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2. Artist - The Importance of Roll Deep



People within the scene know Roll Deep not only for being one of the founding crews in grime, but also as a collective with almost as many personnel changes as Destiny's Child/Sugababes. However, to their credibility, where many crews are falling by the wayside,they possess an underestimated quality - continuity.

Formed from the ashes of Pay As You Go crew, Roll Deep were formed in 2002 by the remaining members Wiley, Flo Dan, Target, and Breeze. It was also around this time that Dizzee Rascal was emerging as a young prodigy and was quickly ushered in by Wiley (who over the years, has been seen as the controlling element within the clique). It was this decision that really pushed the crew to the forefront of the grime scene.

Whilst honing their mic skills on pirate radio and performing at garage events such Sidewinder, Roll Deep quickly built up a strong following due to the individual elements that each member brought to the table. Like with any other musical collective, your end product is built on the input and quality of it's members - Roll Deep had this in abundance.

Having seen or listened to any of their shows/sets, it was clear to see that each member was strong enough to stand as an individual artist and still be a success. You only have to see where this took Dizzee Rascal (arguably, it could be seen as he outgrown/outshone the group) but there was plenty to come from where Raskit emerged.

Due to their ever growing popularity, the scene clamoured for hard copies of their radio sets in which they duly released the Creeper mixtape series. To this day, many still believe this to be their best work due to the raw, untamed nature of the beats and lyrics.

By this time, as you would expect, record label A & R's were sniffing around sensing the chance of a bit of easy money. This is where they secured their first major record deal with Relentless Records and subsequently released their much acclaimed (and maligned) debut album In At The Deep End. By this time, Dizzee Rascal had long left the group and had spawned a classic with Boy In The Corner.

In At The Deep End

Many praised the group for branching out to a more commercial audience but were also criticised for the use of 80's pop samples and cheesy hooks but, to their credit, still kept their integrity with the content of the lyrics. In my opinion, this was, and still is, their best work to date due to the diversity throughout.

In At The Deep End went on to spawn two singles which charted - The Avenue (11) and Shake A Leg (24). In between projects they also released an anti gun crime single Badman which was then included on their next 'album' Rules & Regulations.  The group were also nominated for a MOBO award in 2005.

The album deal with Relentless then came to a mutual end which posed a difficult question of direction; do they continue with their chart friendly rap or focus on making a potential classic to match their former crew member? Luckily, they chose the latter and the self funded Rules & Regulations was announced as the notoriously difficult second album and later released on 

26 March 2007.   

Rules and Regulations

With a new mixtape, new voices were heard.  North London mc Skepta officially joined the group and collaborations with fellow mc's Jammer, Frisco & Tempa T followed.  Without wanting to be seen as standing still, these additions kept the sound fresh and the listener interested.  

It was in between projects that is was discovered that firm favourite Trim had left the crew with 'artistic differences' being the reason cited .  This then led to a further recruitment drive being held and emerging mc Little D joined along with the semi legendary mc, J2K.  

Based on the successes on thier previous albums/mixtapes, the group were then able to create their own label Roll Deep Recordings providing them with self sufficiency and more importantly, full artistic license.   With this in mind, they then moved on to their second album ( Rules and Regulations was generally viewed as a second mixtape) Return Of The Big Money Sound released 13 October 2008 .  With their label setup, they looked to experiment and introduce other styles into their music ( look up 'Moving In Circles feat. Kivanc) such as Ska, bassline house and the use of acoustic instruments.  

Return Of The Big Money Sound

In summary, over the past seven years, Roll Deep have been (and remain to be) one of the most influential and important parts of the grime scene to date.  If history is to go by, there's still much more to come from the east london collective which promises the continuation of impression, inspiration and motivation.