You had to stop them from getting that as it's £600 down the drain

So it’s Black History Month—and I haven’t posted anything yet. 

Not because I forgot. But because the team and I have been deep in the trenches getting our exhibition ready. It's been testing (I’ll get into that later), but right now I want to reflect on Black history from a different angle, from a local perceptive but what contributed to a global sound.

I'm going to give you a part of Waltham forest history that even I wasn't fully aware off, but to do this I need to take you back, back before Waltham forest was the borough of culture, back before the million and one coffee shops and their artisan croissants ( 😁). 

I'm taking you back to the early 2000's when high rise blocks looked gritty and the mindset of the people was too. Dog owners weren't walking around with pug faced furry friends but with staffs built like prime Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even writing this brings back memories of a man and his dog can't remember it’s breed, but I remember him telling us guys in the park that his dog bites and on saying that he let the dog of its chain! I didn't even know I could climb 12ft but there I was spider man before Miles Morales. 

Anyhow back on track, during this era pirate radio station was the thing, those stations had the ears of the youth without a doubt - Frisky DJ had us listening to the yes no game, live FM was giving the sounds of old school garage and Deja Vu was absolutely dominating the pirate radio station game, as a grime MC you wanted to be there, but locally in Waltham forest you had stations like Risk FM, Haveit FM and Temptation FM. 

Now I'm saying this from the perspective of being a listener, but I had no real idea of just the lengths owners of pirate radio stations had to go through for bringing the sounds of the underground to the ears of listeners like me and in doing so gave rise to some of the most popular MC's and vocalists. More Fire’s “Oi” was iconic. 

So saying all of this, this Black History Month, I want to share a gem.

A clip from an oral history we recorded with my friend DJ B3 as part of our Bedroom Shut Music Up exhibition. He paints a vivid picture of the pirate radio frontlines—where love for the music was so strong, people climbed rooftops in the middle of the night to keep the signal alive, and was doing much more to be fair but that’s for another day 😊

Red Light Busking presents Kanda Vol.1 - Bedroom Shut, Music Up

Planned launch date is Early October 2025Hatherley Mews

Register Now