More Fire Crew is an East London-based

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...

from

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

, whose 2002 single "

Oi! Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was ...

" with Platinum 45 was widely recognised as the first grime song to reach the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at number eight.

Background

While enrolled on a

sound engineering An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

training programme, Ozzie B first met Neeko, who was at the time a member of an existing crew called Mad Dog. Together, the pair established More Fire Crew, its name an homage to the album by Jamaican dancehall deejay

Capleton Clifton George Bailey III (born 13 April 1967),Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 67–69 better known by his stage name Capleton, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall musician. He is also referred to as Kin ...

which had been released shortly beforehand. The duo were soon joined by

Lethal Bizzle Maxwell Owusu Ansah (born 14 September 1984), known by his stage name Lethal Bizzle, is a British rapper from Walthamstow, London, of Ghanaian origin. He emerged in 2002 as a grime MC as part of More Fire Crew, with their grime single "Oi!" ch ...

, with whom they had attended secondary school, and their friend Seani B, who was a DJ on Amy FM. They initially gained recognition as the hosts of a show on Deja Vu FM, one of London's biggest pirate radio stations at the time. The group are best known for their 2002 single "

", which reached number eight on the

, making it the first

song to achieve chart success. In 2002, their debut studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''More Fire Crew CV'', was released, and they contributed a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of Gabrielle's "

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, alth ...

" to the album ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

& Warchild Presents 1 Love''. In the same year they were dropped by their

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, with Lethal setting up his own eponymous record label and going on to a successful

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

career.
In 2004, Bizzle enlisted in Ozzie B and Neeko among others to feature on his eight-bar rally track "

Pow! (Forward) "Pow! (Forward)" is the debut single by English grime artist Lethal Bizzle. The track features guest appearances from a variety of underground grime artists. It was released on 25 October 2004 for digital download via iTunes and then releas ...

", with the group's three members credited as individuals rather than collectively. The song was another chart success for the trio, reaching number eleven in the UK, but was banned from many clubs at the time due to its controversially violent lyrics. It eventually went on to become what music journalist Dan Hancox described in a ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'' article as the "unofficial soundtrack" to the 2011 student protests against a rise in tuition fees under the incumbent coalition government. However, a falling out between Lethal Bizzle and Neeko related to the song's lyrics culminated in the disbandment of the trio shortly after its release. Lethal Bizzle and Ozzie B formed a successor crew known as Fire Camp, alongside MCs such as 2Face, Knowl£dg£ and Clipson. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Ozzie B, Neeko and Seani B reformed the group for a series of 'More Fire Show' sets streamed on Instagram Live alongside special guests including Pay As U Go's Maxwell D and Aftershock's Bruza. Their comeback single under the More Fire banner, a collaboration with Doller and Fumin entitled "Tek", was released on 1 September 2021 via independent label Rosebank.

Members

- MC *Neeko - MC *Ozzie B - MC *Seani B - DJ *Commander B - DJ *Gappy Ryder *Twister

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

Interview from The Situation
{{Authority control Grime music groups English hip hop groups Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2005 Musical groups from London British musical trios Go! Beat artists