HERITAGE: Witness The Early Days Of Boy Better Know On This Meridian Crew Set At Sidewinder (2006)

HERITAGE: Witness The Early Days Of Boy Better Know On This Meridian Crew Set At Sidewinder (2006)


January 10, 2020

Back we go once again to the mid-2000s when grime reigned supreme and Boy Better Know was in its infancy. At the time, Skepta and Jme were still in Meridian Crew and Wiley was still (pretty much) in Roll Deep.

That period was a productive and creative time for the grime scene; clashes and rivalries were commonplace and several different takes on grime were all vying for attention and cross-pollenating.

This 2006 Sidewinder set is a prime example of that. Essentially a crossover between Meridian Crew and Boy Better Know, the stage at Swindon's now-closed Brunel Rooms played host to a stacked line-up of titans including Wiley, Skepta, Jme, Big H, Frisco, Bossman Birdie, President T and more, with DJ Maximum on deck.

A lot of the bars you'll hear in this clip have since become the gold standard by which all other MCs are judged, but it's a nice reminder that even as far back as '06, lines like Any funny business / everybody dead and I know man from a different town that'll run for your town have been shutting down raves for nearly two decades.



Photography: Jordan Curtis-Hughes


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