Simon Wheatley - Don't Call Me Urban!

Publisher: McNidder & Grace
Year: 2011
Format: Hardcover
Edition: 1st Edition
Condition: New / Sealed
Pages: 209
Size: 24.8 x 24.8 cm

This book is a photographic record compiled over the course of 12 years, focusing on inner-city London youth at a critical time and taking as its prism the genre Grime, the most important and controversial musical expression in the UK since punk.

Grime was essentially a uniquely British and authentic response to hip-hop, an angry, confrontational music that conveyed the hopes and frustrations of an apolitical generation trapped in decaying housing estates. This book is a visual reflection of what Grime represents, chronicling the conditions that gave birth to the genre. It is a combination of musical portrait, social documentary and architectural photography.

Many black youth reject the urban labels imposed on them by commerce and the media. There's a stark contradiction between the perception of black culture as "cool" and the harsh reality of being born black on a London council estate.

Don't Call Me Urban! showcases the raw environments from which British popular music's rising stars, such as Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder, emerged, showcasing the many hopefuls who remain stranded in the bedroom studios, hidden among the concrete blocks that feature in countless music videos.