Rewind: Grime on Camera

Grime built its own image before anyone else was going to build it for them. No commissioning editors, no broadcast slots waiting, just camcorders, pirate radio, and a generation who filmed the scene because nobody else would. This event puts the camera operators in the room to delve into how grime looks, moves and means anything at all.

Hosted by Chantelle Fiddy (UD Music), the evening traces the visual chronology of Grime. From performance and the theatre of clashing and freestyles, to the independent media machinery that got the footage out into the world before platforms existed to do it for them. Join Roony ‘RiskyRoadz’ Keefe, Chad ‘Ratty’ Stennett (Lord of the Mics), Troy ‘A Plus’ Miller (Practice Hours, Eskimo Dance) and Tim & Barry (Just Jam, Don’t Watch That TV), unpacking what they were actually building, one tape at a time.

Two provocations are put to each chronicler:

The footage that means the most. One piece they shot themselves, and why it still matters to them.

The footage no one's seen. Something that's never surfaced, why they've held onto it, and what — if anything — they plan to do with it.

Between them, this is the difference between archive and legacy, the honest account of what these four chroniclers were trying to do with a camera, and what's still hidden in a box or a hard drive because nobody's asked before now.

Host:

Chantelle Fiddy

A music journalist by background, Chantelle Fiddy has spent more than two decades working across the industry, from A&R and events programming to artist management, and has documented grime since its earliest days. In 2004 she launched World of Grime, one of the first blogs dedicated to the scene, which captured conversations and music the magazines weren't yet covering. Her writing has appeared in Smash Hits, i-D, Dazed & Confused, The Guardian and The Sunday Times Style. As contributing editor at RWD and urban editor at Mixmag, she helped bring grime to wider audiences. At 679 Recordings she assisted on A&R for Run The Road 2 and built early online presences for Kano and Plan B. She contributed grime research to the V&A's The Music Is Black: A British Story and is Marketing Consultant for UD.

Panellists:

Roony Keefe (RiskyRoadz)

RiskyRoadz is a London-based filmmaker and cultural documentarian best known for capturing the birth and rise of grime. Emerging from East London, he began filming the underground scene in 2004, creating the influential RiskyRoadz DVD series, which documented pirate radio, street cyphers and early performances from artists who would go on to define the genre. The series remains one of the most important visual records of grime’s formative years.

His work has been recognised by institutions including the National Gallery and the Museum of London. Alongside documentaries such as RiskyRoadz 0121, nominated for a Royal Television Society Award, he created the viral Grime Gran series starring his Nan Margie, working alongside his brother Beau to take the project to new heights. Today, RiskyRoadz continues documenting culture beyond music - spanning food, community, travel and identity - while remaining a key figure in preserving grime’s visual history.

Chad ‘Ratty’ Stennett

Chad 'Ratty' Stennett has been putting grime on camera since the scene's earliest days. In 2003 he and Capo made Lord of the Decks, a DVD of performances and interviews with the scene's artists. Their company, Hothead Productions, also helped distribute Jammer's instrumentals. A year later, Ratty and Jammer launched Lord of the Mics, the first series to film grime clashes. It started with Wiley vs Kano in the basement of Jammer's family home. Ratty has filmed and produced LOTM ever since. Across eight volumes it has put Skepta, Frisco, Tinchy Stryder, P Money and many others head to head. LOTM was first sold through barbershops, record shops and pirate radio, and grew into a clothing line and live events.

Troy ‘A Plus’ Miller

Troy 'A Plus' Miller was a founding member of Rinse FM, alongside Geeneus, Wiley and Slimzee. He started out as a DJ and then picked up a camera, filming Pay As U Go studio sessions before Wiley told him to stand at the side of the stage at Eskimo Dance and capture what he could. Self-taught on a £20 copy of Final Cut Pro, he went on to create Practice Hours, grime's fly-on-the-wall DVD series. The first discs were blank, with handwritten labels and hand-cut covers, and were stocked at Rhythm Division and Uptown Records. He also shot Eskimo Dance, Target's Aim High and Run The Road 2 (for 679 Recordings), and has since built an archive of footage from the era.

Tim & Barry

Tim & Barry are artists, photographers and filmmakers who have spent the past 25 years documenting and shaping the visual culture of UK underground music.

Beginning with the emerging grime scene of the early 2000s, they developed a distinctive approach to photography, film and online video, working closely with artists including Skepta, JME, D Double E & Tempa T. Their work grew into a series of self-initiated platforms including Tim & Barry TV, Beat This, Don’t Watch That and Just Jam, creating spaces for artists and scenes that were often overlooked by mainstream media.

Their pioneering approach to video, live streaming and live visual experimentation helped define the look and feel of a generation of UK music. Their work includes the MOBO Award-winning video for Skepta’s That’s Not Me, the long-running Just Jam series and the feature-length documentary I’m Tryna Tell Ya.

Today, Tim & Barry continue to work across photography, film, music and live events, while building an extensive archive of the people, places and scenes they have documented over 25 years. Their work is now held in the BFI National Archive.