How The Underground Scene Birthed Britain's Generation Of MCs
Yemi Abiade focuses on the key places - and people - that birthed a new style of MC, the British MC
Sky Line Of London and London Eye by Andrea De SantisTRENCH
Almost every thriving music scene starts somewhere, and that somewhere is usually underground. Perched at the heart of what is popping, the underground fosters the next wave of talent and trends bubbling to mainstream consciousness.
Grime pioneer Wiley by Laura BrosnanTRENCH
From New York's impoverished streets came hip-hop in the 1970s, aided by MCs, DJs, graffiti artists and dancers paving the way for the rise of a multi-billion-dollar genre.
Fans film JHus during a live performance in Norway by Laura BrosnanTRENCH
We're no different in the UK, where generations have been cultivated in the unlikeliest of places, shaping the course of Black British music.
These days, the internet shines a light on talent of all kinds, but it wasn’t always this way.
North West London Council Estate Block (2017) by Laura BrosnanTRENCH
The late 20th and early 21st centuries served up a slew of methods for MCs to get on. Pirate radio, long an establishment in British underground culture, proved a fiercely competitive arena for young men and women to build up their skill.
As UK garage dawned in the 1990s, stations such as Mission FM, Delight FM and Supreme FM would host the likes of So Solid Crew, Oxide & Neutrino, Ms. Dynamite and Heartless Crew's MC Bushkin and MC Mighty Moe on any given night.
Listeners and diallers were treated to hours of lyrical finesse and one by one, each would break out into wider British music in the early 2000s.
Grime pioneer Wiley by Laura BrosnanTRENCH
Without traditional concert venues at which they could perform, parties became a live arena for MCs. Grime’s first generation, immediately following UK garage, would take full advantage.
North London Artist Skepta at Rave Chockablock by Laura BrosnanTRENCH
With endless footage of hazy nights at raves like Eskimo Dance, Sidewinder and ChockABlock, we see the likes of Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, Kano, Skepta, Ghetts, D Double E and countless other legends spray bars to electric crowds.
Chip and Ghetts on stage at Ghetts' launch party for his Freedom Of Speech Mixtape (2008) by Laura BrosnanTRENCH
Grime brought about yet more visual signs of the burgeoning underground via DVD series such as Lord Of The Mics, Risky Roadz and Practise Hours, putting faces to the names of MCs fans would hear on Rinse, Deja Vu, Freeze and other FM stations.
If you got your hands on a DVD, you saw visceral lyrical battles between young guns who would soon transition to become full-blown music stars—chart-toppers like Dizzee, award winners like Skepta, and rappers-turned-actors like Bashy and Kano.
Grime in 2011 at Just Jam, Alibi (London) by Laura BrosnanTRENCH
Radio, raves and DVDs served as tentpoles for the underground's vibrant scenes as MCs rose from the trenches to mainstream attention.
East London legend, Kano at his Headline Show at SXSW (2017) by Laura BrosnanTRENCH
As observers who were there, we hang onto these memories with a stubborn pride, because British rap is a commercial and critical powerhouse in the modern day.
North London Artist Skepta by Laura BrosnanTRENCH
Through these mediums, this was made possible, as generations of garage and grime moved with intention to change their lives and ultimately alter Black British music and culture forever.
Words by Yemi Abiade
Photography by Laura Brosnan [Frank Archives]
Videos by Take Me Back Pirate Radio, Ashley Jay Freeze FM and Lord Of The Mics.
Commissioned by TRENCH
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