'Don't Call Me Urban! The Time of Grime' by Simon Wheatley

In the last few days I've received an impressively weighty large-format book of photography and social commentary by Simon Wheatley - most well-known for his photographic output while he was working  for Magnum Photos. This current volume, 'Don't Call Me Urban The Time Of Grime', focuses on the music artists and emcees who have emerged from London's most challenging environments - the estates of Bow, Peckham, Elephant & Castle and the like.

Compiled over 12 years, the book chronicles the ups and downs of London's rap/grime music culture, from the successes of artists like the Street Life Kings to the tragic deaths of young men like Kodjo Yenga, 'Kizzle', a musician and aspiring student who was stabbed to death in an uprovoked attack in 2007. Wheatley's unique and unprecedented access to part of society that's largely hidden from mainstream view gives rise to a lot of jarring and startling imagery - estates seen through the broken windows of an abandoned flat, altercations on dimly lit walkways captured mid-flow and candid portraits of artists and DJs in poses of defiance, anger and hope. Scattered throughout the book you'll also find extracts from Wheatley's diary describing the people he photographs and documenting his growing understanding of this particular segment of British culture and its vocabulary, as well as song lyrics which have been set in place with a reverence usually reserved for high-brow poetry. It's a remarkable piece of work - even with my rather entrenched views of this music scene I was fascinated from front to back, although I have to admit that the engaging portrait of Crazy Titch and his beautiful bulldog on the front cover did draw me in initially!

No doubt you'll find it in the music section of the usual bookstores over the coming weeks, but you can also obtain a copy online from Amazon here.