Before grime MCs began invading the charts, they were tearing up pirate radio across London. From Dizzee and Wiley to Tinchy and Skepta, mostly all of today’s grime stars exercised their skills through the pirate radio circuit.
Back in the day, many of us grime stans would rush to our (now-dusty) tape decks to record and relive the drama, dubplates, and clashes heard through the fuzzy FM dial. And while there have been countless standout moments in grime throughout the last 15 years or so, we took it upon ourselves to trawl through the vaults and carefully select 10 of the best pirate radio sets from a very specific era in grime—the golden age, if you will.
So join us as we re-encounter some of the hypest times in British underground music history.