Grime roundup
The Best Grime Artists to Know
A handful of producers and MCs built grime, then rebuilt it a decade later. Here's who they are, what they changed, and where to start with each one.
Every genre has its non-negotiables — the names you need before anything else makes sense. For grime, that's a short but essential list: a handful of producers and MCs who built the sound, then rebuilt it a decade later for a new audience. Here's who they are and why each one matters.
Wiley — The Architect
Start here. Wiley is routinely called the “Godfather of Grime”, and it's not just a nickname handed out for longevity. As part of Pay As U Go Cartel, he developed the icy, sparse “Eskibeat” sound — cold synths, video-game-like textures, drums with room to breathe — that became one of the genre's clearest production blueprints. He also mentored a teenage Dizzee Rascal, which on its own would earn him a place on this list.
Where to start: “Eskimo”, “Ice Rink”, “Wot Do U Call It?”, and the 2004 album Treddin' on Thin Ice.
Dizzee Rascal — The First Household Name
Born Dylan Mills, Dizzee Rascal turned a pirate-radio sound into a complete, celebrated album with his 2003 debut, Boy in da Corner, which won that year's Mercury Prize. It's still the clearest way to hear early grime's mix of minimal production, unstable rhythm and unflinchingly personal writing.
Where to start: “I Luv U”, “Fix Up, Look Sharp”, “Jus' a Rascal”, and the album itself — covered in full in our guide to essential grime albums.
Kano — The Lyricist's Lyricist
Kano proved that grime could be an album format as much as a radio or clash culture, and that sharp, personal writing didn't need to sacrifice any edge. His 2004 debut, Home Sweet Home, is a genuine landmark, built on rapid, detailed verses rather than shock value.
Where to start: “Ps & Qs”, “Brown Eyes”, and Home Sweet Home in full.
Skepta and JME — Boy Better Know
Brothers Joseph and Jamie Adenuga, better known as Skepta and JME, led grime's second major wave in the 2010s through their collective, Boy Better Know. Skepta pulled the sound back towards its DJ-and-MC roots after years of drift towards more commercial production, favouring stripped-back instrumentals over the polished, chart-chasing beats that had crept in during the quieter years.
JME, meanwhile, built his reputation on something rarer: total independence. He released music on his own terms, spoke openly about turning down major-label deals, and became something of a template for how an MC could run a career without handing control to anyone else — a genuinely DIY streak that runs right through Boy Better Know's whole story.
Stormzy — The One Who Filled Arenas
Stormzy emerged from that same second wave and took the sound further than almost anyone before him, headlining festivals and blending grime with gospel, R&B and pop. His rise is also a useful case study in how the genre keeps overlapping with UK rap without simply becoming it — our guide to grime's subgenres untangles that relationship in more detail.
Crews Worth Knowing
Individual artists rarely built this scene alone — crews and collectives did much of the heavy lifting, premiering instrumentals on pirate radio and giving young MCs somewhere to cut their teeth:
- Pay As U Go Cartel — the garage-era crew that shaped Wiley's early sound
- Roll Deep — a sprawling east London collective that launched several major solo careers
- Ruff Sqwad — known for a raw, instrumental-heavy approach to production
- Boy Better Know — Skepta and JME's collective, central to the 2010s revival
- More Fire Crew and So Solid Crew — earlier groups whose garage-adjacent sound fed directly into the genre's formation
None of these crews sounded identical, and not every release from them counts as strictly grime rather than late garage. But without the studios, pirate-radio slots and shared reputations they built, the solo careers above simply wouldn't have had anywhere to start.
How These Names Fit Together
| Artist / crew | Era | Best known for |
|---|---|---|
| Wiley | First wave | Inventing the Eskibeat sound |
| Dizzee Rascal | First wave | Boy in da Corner, Mercury Prize 2003 |
| Kano | First wave | Home Sweet Home, lyrical precision |
| Skepta & JME | Second wave | Boy Better Know, the 2010s revival |
| Stormzy | Second wave | Taking the sound to arena-sized crowds |
For the fuller story behind how one wave led to the next, our history of grime lays out the whole timeline in order.
The Bottom Line
Six names, two waves, two decades: Wiley's blueprint, Dizzee Rascal's breakthrough, Kano's lyricism, and Skepta, JME and Stormzy's second act. Learn these artists first, and every other grime record you hear afterwards will make a lot more sense. New to the genre entirely? Our beginner's guide to grime is the place to start before you dig any deeper.
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