JME (rapper)

JME
Birth name Jamie Adenuga
Also known as JME
Born 4 May 1985 (1985-05-04) (age 26)
Hackney, United Kingdom
Origin Nigeria
Genres Grime
Occupations MC / Producer / DJ / Record label owner
Instruments Vocals
Labels Boy Better Know
Associated acts Boy Better Know, Roll Deep, Skepta, Wiley, Frisco, Tempa T, Jammer, N-Dubz, Tinchy Stryder, Dizzee Rascal, Chipmunk, Kano, Giggs, Plastician, Skream, President T, Big H, Paper Pablo, Bossman Birdie, Dan, Jammer, DJ Maximum, Trigz, Lethal Bizzle

Jamie Adenuga (born 4 May 1985), better known by his stage name JME, is a grime artist[1] from Tottenham, North London. He grew up living in Meridian Walk (N17) but after an incident, his family moved to Enfield. He is the co-founder of the crew and label Boy Better Know.[2] Adenuga was previously a part of the grime crew Meridian along with his brother, Joseph Adenuga (also known as Skepta.) As well as working with Boy Better Know, Adenuga now focuses mainly on his own solo ambitions. Unknown to many, the phrase "Boy Better Know" originated as a catchphrase from fellow Meridian Crew member and the founder of the label, Big H. JME has appeared on many grime DVDs including Practice Hours[3] where Bossman, Big H and JME did a freestyle over the beat to his hit single 'Serious.'

In October 2008 he became one of a small number of unsigned artists to have headlined at the London Astoria.[4] As his fanbase has grown JME has been known to travel all over Europe and more recently New York with Tim Westwood to perform his hit songs.[5]

JME is known for rejecting the stereotypes that many Grime MCs embrace (such as violence, drugs and sex,) and often reflects this in his lyrics.

Contents

Early life

Jamie Adenuga was born in Hackney, into a family who are originally from Nigeria.[6] He grew up in Tottenham, North London where he lived in a council house.[7] He attended Winchmore School in Winchmore Hill, Enfield along with his brother Skepta where he achieved extremely good grades.

Career

He started out producing on mobile phone ring tones, then moving on to Mario Paint, Game Boy Camera, Fruity Loops and now more professional software such as Pro Tools and Logic Studio. Adenuga also co-owns with Uptown Records his own T-shirt chain, bearing the labels of himself, his record label Boy Better Know, and his dormant nightclub Straight Outta Bethnal. He has released his debut album Famous? and an album through a major label with the whole of Boy Better Know.

JME released a single "Over Me" in September 2009. He followed this single up with another single, "Sidetracked", which featured Wiley and then another, "CD is Dead", that featured Tempa T. These three singles are featured on the album, Blam!, which was released on 4 October with the track "Famalam" and many more.

Although JME has enjoyed underground success and built a large fanbase, his refusal to turn mainstream has resulted in a failure to break into the upper levels of the UK singles chart.

Personal Life

Adenuga is reported to have been subjected to several incidents of discrimination and prejudice by the Metropolitan Police Service after videos emerged on his YouTube channel claiming to show incidents of him being pulled over while driving for no apparent reason.[8] Most notable is an incident where a police officer cites driving "a very nice car in not such a nice area" as the reason for stopping Adenuga.[9]

He has also set up a mobile company using Pay As You Go called 'Boy Better Know.'

T-shirts

As Adenuga's label became more and more successful, they released T-shirts with "Boy Better Know" on the front, although different designs of "Boy Better Know" attire were seen as early as the Practice Hours DVD. Widely popular with his fans, fakes immediately started appearing on EBay. JME is in plans to release the Boy Better Know T-shirts in stores nationwide.

Discography

Albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Sales
UK
2008 Famous? —
  • UK: 10,000+
2010 Blam! 66
  • UK: 20,000+
2011 History: 162

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK IRE
"Over Me" 2010 — — Blam!
"Sidetracked"
(featuring Wiley)		 123 —
"CD is Dead"
(featuring Tempa T)		 — —
"JME" 2011 — —

Mixtapes

Vinyl

References

  1. ^ Spicer, Kate (February 21, 2010). "The sound of the underground: Grime music has been growing steadily for years. And now it's got fashion, TV, and even Ed Balls in its grip. Kate Spicer meets the makers of a scene that's straight from the street", The Sunday Times, p. 14.
  2. ^ Koch, Christian (March 15, 2010). "Nice threads: American rapper Pharrell's Pounds 250 hoodies are top sellers at Harvey Nicks and London's homegrown rap artists are launching their own ranges amid massive demand, reports Christian Koch: 'We're in a unique position, we've got a cult following'", Evening Standard, p. 31.
  3. ^ JME, Bossman and Big H "Practise Hours" freestyle — Hype Radio.
  4. ^ Verma, Rahul (November 21, 2008). "Grime's coming of age", The Independent, p. 20.
  5. ^ Boy Better Know freestyle, with Tim Westwood — YouTube.
  6. ^ Adabra, Michelle (August 25, 2005). "Boy Better Know Now", New Nation (602): 15.
  7. ^ Rajan, Amol (September 24, 2007). "Should grime clean up its act?", The Independent, p. 14.
  8. ^ "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHUJ_UJrWgc"
  9. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo8n9IpwMCI"

External links