Where to start with UK Grime
UK Grime is a genre from East London, UK, 2000–2010. Its principal artists include Wiley, Dizzee Rascal and Skepta. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 12 dated events.
Start here
- 1
Boy in da Corner
Dizzee Rascal · 2003Original release: XL Recordings · Digital Media · Worldwide 2003Grime's first Mercury Prize winner and its first real breakout beyond a suffocatingly local scene.
- 2
Treddin' on Thin Ice
Wiley · 2004Original release: XL Recordings · XLDL178 · Digital Media · Worldwide 2004The Godfather's founding statement, cementing the eskibeat blueprint as the genre's template.
- 3
Gang Signs & Prayer
Stormzy · 2017Original release: #Merky Records · Digital Media · UK 2017Shows how far grime's infrastructure carried the sound to a number-one debut in 2017.
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- 4
Home Sweet Home
Kano · 2005Original release: 679 · 679L097CD · CD · UK 2005A debut that landed the rare double: critical acclaim and crossover accessibility, without giving up what made Kano's music grime in the first place.
- 5
In at the Deep End
Roll Deep · 2005Original release: Relentless Records · CDREL07 · CD · UK 2005Roll Deep's debut widened grime's sonic range with more accessible production, picking up an Urban Music Award and showing there was crossover potential in a crew this large.
- 6
Against All Oddz
Lethal Bizzle · 2005Original release: Stay Dench Records · Digital Media · Worldwide 2005Home to 'Pow (Forward)', grime's first bona fide anthem and a track so combustible that clubs across the country banned it outright.
- 7
Maths + English
Dizzee Rascal · 2007Original release: XL Recordings · XLCD273 · CD · UK 2007Dizzee's third album split its own title down the middle: 'Maths' for the production and deal-making, 'English' for the lyricism, and a Mercury Prize nomination for the results.
- 8
Tongue n' Cheek
Dizzee Rascal · 2009Original release: Big Dirtee Records · Digital Media · Worldwide 2009Released three days after his 25th birthday and put out through his own Dirtee Stank imprint rather than longtime label XL, this was Dizzee's full turn toward pop, and it…
For the obsessed
- 9
Rules and Regulations
Roll Deep · 2007Roll Deep's second album leaned into the crew's long-standing support of Love Music Hate Racism, with tracks like 'Racist People' tackling social issues head-on.
- 10
Godfather
Wiley · 2017Original release: CTA Records · CTA001CD · CD · UK 2017Wiley's highest-charting album, landing at number nine and picking up NME's Outstanding Contribution to Music award — a late-career reassertion of the Godfather title just as the wider grime revival…
The stories behind every record are in UK Grime, a members' issue.