Jme

With his razor-sharp pen game and delivery, Jme has sustained a vibrant career through multiple eras of UK grime. It’s how he was able to score a Drake co-sign and a massive hit in 2015 with the propulsive “Man Don’t Care” while also cultivating and modernizing an authentic grime sound. Born Jamie Adenuga in London in 1985, Jme grew up in a Nigerian household with his brother, the rapper Skepta, and learned to make beats using the video game Mario Paint. He founded the grime label Boy Better Know (BBK) in 2004 and produced on the label’s records while developing his rap voice. By the late 2000s, he’d grown more confident as a rapper, releasing his debut album, Famous?, in 2008. It was only in the 2010s, however, that he achieved recognition outside the grime scene. Full of crisp, uncompromising production, his 2015 album Integrity> served as a blueprint for what grime could look like in a new decade. As UK drill became the dominant export of the country’s rap scene, grime continued to flourish and remain fresh thanks to Jme’s inventive spirit.