It’s a Friday night in 2016, and you just wanna get lit. You message your peeps in that immature WhatsApp group, and ask: “What’s the motive, gang?” Someone might send a flyer or just say the venue name, and that is the night. We’d link up for pre-drinks at someone’s yard—YouTube music videos on repeat in the background, on the TV—and we’d leave out absolutely steaming.

During this period, for a lot of young people in London, Shoreditch and Dalston reigned supreme: Ace Hotel, Visions, Birthdays, and random bars open until stupid-o’-clock kept the night alive. But as the years went by, gentrification, licensing and policing all imposed on the power of the night. Add Covid and a cost-of-living crisis to the mix and young people today don’t have the same luxury of being spontaneous and having a great night. Each generation has had spaces where their culture thrived, or where they bred new grounds for something exciting. It’s nearing 2026, and I no longer have that capacity to be spontaneous, but on December 12, at Wingstop UK’s music event, Flavours—even as a press attendee, I was enamoured with how great and reminiscent this night was. Hosting Flavours at a venue like Village Underground, which prides itself on being a space segueing underground acts and parties from smaller venues to big shows, tells you how necessary a space like this truly is.

Costing just £1 to get in, Flavours is an affordable, accessible event, serving a set amount of free drinks per partygoer, providing free first-come-first-served food from Wingstop, and offering cash prize incentives throughout the night. From grime icons to new starlets of its ever-changing scene, to DJs representing everything from UK rap and drill to dancehall and Afroswing, it was a cross-generational celebration of Black British music, special for many reasons.

Darkoo performed a few of her hit songs, bridging dancehall and Afrobeats, before swinging back to UK-made sounds. DJ Kenny Allstar reeled off banger after banger in honour of UK rap and drill, summoning Liverpool’s Kaast 8 and South London’s Pozer, as well as the legendary Sneakbo to perform. Kenny even played Nines’ “CR”, and I was one of the several people in the room singing it word for word. It was fascinating seeing grime dons D Double E, Frisco and a resurgent Scorcher spray on the mic to then welcome young talents paving their own way in grime, with Duppy, Kibo, JayaHadADream and Pozzy all shelling it down.

You could see young people of all ages and stages of their nightlife experience; you could also see the slightly older attendees plotted around the venue, probably thankful they didn’t have to spend £19.50 on a double rum and coke. The intergenerational aspect of the night was empowering, seeing different generations come together to present something for the community shows a depth in the culture and bodes well for the future. It was a beautiful sight, witnessing how the scene has evolved in many ways to uphold parts of the community and culture. The talent on show and the music they championed stemmed from over four decades of Black British community and culture. When you consider the fact that grime, UK rap and drill were all routinely denied spaces to thrive and exist, it’s important to celebrate the spaces and events that uphold them.

“The best nights are the ones where the music makes you feel something you can’t quite explain,” says Dirujan Sabesan, Wingstop UK’s CMO. “I’ve lived enough of those to know that when a brand steps into that space, it has a responsibility: to add to the experience, not distract from it.”