An England Story: The Culture of the MC in the UK 1983 - 2008

'An England Story' is a unique album featuring over 25 years of MC culture in the UK from past to present and includes everyone from Roots Manuva to Tippa Irie, Warrior Queen to General Levy, Estelle to Papa Levi.

From Dancehall to Dubstep, Hip-Hop to Jungle, Grime to Garage, the MC has been present through all these UK music fashions: from the ʻfast-chatʼ dancehall style of the 1980s (artists such as Papa Levi, Tippa Irie, Smiley Culture), the history of UK Hip-Hop (London Posse, Roots Manuva, Ty), original Jungle MCs (General Levy, Navigator, Tenor Fly), or the new wave of current Grime and Dubstep artists and producers (Wiley, Stush, Warrior Queen, Riko Dan). 'An England Story' shows how these artists defined black identity in the UK by taking the influences of Jamaican reggae and US Hip-Hop and writing songs about their UK surroundings and subject matter.

The album comes with extensive sleeve-notes, interviews, song lyrics and exclusive photographs and follows a path from the arrival of UK Dancehall in the 1980s to todayʼs Grime, Garage and Dubstep.

'An England Story' also shows the importance of the Jamaican soundsystem culture - its dubplates, specials, clashes and heavy, heavy bass - that has been a constant throughout these different stylistic mutations over the last 25 years. Similarly fashions, slang, dance moves and much more continues to be influenced by the clash between contemporary Jamaican and US music and culture.