Photo by Jake Miller

The second wave of Grime is making its way through London. According to data from Ticketmaster sales, Grime artists are expected to sell more tickets in 2016 than they did in 2012, 2013 and 2014 combined. Grime, as described by Chris Campion, is “a hybrid of American Rap and Jamaican dancehall filtered through Britain’s rave scene and powered by a raw punk energy.”

BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ, MistaJam, states, “Grime never really went away, but the music coming out of the scene right now is really exciting. The last Grime artist to win the Mercury [Prize] was Dizzee Rascal back in 2003, and he’s still going strong headlining dance festivals like SW4 on August Bank Holiday, so it proves that Grime has longevity and can transcend different musical tastes.”

The first wave of Grime took off in the early 2000s with artists Dizzy Rascal and Wiley. This revival of Grime, or “second wave” if you will, consists of artists Skepta, Lethal Bizzle, Kano, Lady Leshurr and Stormzy as Ticketmaster’s top five selling Grime artists this year.