Grime’s ascension at the turn of a millennium was nothing new as it relates to British storytelling and cultural expression. Forbearers to this sound such as UKG and Jungle provided potent examples of the creativity that surged across the nation, and the diversity that would come from minorities and their lived experiences. Birthed by the spontaneity of founding figures including Wiley, Flowdan and Dizzee Rascal, the genre has come to mark 2000s musical expression in and around London and the UK at large. Unpolished, competitive, merciless, matter of fact, and comical, the genre is home to a no-filter approach to the mic.
Sized between roughly 140 BPM foundation, MC’s are and have always been ruthless, helping to make the genre at large as notoriously loved as it is 20 years later. Documented across its time by iconic visual series like Risky Roadz and Lord of the Mics, the freestyle nature of Grime ran alongside commercial album and mixtape drops, formative releases like Kano's Home Sweet Home running parallel to Risky Roadz’s Presents The Movement Documentary Vol. 1. Fans had multiple entry points to immerse themselves within the emerging sound, its mainstream years being canvassed for all to follow incrementally.
Similar to Grime, The North Face has provided not only comfort, their signature puffer jackets leading the way, but cultural meaning to the nation for generations, growing in popularity from the 1980s across retailers pairing function with aesthetic in tandem. “Talking about the Grime aesthetic from a fashion sense… it was very much functional, comfortable as opposed to style, then style happened to come later,” says prolific music writer Jesse Bernard. His upcoming debut book Escaping Babylon: An Intimate History of Black British Music will explore the canon of Black British music over time. Across the pond prolific US rappers of the ‘90s, including Redman, Method Man, and Big L, would help to formalise the brand in and around rap, paving the way for its success overseas as they did so.
Authentically featured across Risky Roadz visuals in the UK, The North Face was a quiet affiliate during Grime’s rapid growth, particularly across the ‘10s. It would also feature as an aesthetic on successive platforms and series like The Low Down, rising rappers at the time like Seapa Don sporting the coveted puffers. It’s this fusion that spawns The North Face’s #TheColdestDub, an off the cuff callout searching for the next great producer to build a dub for grime godfather D Double E (more on this later).
Not only has The North Face been on road, but it's become an easy reference for new age Grime MC’s across formal songs, and coveted freestyles, heightening its currency. Chip (formerly known as Chipmunk), would go on to mention The North Face, proudly proclaiming to be a “North Face wearer” atop his infamous 2016 “Can’t Run Out Of Bars” release. Successive Grime scene rappers like AJ Tracey would go on to not only sport the brand across numerous freestyles like Packages and MTP’s 1Xtra debut, but mention The North Face also across “Swerve N Skid” across Grimes second wave. By the mid ‘10s, The North Face was codified apparel, approved amongst a generation of Grime lovers. “I remember buying my first The North Face jacket in 2015,” Jesse says. “You think of Grime when you think of The North Face now. It was an aspirational form of clothing.”
The new face of Grime features The North Face at the centre of its universe. The brand has even gone on to support new-age Grime rappers like KAM-BU, making him the headline face of their NSE collaboration in 2023. Contemporary lyricists such as Capo Lee now sport the brand like generations before, even showcasing jackets outside of the infamous puffer. Contemporary, intergenerational Grime projects like 2021’s JME, Capo Lee, Frisco, and Shorty-led The Norf Face, even use the brand as a play on words, in this case toying with their North London roots, emphasising the regionality and legacy in and around Grime.
Featured image shot by Keri-Luke Campbell©
More on Culted
See: Why Wales Bonner’s Hermès appointment is so important
See: How did this strip mall sushi restaurantbecome the place to be seen?
