Manchester Grime: The original influencers?

If there’s one thing we do right in this region, it’s music.

Across all 10 boroughs we’ve birthed, housed and manufactured musicians who have impacted their genres across the globe. From Charles Halle creating his first Orchestra in Manchester in the 19th century, to Moston native Aitch, selling out arenas across the globe.

Greater Manchester has always had a knack for creating music that reaches everyone.

Music, in all its forms and processes, always has, and always will have a home in this region. We’ve had recording studios, record labels, concert halls and indie venues on hand to give those creative minds and voices the stage/soundwaves they deserved.

Night and Day Cafe, NQ, Manchester

Piccadilly Radio logo

Factory Records creators outside the original Factory

I’ve always been a music lover, for as long as I can remember, thankfully my mum and Nana were too. Both of them grew up in Manchester, as their respective music scenes boomed around them. I remember growing up, the radio was always on, or my Nana’s old vinyl collection. Both of these women, proud of where they were from, were always keen to educate me on the music that shaped them, and how they bore witness to so many musical milestones in their area. 

From a young age I’ve held an invested interest in music, particularly music created around me. I grew up in South Manchester, born at the time of Oasis’ spectacular rise to fame, but those singles weren't the only sounds I heard in our little 3 bed house in Withington. My mum grew up in the rave era, the rise of Acid House and the gradual decline of Factory Records, my Nana, she was a 60s girl, from The Hollies to Northern Soul, we heard it all, so my music tastes were quickly moulded by a mix of everything. 

Despite my Mum and Nana having a profound impact on my music tastes, the environment outside the home played a vital role in shaping not just the contents of my MP3 player, or my Myspace page, but they helped shape me as a person, made me realise that music wasn't just something that had people dancing in their kitchens, music really could imitate life and help me understand those around me, empathise with their life and their struggles, it shone a light on the inequalities my friends and I faced, discrimination based not just on race and culture, but on addresses and postcodes.

Down memory lane is like a winding road. - Bugzy Malone

Let me take you on a journey, before the days of Aitch, Meekz and Bugzy Malone, back to the early-mid 2000’s, to the days of Shifty, Slayer and Blizzard, Mayhem, as they were collectively known. For some of us, those names alone encompass our childhood, our teenage years, the days of Channel U and exchanging music on tiny phones held close together across playgrounds and park meetups because the ‘Infra-red’ had to be touching! 

Their tracks, produced in bedrooms, youth clubs and small recording booths set up amongst friends, provided a soundtrack to a generation. Kids from inner city areas and council estates across Greater Manchester who finally had music that depicted our day to day lives, things we saw, things we experienced, tracks that described in detail people we knew.

Manchester’s Grime Scene had entered the chat, many had come before them, but they hadn’t quite had the same level of impact as these young men did. They paved the way for those we recognise today as providing a voice for the lost, unrepresented kids, teenagers and young adults of every borough.

Without these guys paving the way, I’d doubt we’d have people like Bugzy Malone, Meeks and Aitch but you'd have to ask them! 

Hailing primarily from South Manchester, the artists involved in this scene didn’t just make music, they actively engaged with their communities, visiting schools, youth clubs and community centres, encouraging interaction and involvement with music and creative arts, attempting to divert negative energies and activities into positives. Providing kids, mainly young men, isolated by the education system, an outlet for their frustrations and allowing them to understand aspects of school in a language they understood, rap and rhyme.

I remember myself, being at school and these guys being brought in to speak to us as a year group, they gave us a performance and left us with newly achievable thoughts about careers in media and creative arts.

They weren’t just kids from the same areas as us, they were the original influencers for kids like me.

Blizzard, Shifty and Slayer

Mayhem

The real sound of the city - Unity Radio

Whilst Mayhem were out in the schools and communities actively engaging with the youth through music and conversation, a new radio station started broadcasting across FM radios after many years on pirated airwaves and eventually, in 2010, Unity Radio 92.8FM was born.

Unity FM, like the artists they provided a platform for, were out in the communities, engaging with residents, breaking racial, religious and cultural barriers, providing young people the opportunity to play an active role in the music they enjoyed.

Still to this day, now based at Salford's Media City, Unity FM has what’s called the ‘New Talent Academy’ which actively helps and supports young people aged 15-18 in getting their feet in the industry doors.

If you’re local to Manchester and Salford, Unity Radio may not be a new thing for you, but it’s been providing a platform to many artists, young and old, particularly those who feel they may be, or previously have been, overlooked by the mainstream media. Communities, of all races, religions and cultures, were finally provided with not only a stage to perform on, but an up close and personal look at the processes behind the sounds. The first of its kind in the region.

New Talent Academy Logo

Unity Radio logo

Unity and Mayhem didn’t just inspire those who had the ability to deliver 16 bars of greatness, but it helped inspire a generation of Music producers, providing beats to both emerging talent and established artists. Blizzard and Pezmo are just two who come to my mind. Hint: The producers is usually the first to be "Shouted Out" at the start of a track.

As we always say with this channel, Greater Manchester is more than what’s reported by other more mainstream platforms, things get missed because they're deemed "too niche". Things have been happening, mainly unreported, in this region for decades, centuries even, that impact the entire nation and in my opinion, these guys fit that description perfectly!

Let us know if you agree, or who, in your borough, do you feel has made an impact as big not just in the music scene, but your community too.