Boy Better Know, often abbreviated as BBK, is a British grime collective and record label. The collective was founded in North London in 2005 as an independent record label by brothers Jamie and Joseph Adenuga, better known as Jme and Skepta, respectively. The former also serves as a sole owner and director of an associated company, Boy Better Know Limited, incorporated in 2008.[1] All members of the collective use the record label as a means to publish their music, and is digitally distributed by The Orchard, a subsidiary of Sony Music.
Boy Better Know | |
|---|---|
 Boy Better Know logo | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | BBK |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Grime |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Boy Better Know |
| Members | |
| Past members |
|
| Website | boybetterknow |
History
editIn the early 2000s, Meridian Crew, consisting of MCs President T, Skepta, Jme, Big H, Bossman Birdie, Meridian Dan and Paper Pabs regularly appeared on pirate radio stations, including Heat FM and later on Déjà Vu FM.[2] In 2005, Meridian Crew dissolved after affiliates of the crew were convicted on attempted murder charges.[3] After this event, Jme founded Boy Better Know alongside his brother Skepta while other Meridian members reformed as Meridian Bloodline, known later simply as Bloodline.[4][5]
In its early period, "Boy Better Know" was well known for its line of eponymous T-shirts. The crew also had a regular show on Rinse FM with DJ Maximum.[6] Jme's debut album, Famous?, was released on the label in 2008.[7] "Too Many Man", the first single from the album, was released on 25 May 2009.[8] The song is also featured on the Wiley and Skepta albums, Race Against Time and Microphone Champion, respectively. The song was written because of Skepta's annoyance over 'the lack of women in clubs'. It entered the UK Singles Chart on 6 June 2009 at number 97, reaching number 79 the next week.[9] The second single from the album V.I.P, titled "Goin' In", was released for download on iTunes on 13 December 2009.
Jme's second studio album, Blam!, was released on 4 October 2010. Three singles from this album were released; "Over Me", "Sidetracked", which features Wiley, and "CD is Dead" featuring UK grime artist Tempa T.
In 2008, Boy Better Know pioneered a short-lived dance fad called the "Rolex Sweep" which accompanied the song of the same name by Skepta.[10][11]
In November 2011, Boy Better Know Mobile was established, a 3G network which leases network bandwidth from Hutchison 3G.[12] This venture was ended in mid-2013.
In October 2018, Wiley began a feud with Skepta and Dizzee Rascal over Skepta working with Dizzee on the track 'Money Right'.[13][14] On 19 November Wiley released the track 'Flip the Table', where he refers to Dizzee as the 'Grime scene quitter'.[15]
Notable Members & Previous Members
editMusicians
- Jme (2005–present)
- Skepta (2005–present)
- Jammer (2005–present)
- Frisco (2005–present)
- Shorty (2006–present)
- Solo 45 (2005–2017) (Jailed for multiple counts of sexual assault)
- Wiley (2005–2018) (Feuding between BBK founder Skepta and Dizzee Rascal as well as other grime artists led to Wiley leaving the group and label[16])
DJs & Producers
- DJ Maximum
Potential Members & Previous Members
editMusicians
- Tinchy Stryder
- C Gritz
DJs & Producers
- Preditah
- DJ Name
- Bassboy
- Rizzla
Discography
editAlbums, Mixtapes & EPs
edit- JME - The JME EP (2005)
- JME - Serious (2005)
- JME - Check It
- JME - Don't Chat (2005)
- JME & Triggz - Serious (2005)
- JME - Boy Better Know (2006)
- Tinchy Stryder - I'm Back U Know (2006)
- Skepta - Duppy (2006)
- JME - Boy Better Know: Edition 1 (2006)
- JME - Boy Better Know: Edition 2 (2006)
- JME - Boy Better Know: Edition 3 (2006)
- JME - Boy Better Know: Edition 4 - Tropical (2006)
- Wiley – Da 2nd Phaze (2006)
- Wiley - Tunnel Vision, Volume 1 (2006)
- Wiley - Tunnel Vision, Volume 2 (2006)
- Wiley - Tunnel Vision, Volume 3 (2006)
- Tinchy Stryder - Lost And Found (2006)
- JME - Merry Christmas (2006)
- Wiley - Tunnel Vision, Volume 4 (2006)
- JME - Badderman EP (2006)
- JME - Tropical (2006)
- Frisco – Back 2 Da Lab, Vol 1 (2006)
- Skepta - Stupid EP (2006)
- JME - Waisman EP (2006)
- Wiley - Tunnel Vision, Volume 5 (2007)
- Frisco – Back 2 Da Lab, Vol 2 (2007)
- Skepta – Greatest Hits (2007)
- JME – Famous? (2008)
- Frisco – Back 2 Da Lab, Vol 3 (2009)
- Skepta – Microphone Champion (2009)
- Frisco - Eyes on You / Girls (2009)
- Skepta - Been There Done That (2010)
- Skepta - Bad Boy (2010)
- Skepta - Rescue Me (2010)
- JME – Blam! (2010)
- Frisco – Fully Grown (2010)
- JME - CD Is Dead (2010)
- JME – History: (2011)
- Frisco - Ghost Train (2011)
- Shorty – Short Notice (2011)
- Skepta - Community Payback (2011)
- Frisco – Back 2 Da Lab Compilation (2011)
- JME - Boy Better Know: Tropical 2 (2011)
- Frisco – Back 2 Da Lab Vol. 4 (2012)
- Skepta – Blacklisted (2012)
- Jammer – Living the Dream (2013)
- Frisco – British Nights (2014)
- JME – Integrity (2015)
- Frisco – System Killer (2016)
- Skepta – Konnichiwa (2016)
- Skepta - Live From London (2016)
- Shorty – Moesh Music (2016)
- Wiley – Godfather (2017)^
- Frisco – Serrvice (2017)
- Frisco – Back 2 Da Lab Vol. 5 (2018)
- Wiley – Godfather II (2018)^
- Skepta – Ignorance is Bliss (2019)
- JME – Grime MC (2019)
- Frisco – The Familiar Stranger (2020)
- JME, Shorty, Frisco, Capo Lee – Norf Face (2021)
- Skepta – All In (2021)
- Frisco - Tottenham (2022)
^ = Released on CTA Records; not released via Boy Better Know Records
Singles
edit| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| 2009 | "Too Many Man" | 79 | V.I.P |
| 2010 | "Goin' In" | — | |
| 2018 | "Athlete" (featuring Goldie1) |
— | Non-album single |
References
edit- ^ "BOY BETTER KNOW LTD people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ "I am nothing but a grime MC": Introducing Meridian Dan (14 April 2014). ""I am nothing but a grime MC": Introducing Meridian Dan". fabric blog. Fabriclondon.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^ "BBC NEWS – UK – Gunman who gloated in rap jailed". 25 February 2005. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ "Niet compatibele browser". Facebook. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ Adabra, Michelle (25 August 2005). "Boy Better Know Now", New Nation (602): 15.
- ^ "Maximum – Rinse FM". RinseFM. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015.
- ^ "Jme – Famous?". Ukrecordshop.com. 14 July 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ "Bigga Fish Bigga Valentine's Bash @ matter, Tues 16th Feb". altsounds. 23 January 2010. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ "UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive – Boy Better Know – Too Many Man". Official Charts Company. 13 June 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ "Fresh links: do the Rolex sweep!". The Guardian. London. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
- ^ Mistajam (17 June 2008). "MistaJam: Coldplay do the Rolex Sweep". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ "Boy Better Know launch pay as you go mobile network Archived 29 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine", The Wire (magazine).
- ^ "Wiley calls out Skepta for working with Dizzee Rascal: 'Why is everyone such a pr**k?'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
- ^ "Wiley calls Skepta and Dizzee Rascal "paigons" in rant on Instagram Stories". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
- ^ "'The war has officially started' – Wiley takes aim at Dizzee Rascal and Skepta in new track 'Flip The Table'". NME. 19 November 2018. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
- ^ "The Wiley-Dizzee-Skepta beef triangle explained". NME. 3 March 2019.