JME (rapper)

JME, Skepta & Wiley

Jamie Adenuga (born 4 May 1985 in Hackney, London), better known by his stage name JME, is an English grime artist^[1] with African roots from Nigeria. He is the co-founder of the crew and label Boy Better Know.^[2] Adenuga was previously 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. 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 headline 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. He is active on Twitter, however, he is well known for not following anybody on the social networking site.

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 St. Paul's School and then Winchmore School in Winchmore Hill, Enfield along with his brother Skepta. Adenuga subsequently graduated from University of Greenwich receiving First Class Honours in 3D Digital Design.^[8]

Career

He started out producing on mobile phone ringtones, 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 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 with another, "Sidetracked", which featured Wiley followed by "CD is Dead", that featured Tempa T. These three singles are featured on the album, Blam!, which was released on 4 October 2009.

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. In January 2012, JME released a single titled "96 F**Kries", which entered the chart at number 41, ten sales behind achieving his first Top 40 single.

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.^[9] Most notable is an incident where a police officer cites driving "a very nice car whilst not in a very nice area" as the reason for stopping Adenuga.^[10]

He has also set up a mobile company using Pay As You Go called "Boy Better Know Mobile".^[11]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

As featured artist

Mixtapes

• 2006: Boy Better Know - Edition 1: Shh Hut Yuh Muh
• 2006: Boy Better Know - Edition 2: Poomplex
• 2006: Boy Better Know - Edition 3: Derkhead
• 2006: Boy Better Know - Edition 4: Tropical (Instrumental mixtape)
• 2011: Boy Better Know - Tropical 2 (Instrumental mixtape)

Vinyl

• JME - Badderman EP
• JME - Calm Down
• JME - Don't Chat
• JME - The JME EP - Rice and Peas
• JME - Joel Shut Your Mouth
• JME - Meridian Walk
• JME - Serious/Calm Down EP
• JME - Serious Serious EP
• JME - Waste Man EP
• JME/Grime Reaper - Safe and Sound EP
• JME/Skepta - Adamantium EP
• JME/Trigz - Berr Quick EP
• JME/Trigz - The Nu EP

References

1. ↑ Spicer, Kate (21 February 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 (15 March 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 (21 November 2008). "Grime's coming of age", The Independent, p. 20.
5. ↑ Boy Better Know freestyle, with Tim Westwood — YouTube.
6. ↑ Adabra, Michelle (25 August 2005). "Boy Better Know Now", New Nation (602): 15.
7. ↑ Rajan, Amol (24 September 2007). "Should grime clean up its act?", The Independent, p. 14.
8. ↑ JME, (30 January 2012), Twitter
9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHUJ_UJrWgc
10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo8n9IpwMCI
11. ↑ (23 November 2011.) "Boy Better Know have moved into telecommunications, launching a mobile network and SIM card." The Wire
12. ↑ http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/96-f-kries-single/id493904747?ign-mpt=uo%3D2

External links

• JME on Myspace
• JME's channel on YouTube
• JME on Twitter