Rinse FM is a
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
-based
community radio station, licensed for "young people living and/or working within the central, east and south London areas". It plays
garage,
grime,
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
,
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air ...
,
jungle
A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaá ...
,
UK funky and other
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
genres popular in the United Kingdom.
The station was founded in 1994 and operated as a
pirate radio station
Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that Radio broadcasting, broadcasts without a valid license.
In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are receive ...
until it was awarded a broadcast licence in June 2010. Rinse FM has been described as London's biggest pirate radio station.
It provided first exposure to
grime artists
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B.
D ...
and
Wiley and later provided a home for dubstep DJs such as
Skream
Oliver Dene Jones (born 1 June 1986), known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream was an early and influential exponent of the dubstep genre. After producing several singles, he released his first full-leng ...
,
Kode9, and
DJ Oneman.
DJ Geeneus is the station's head.
History
Early years
Founded by DJ Geeneus and
DJ Slimzee, Rinse FM's first broadcast was in September 1994.
For a three-year period in the early days of the station the Rinse studio was hosted in DJ Slimzee's house.
In its early years the station mainly played
jungle
A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaá ...
with a particular focus on
MCs
Music
* Motion City Soundtrack, a pop punk / rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Science and technology
* Matrix cable system, submarine communications cable connecting Indonesia and Singapore
* Megawatt Charging System, electric vehicle cha ...
, a direction which set Rinse apart from competing stations.
At the time the station broadcast from secret, makeshift locations such as kitchens and bedrooms belonging to friends and DJs, constantly moving between these locations to avoid getting shut down by authorities. Its first broadcast was made from Ingram House in
Tower Hamlets, London. This continued to a lesser extent throughout the 16 years during which Rinse was a pirate radio station.
Kool FM was the leading pirate radio station within the jungle scene, and it wasn't until Rinse changed its focus to the emerging
garage scene around 1998–1999 that it gained a substantial following, thanks to the darker sound that it brought from its jungle days.
Into the early 2000s, the station became critical for emergence and development of the genres
grime and
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
.,
and was managed during this time by DJ Uncle Dugs. Rinse broadcast on the frequency of 100.3/100.4FM for the majority of its unlicensed years on air.
Radio 1 DJ
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
recommended the station in 2004, stating that:
:When I'm in London I listen to the pirates as much as I can. There's a station I like called Rinse FM, which is somewhere in the area banded by
.e. between the frequencies ofKiss FM Kiss FM, Kiss Radio or variants may refer to:
Asia-Oceania
* Various Kiss FM-branded stations in the Philippines
** 95.1 Kiss FM, Lucena, Quezon
** 102.3 Kiss FM, Tagbilaran, Bohol
* Kiss92 FM, Singapore
* KISS 969, Sri Lanka
* Kiss Radio Taiwan ...
and
Classic FM.
In April 2005
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
disconnected a Rinse FM radio transmitter
and Dean Fullman, known on air as
DJ Slimzee, received an
ASBO, believed to be the first of its kind, banning him from every rooftop in the borough of
Tower Hamlets.
FM licence
As of August 2007 the station was seeking a legal FM licence.
Rinse FM created a petition which received hundreds of supporters within less than a week, including some from countries other than the UK. At the time, the station's owner DJ Geeneus said: "We don't want to be legal to play stupid adverts and make loads of money from advertising. We want to be legal to say: look at our scene, look at what we're doing. We're a business, we're not criminals. We're supplying something that no one else is supplying, and we're professional."
Rinse FM was awarded a community FM broadcast licence by Ofcom in June 2010 for frequency 106.8 FM.
It commenced broadcasting legally on 7 February 2011. The station is presently managed by Sarah Lockhart.
As part of its community broadcasting remit, Rinse FM is engaged in training young people in broadcasting skills who are considered marginalised, even working with children who are in
Pupil Referral Units. These are units for persistent truants and people with
special educational needs
Special educational needs (SEN), also known as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the United Kingdom refers to the education of children who require different education provision to the mainstream system.
Definition
The definiti ...
.
DJs and presenters
DJs and presenters to have appeared on Rinse include:
* Alexander Nut
* Anti Social (Jay 5ive,
Silkie,
Kromestar)
*
Artwork
A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...
*
Benga
* Ben UFO
*
Boy Better Know
*
Caspa
*
dBridge
*
DJ Chef
DJ Chef, also known as Chefal, is a dubstep DJ from South London. XLR8R has called him "One of U.K. pirate radio’s biggest dubstep DJs". He is an employee of Transition Mastering Studio, which XLR8R called "dubstep’s most renowned acetate-cu ...
*
DJ Distance
Distance (born Greg Sanders) is a British dubstep producer and DJ. He also founded the record label Chestplate, whose sonic direction followed his style, fusing metal influences with dubstep templates.
Distance's involvement in Mary Anne Hobbs ...
*
Fabio &
Grooverider
* DJ Flight
* DJ Geeneus
*
DJ Hatcha
*
DJ Ron
*
DJ Slimzee
*
DJ Spoony
*
DJ Shax
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...
*
DJ Zinc
Benjamin Pettit (born 12 March 1972), better known as DJ Zinc, is a British DJ and record producer. Zinc first became known for 1995's "Super Sharp Shooter", a hip hop/jungle fusion, notably one of the pioneering jump-up anthems of its time. ...
*
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B.
D ...
*
Elijah And Skilliam (Butterz)
* Funk Butcher
* Hessle Audio
* Icicle
* Jyoty
* Josey Rebelle
* Kismet
*
Kode9
*
Loefah
*
Logan Sama
* Marcus Nasty
* Mark Radford
*
Newham Generals
* N Type
* Norwood Soul Patrol
*
Oneman
* Paleface
* Pangaea
*
Pay As U Go
*
Pearson Sound
David Kennedy (born 1988), professionally known as Pearson Sound, is an electronic dance music producer and DJ based in London. His style is a combination of house, dubstep, UK funky, UK garage and oldschool jungle.
Career
Early in his career Ke ...
*
Plastician
Chris Reed (born 30 October 1982), also known as Plastician (formerly Plasticman), is an electronic musician from Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon.
History
Plastician, real name Chris Reed is a DJ from Croydon in South London ...
*
P Money
* Roska
*
Royal-T
*
Scratcha DVA
Scratcha DVA also known as DJ Scratcha, DVA i; Emotions'', Scratchclart and DVA is a British electronic musician, producer and DJ often associated with DVA Music, Hyperdub and Rinse FM. His debut album, ''Pretty Ugly'' (2012) and second album, ...
*
Skepta
Chief Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British-Nigerian grime MC, rapper and record producer. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became foundin ...
*
Skream
Oliver Dene Jones (born 1 June 1986), known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream was an early and influential exponent of the dubstep genre. After producing several singles, he released his first full-leng ...
* SK Vibemaker
* Supa D
* Spyro
*
The Clairvoyants
*
Stamina MC
* Uncle Dugs
*
Wiley
* Youngsta
Rinse Recordings
The station first released music under the Rinse Recordings imprint in 2003. Currently, the label releases albums and singles from a roster of signed artists as well as
mix
Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to:
Persons & places
* Mix (surname)
** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star
* nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player
* Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia
* Mix ...
CDs from DJs associated with the station. The label first saw chart success when
Katy B
Kathleen Anne Brien (born 8 May 1989), better known as Katy B, is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut studio album, '' On a Mission'', in 2011, which spawned two top five hits, " Katy on a Mission" and " Lights On". In 2014 ...
released "
Katy on a Mission
"Katy on a Mission" is a song performed by British recording artist Katy B. It was released by Rinse accompanied by a B-side titled "Louder" as her debut single and lead single from her debut album, '' On a Mission'', on 22 August 2010. The son ...
" on the label in 2010.
Currently signed acts include
P Money, Katy B,
Novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...
, Roska and
Royal-T. DJs who have released mix albums for Rinse Recordings include
Skream
Oliver Dene Jones (born 1 June 1986), known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream was an early and influential exponent of the dubstep genre. After producing several singles, he released his first full-leng ...
,
Skepta
Chief Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British-Nigerian grime MC, rapper and record producer. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became foundin ...
,
Kode9 and
Elijah and Skilliam. With the release of the 23rd mix CD (mixed by Richy Ahmed), Rinse has stated that it broadens the concept to include non-residents of the station. The label went on to release Katy B's chart-topping album ''
Little Red'' and
Route 94's chart-topping single "
My Love" in 2014.
Discography
Mix/compilation albums
* Rinse 01 - Geeneus (2007)
* Rinse 02 -
Skream
Oliver Dene Jones (born 1 June 1986), known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream was an early and influential exponent of the dubstep genre. After producing several singles, he released his first full-leng ...
(2007)
* Rinse 03 - Supa D (2008)
* Rinse 04 -
Skepta
Chief Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British-Nigerian grime MC, rapper and record producer. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became foundin ...
(2008)
* Rinse 05 - Paleface (2008)
* Rinse 06 -
Plastician
Chris Reed (born 30 October 1982), also known as Plastician (formerly Plasticman), is an electronic musician from Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon.
History
Plastician, real name Chris Reed is a DJ from Croydon in South London ...
(2008)
* Rinse 07 - Spyro (2009)
* Rinse 08 - Alexander Nut (2009)
* Rinse 09 - N Type (2009)
* Rinse 10 - Marcus Nasty (2009)
* Rinse 11 -
Oneman (2010)
* Rinse 12 - Kismet (2010)
* Rinse 13 - ''no release''
* Rinse 14 - Youngsta (2011)
* Rinse 15 - Roska (2011)
* Rinse 16 - Ben UFO (2011)
* Rinse 17 -
Elijah And Skilliam (2011)
* Rinse 18 - Mark Radford (2012)
* Rinse 19 - Icicle (2012)
* Rinse 20 - Uncle Dugs (2012)
* Rinse 21 - T.Williams (2012)
* Rinse 22 -
Kode9 (2013)
* Rinse 23 - Richy Ahmed (2013)
* Various - "Dubstep Drama - OST" (2007)
* Various - "I Love Dubstep" (2008)
* Various - "I Love Funky" (2010)
* Various - "I Love Grime" (2012)
Artists singles/albums
* Geeneus - "Volumes 1" (2008)
* Roska - "Roska" (2010) / "Roska 2" (2012)
*
Katy B
Kathleen Anne Brien (born 8 May 1989), better known as Katy B, is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut studio album, '' On a Mission'', in 2011, which spawned two top five hits, " Katy on a Mission" and " Lights On". In 2014 ...
- "On A Mission" / "Lights On" (2010)
*
Royal-T - "Presents Royal-T" (2012)
* Faze Miyake - Faze Miyake (2015)
Internet radio
Rinse began streaming its shows online in 2006. All shows are available both on the website and
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
.
Rinse has maintained a station on
Dash Radio since 2016.
Rinse France
In February 2014, Rinse launched Rinse France based in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
.
Legacy
The station has been described as London's biggest pirate radio station
and "without doubt the world's leading grime station."
Writing for ''
FACT'' magazine in 2007, Simon Hampson stated: "Without Rinse, Grime and Dubstep would be very different: indeed, it’s fair to say that they might not even exist at all."
Rinse celebrated its 20th birthday in 2014.
References
External links
*
Rinse FranceRinseat
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rinse Fm
Dance radio stations
Former pirate radio stations
Radio stations in London
Radio stations established in 1994
Community radio stations in the United Kingdom
Pirate radio stations in the United Kingdom
Grime music
UK garage