There's a special place reserved in the history of Later... with Jools Holland for grime artists because almost without exception they steal the show they're on. Why? It's a big deal for any musician to be offered a slot on the programme, but for artists from what's ostensibly an underground genre (or certainly used to be) if offers a huge opportunity to reach a national audience. As such, grime MCs are notorious for bringing fire to the studio, as we'll now find out...
1. Wiley, Can't Go Wrong, 2016
In calling his hugely anticipated forthcoming album Godfather (his nickname), Wiley is perfectly reasonably reminding everyone that he's the don of grime and, frankly, his debut appearance in the current series is long overdue. As befits the leader of a scene, he played it cool, performing a new song that bigs up Skepta and BBK, and works on a refrain of, "Can't go wrong / When it's straight from the heart, you can't go wrong."
2. Skepta, Shutdown, 2015
When Skepta won the Mercury Prize on 15 September, he said, "We travelled the world with these songs - no label, nothing," making his victory all the more impressive. He earned a spot on Jools entirely off his own back too and his performance of Shutdown, as well as That's Not Me, caused a sensation. Suddenly, he looked on the brink of a major breakthrough, and so it came to be.
3. So Solid Crew, 21 Seconds, 2002
[WATCH] So Solid Crew - 21 Seconds
So Solid Crew are perhaps the most important bridge group between garage/UK hip hop and grime and they were bona fide superstars by 2002 when they made it onto Jools. The song they performed, 21 Seconds, had been a No.1 hit in August 2001 and they treated Later... like a massive celebration, seemingly bringing almost everyone in south London along with them to the studio.
4. Dizzee Rascal, Brand New Day, 2003
[WATCH] Dizzee Rascal - Brand New Day
Dizzee would end up becoming a Jools regular, but his most significant appearance was his first - back in 2003, just after he'd become the youngest ever winner of the Mercury Prize. He performed Brand New Day from Boy in da Corner, giving huge swathes of the nation their first introduction to raw grime, and you could argue that it would take another 11 years for the music in its purest form to make it back onto the show...
5. Stormzy, Not That Deep, 2014
[WATCH] Stormzy - Not That Deep
It's thought that Stormzy was the first unsigned MC to ever appear on Later..., and in doing so he became a signifier of both a new DIY ethic in grime and renewed interest in a genre that had gone underground again as Dizzee was busy becoming a pop star. He performed Not That Deep from his Dreamers Disease EP and soon after found himself nominated for the 成人快手 Sound of 2015 poll, on which he placed third.
6. Kano, This is England, 2016
Kano's been such a mainstay in grime since its birth at the beginning of the century, it seems implausible that he's still only 31. An artist who has always explored the wider possibilities of grime, he first featured on Jools in 2007 with Damon Albarn, then returned this year to perform 3 Wheel-ups with Giggs and This is England (above) from Made in the Manor, his fifth and perhaps his best album. It duly received a Mercury nod.
