Grime Kids: The Inside Story of the Global Grime Takeover

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Yus Jamal Crooks will be making his TV debut, alongside Shanu Hazzan (EastEnders), Juwon Adedokun (We Love Moses), Gabriel Robinson (Silent Witness), and Tienne Simon ( Silent Witness). Target makes a point of saying he does not use a ghostwriter, and it’s a good call. His prose captures the excitement, joy, and buzz of his experiences in a pure and authentic way. In many respects, the book follows the same beats as the genre it documents. It muddles around in East London, is seduced by garage and jungle music, and then finds its feet exploring the mysteries of a new genre.

Special Presentations | BFI London Film Festival 2023

DJ Target added: “I’m beyond excited for this story to be brought to life on screen. It’s a real testament to how far UK music has come over the years, which is something that needs to be celebrated. Working with Theresa Ikoko and the mighty Mammoth Screen is a real honour, and I can’t wait for everybody to see this.”Speaking about the setting of the series, creator Theresa Ikoko says "It’s a real privilege to showcase the communities of east London in my writing. I've had the pleasure of calling east London home for most of my life. I hope the love I have for this special part of the world shines through in this show." The series is markedly different from the book and traces the lives of five fictional characters, growing up in the early 2000s, desperate to have their voices heard through music. All the biggest names in grime feature in the book, Wiley, Tinchy Stryder, Skepta, and Risky Roadz among them, and plenty more besides. All were there and all mattered. There’s very little ego in Grime Kids. It delights in sharing a life-changing time and is grateful for the opportunity to do so. DJ Target’s Grime Kids sells itself as the definitive inside story of grime. While books like Wiley’s Eskiboy keep it from being the uncontested champ, it will surely be one of the go-to texts for years to come. Anyone with even a passing interest in grime music or East London spirit will be well served by Grime Kids. The 67th BFI London Film Festival, which is scheduled to be presented over twelve days from 4 to 15 October 2023, has announced the full programme line-up.

Grime Kids: Theresa Ikoko has cooked up a slice of teenage joy

Fiona Campbell, Controller, BBC Three says: “It’s a great pleasure to announce the incredibly talented cast of Grime Kids - a fantastic new story rich with life, told through the eyes of teens in the best summer of their lives. I can’t wait for BBC Three viewers to get to know them.” A group of kids in the 90s had a dream to make their voice heard – and this book documents their seminal impact on today’s pop culture. Tom Leggett, Executive Producer, Mammoth Screen says: “We are thrilled to be announcing to the world the amazing cast of Grime Kids, who have brought Theresa’s beautiful scripts to life”.The rise of grime music is a story best told from the inside. That’s the ethos that underpins Grime Kids, a retelling of the genre’s early days by someone who was there from the very beginning – DJ Target. Filming took place in East London and the series is due to air on BBC Three and iPlayer later this year. A love letter to east London, the series is set and filmed in Bow, celebrating the culture, community and creatives that gave birth to a then new genre: grime. What can you expect from the series?

Grime Kids by DJ Target | Hachette UK Grime Kids by DJ Target | Hachette UK

Grime Kids has finished filming and will be available on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer later this year. Finding the perfect people to portray that world was an incredible part of the process, says series writer and executive producer Theresa Ikoko: “The casting process was one of my favourite parts of making this show. The first time seeing all five leads together was such a magical moment; we knew instantly that we had something special with them.” The Rap Game UK mentor DJ Target is one of the show’s executive producers and says the series will allow viewers a glimpse into “how a young person at that time lived, got about and navigated to get to their dream”. Led by a cast of rising young talent, Grime Kids stars Shanu Hazzan (EastEnders, The Gentleman), Juwon Adedokun (We Love Moses, Damilola, Our Loved Boy), Gabriel Robinson (Casualty, Silent Witness), Tienne Simon (Silent Witness) and Yus Jamal Crookes making his debut TV appearance. This year’s Opening Film will be the International Premiere of Saltburn, directed by Emerald Fennell, which will screen simultaneously at selected cinemas across UK. The festival will close with the World Premiere of Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya’s dystopian drama, The Kitchen.

Ultimately, the series is about music, friendship and figuring out what kind of man you want to be when the world still sees you as a kid. A love letter to east London The BBC share: “Grime Kids charts the rise of a fictional group of young adults growing up in the late 90s, dreaming of being able to make their voice heard through grime music. Finally, Kai, the wildcard, learns how to break through his bravado, embracing the honesty and vulnerability needed to form meaningful relationships.

Grime Kids | Royal BBC gives first look at musical drama Grime Kids | Royal

Dane is the ambitious dreamer and leader of the crew. He’s determined to turn his dreams into a reality and finds his first love Genevieve along the way.

Meet the cast of Grime Kids

Series creator Theresa Ikoko says: “The casting process was one of my favourite parts of making this show. The first time seeing all five leads together was such a magical moment; we knew instantly that we had something special with them.” Every feature and series will screen to audiences in the UK for the very first time, with many shown publicly for the first time ever anywhere in the world. Premieres include 29 World Premieres (14 features, 2 series and 13 shorts), 7 International Premieres (6 features and 1 short) and 30 European Premieres (22 features, 1 series and 7 shorts). Each individual has his own defining characteristic, a story to tell and a reason to look for something more than what life can provide. Set in the early 2000s, Grime Kids explores how the environment in which a person grows up affects their choices, actions and the kind of people they surround themselves with. It touches on the different approaches to parenting – from the overly strict to the neglectful to the ones incredibly dependent on their children – and how the absence of parental authority can urge young individuals to look for family elsewhere, whether it be through their friends or the idols they look up to. The writing highlights these different dynamics through toxic friendships, jealousy and familial rifts. An exciting new series debuting at this year’s London Film Festival is Grime Kids by BAFTA-nominated writer and British playwright Theresa Ikoko, based on DJ Target’s book, following a group of teenage boys trying to make a mark in the world through grime. As high school closes for the summer, with GCSEs done and dusted, a group of friends realise the impending end of their childhood years. Prepping for maturity, they aim to live their summer to the fullest having fun, while also securing their future in the music industry. This is the story of Dane, Bishop, Bayo, Junior and Kai. Grime Kids is directed by Abdou Cisse and Ian Aryeh, and produced by Irma Inniss. Executive producers are Theresa Ikoko, DJ Target, Tom Leggett and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, and Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC. The series is distributed internationally by Fifth Season.