Lethal Bizzle
Maxwell Owusu Ansah broke through as an MC in More Fire Crew before their 2002 single "Oi!" became one of grime's first top-10 hits, and his 2004 solo single "Pow! (Forward)" — banned by radio over its gun-culture references — turned into a MOBO-winning grime anthem anyway. He's since crossed repeatedly into dance and pop while staying a fixture of UK grime's mainstream breakthroughs.
A 2003 clash series with Wiley reignited Lethal Bizzle's love for the grime scene at a pivotal moment, and the raw, off-kilter eskibeat productions Wiley pioneered on tracks like "Eskimo" are part of the sonic DNA "Pow! (Forward)" rode into the charts a year later.
listen forPlay "Eskimo" against "Pow! (Forward)": both strip a beat down to bare, alien-sounding stabs and dare an MC to fill the space.
So Solid Crew's harder, MC-led turn on UK garage kicked open the door that Lethal Bizzle and the rest of the 2003-04 grime wave walked through, trading garage's sunnier sound for something colder and more confrontational.
listen forCompare "21 Seconds" to "Babylon's Burning the Ghetto": both trade UK dance music's smoother side for tense, MC-driven aggression.
Lethal Bizzle, Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and Kano are routinely cited together as the cohort that dragged grime into the mainstream in 2003-04; Dizzee's Mercury Prize-winning arrival gave the whole scene, Bizzle included, a new level of visibility.
listen forPlay "Fix Up, Look Sharp" next to "Fester Skank": different eras, same restless, hyperactive energy built to fill a dancefloor.