City

East London

UK

East London appears in 1 Songsheets issue: UK Grime. One artist in the archive came from here: Kano.

East London's pirate radio infrastructure proved essential to grime's spread, with stations like Rinse FM (broadcasting from various East London locations from 1994), Deja Vu FM, and Heat FM providing the crucial platform for MCs to clash and DJs to test dubplates throughout the 2000s. The area's youth clubs, including the legendary Rhythm Division in Roman Road, hosted the raves and sets where grime crystallized as a distinct sound separate from UK garage. Labels like Wiley's own operations and later Boy Better Know (founded 2005) emerged from these neighborhoods.

Scenes

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UK Grime
Primary

Artists from East London

  • Kano

    Kane Robinson grew up in Plaistow and arrived as one of the sharpest MCs of grime's first wave.

Records made by artists from East London