³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Grime acts could be seen headlining major festivals in the future says Reading and Leeds organiser Melvin Benn.

"Grime in particular, for the UK audience at Reading and Leeds, is clearly important to us," he said.

Melvin, head of Festival Republic, hit back at the accusations festivals find it hard to get new headliners.

He called the rumours "nonsense" but did say headlining the festival is a "very, very significant task".

"We brought in the Radio 1Xtra tent and I did that for a very deliberate reason and that was because a lot of the Reading and Leeds fans, although they would be genuinely happy to listen to Muse, Kasabian or obviously Eminem, they would also be quite happy to listen to Wiley, to listen to Stormzy, BBK.

"Not just happy but that was a part of their core."

These comments come after Stormzy performed on the main stage at ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 1's Big Weekend on Sunday.

He's also set to headline Wireless, another event organised by Festival Republic.

He was the only grime act to perform on the stage at the festival and said doing so made him "feel like I've got a mission to do".

During his set, he said: "I'm the only act on the main stage from the grime scene.

"So we're going to show Radio 1 why grime music is meant to be here."

Find us on Instagram at and follow us on Snapchat, search for