apple Records in Croydon and a resident at FWD>>.

• Skream

  Oliver Jones, born in West Wickham in 1986, started producing on FruityLoops at 15 and spent much of his teens, often truanting, at Big Apple Records, where Hatcha was the first DJ to play his dubplates.

• Benga

  Adegbenga Adejumo, from Croydon, was inspired by the garage producer Wookie and made his first tunes on a PlayStation.

Records made by artists from Croydon

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  Midnight Request Line
  Skream · 2005
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  Skream!
  Skream · 2006
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  Gang Signs & Prayer
  Stormzy · 2017