How Skepta’s BRITs Performance Quietly Celebrated The Legends Of Grime

Last night Skepta stepped out onto the BRIT Awards stage to deliver one of the ceremony's more memorable live appearances. His "Shutdown" performance was a stripped-back affair with Skepta dressed all in black and taking to the stage on his own. There was, however, a nod to his peers on the huge screens behind him.

Images of MCs such as Dizzee Rascal, Newham Generals, Ghetts, Giggs, Kano, and JME among others were broadcast live and beamed into the homes of millions watching on T.V. All of the pictures were taken by photographer Olivia Rose as part of This Is Grime, a book she released alongside writer Hattie Collins in 2016.

Speaking to The FADER via email this morning, August 23, Olivia explained how her pictures came to be incorporated into the performance. "Skepta's team got in touch about two weeks before the BRITs to ask Hattie and I if they could incorporate portraits from This Is Grime as part of Skepta's performance. [It was] a celebration of all of the legends of grime."

"Most of the images are directly from the book, but some were photographs that never made it to print, or that were shot at events post-publishing, so it was a really impactful way of pulling all those images together and seeing all of those faces on the screens last night actually reminded me how the scene truly adopted me and how grateful I am that they allowed me in."

Remind yourself of Skepta's BRITs performance below.