Not a usual read for me but I found this completely enthralling and fascinating! A gritty and honest tale of a key musical movement in modern day society. Highly recommend for anyone interested in music and culture.

Although I found this to be a interesting insight into the history and rise of Grime, I found it to be very heavy going in places.
Hence only the 3 stars.

Inner City Pressure is one of those books you didn’t know you needed in your life. It’s clear that Dan Hancox truly enjoys and understands his subject matter, which makes it a pleasure to read. Discovering the roots of grime is inspirational, and proves that in the face of intentional social segregation, you can still prosper.

I love music, I love most kinds of music and I love nearly all music books. My knowledge of grime is lacking though. I own the first Dizzee Rascal album but beyond that only know a few songs. Dizzee’s lyrics tell a lot of his story but when I started this book I realised how little I actually knew. Dan Hancox goes right back to the start and the origins of grime which began with pirate radio. An enterprising team of music enthusiasts would scale the rooftops of London looking for likely spots to fix their pitches. Unsurprisingly this was a dangerous undertaking with the pirates at risk of arrest for trespassing or even rival stations pulling down your gear. The rewards were worth it though and these stations were avidly followed by fans and rappers alike. Hancox describes how rival mcs would call each other out and then battle live on air. The atmosphere sounds electric if at times chaotic, but you don’t get the magic without the chaos right? Hancox has interviews with all the major players, Dizzee Rascal, Lethal Bizzle, Skepta and many, many more. He obviously knows London inside out and his love for the city comes through in this book, which is as much a story of the last ten years of London life as it is about grime. He eloquently describes how the garage band So Solid Crew were effectively shut down as a touring concern by the police. Yes, there was trouble at some of their shows but there’s often trouble at many rock gigs too and it’s hard to see the heavy handed reaction of the police and councils as having anything less than a racist undertone. Much of the music has gone mainstream now and there’s an interesting section about staying true to the roots of the music while acknowledging that some of the harder elements may need softening for a wider audience. In one of my favourite parts Lethal Bizzle’s track “Pow!” is deemed unplayable by many club djs as it was so energetic there was simply nothing that could follow it! As I mentioned above I only have a rudimentary knowledge of grime and I found this a fascinating and extremely enjoyable book. I imagine if you love grime then you’d love this book too. I’d also mark it as essential reading for anyone interested in inner city London and the recent riots as it offers some real insight and background. A fantastic book on many levels.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

A wonderful book which has give me a new viewpoint on this genre and started me playing it in the house. The relation to the gentrification and development of London is very well done and a great well researched but also lively and entertaining read.

A full review is available on my blog, link below.

https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2018/05/27/book-review-dan-hancox-inner-city-pressure-the-story-of-grime/

An inspiring look into the deep underground world of the Grime genre. From the early MC's in the high rise block to the sell-out concerts, this book had me nodding, smiling and understanding the music scene which I grew up on in all of it's glory! I even recommended it to m older brother who was also part of the early Grime scene!