September 09, 2024

Stevie Hyper D & The Soundsystem Roots of Jungle

A new documentary tells the fascinating but tragic story of Jungle MC Stevie Hyper D, the underground music icon who cut his teeth on the Reggae Soundsystems of South London in the 80s and grew to embody everything that Jungle Music represented. We are supporting the Kickstarter campaign to help get the film in cinemas this year.

Support the project on Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mcsteviehyperd/hyper-the-stevie-hyper-d-story

Over the past 70 years, Reggae Soundsystem culture has grown from the street corners and lawns of Jamaica to leave its mark on the entire world. But its impact has perhaps been most significant on the British music scene, and one of the greatest examples of this has to be Jungle.

The mixed-race offspring of Reggae, Rave and Hip-Hop, Jungle encapsulates a particular time and place in history and defines a key moment in the evolution of music: Britain in the early 90s. This was a time before the internet, before smartphones and digital cameras. An era when people used phone boxes and there were only four TV channels. Young people tuned into pirate radio stations to learn the location of that night’s dance and swapped tapes of the recordings.

Although its pinnacle was relatively short-lived (1991-1997), the musical influence of Jungle can be felt now more than ever with artists like Chase & Status and Shy FX leading the way and newcomers coming through like 4am Kru and Nia Archives who was nominated for the Mercury Prize this year.

One of the genre’s defining characteristics is the MC style, very fast double-time lyrics and melodic sing-along hooks, combining the Dancehall or Ragga delivery with the wordplay of Hip-Hop. This style has permeated British music influencing the vocal styles of Garage, Grime, Road Rap and Drill.

One of the pioneers of this style was Stevie Hyper D, the MC whose life was cut short at only 31. A new documentary entitled HYPER: The Life and Times of Stevie Hyper D tells the tragic story of Stevie’s life through interviews with the people who knew him and never before seen footage of Jungle pioneers at work.

Directed by Jamie Ross-Hulme, the story unfolds through Darrell Austin, Stevie Hyper D’s nephew, who goes on a personal journey through 90s London, to discover first-hand his uncle’s legacy. Through conversations with Stevie’s friends, musical peers and other family members, he is forced to confront his own grief and mental health.

Darrell and Stevie were close in age, so their relationship was more akin to brothers than uncle and nephew. Their heritage, raised in London, of mixed Caribbean and Gibraltarian descent gave them a shared perspective, which is uniquely British and multicultural in equal parts – and which permeates the film.

Stevie grew up in South London in the '70s and '80s, listening to local Reggae Soundsystems like Saxon and being inspired by toasters like Papa Levi, Peter Metro, Papa San and of course the originator of slackness himself, General Echo.

Sometimes his Mum would throw Blues Dances at their house so Stevie honed his craft from a very young age. He was obsessed with collecting Jamaican records and was determined to become a Soundsystem mic man, eventually forming his own Reggae MC crew called The Five Man Army.

But in the late 80s, a new music emerged in the UK, the Acid House Rave Scene, and although this new style was initially looked upon with disdain by his peers, Stevie’s curiosity got the better of him and he went to check out this so-called “Devil’s Music” first-hand.

What he discovered blew his mind, and would change his life forever. Stevie combined the “double-time” Ragga flow he had been known for on the Soundsystems to the faster tempo Rave music, toyed with different Dancehall style hooks, and incorporated elements of Rap. As he honed his style, Jungle emerged.

Jungle producers used early analogue sampling technology, drum machines, sequencers and synths to combine the fast-tempo electronic beats of Rave music, the heavy basslines and FX of Dub, Hip-Hop sampling techniques, and importantly, a focus on live MCing. The result was a beautifully chaotic aesthetic, a heart-pounding sonic pastiche of Soundsystem Culture that was insatiably danceable.

In a recent interview, MC Navigator credits the origins of Jungle to producers like Potential Bad Boy, Dizzy, Terry T, Noise Factory, Paul Ibiza, Rebel MC/Congo Natty, Top Buzz & Mad P, Shut Up And Dance and of course, Ragga Twins.

Stevie’s lyrical versatility and captivating stage presence made him a natural performer with star potential, and he worked hard to become one of the best-loved MCs in the Jungle scene.

Stevie was signed to Island Records by Darcus Beese in 1996 and began working on his debut album. But two years later in 1998 he died suddenly of a heart attack, aged just 31.

Stevie Hyper D’s death was an incredible loss to the UK music scene but what’s more, there’s so little material available online to recognise the contribution he made. Darrell says that this was one of the things that motivated him to tell his story. “I was just so frustrated at not seeing him get the recognition he deserved.”

James and Darrell hope to bring Stevie’s story to the big screen, but they need your support to make that possible. The filmmakers have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the music clearances, archive and legal costs, and produce a special edition Blu-Ray DVD.

Pledges start as low as £10 and supporters can receive a range of rewards including a copy of the collector's edition Blu-ray, exclusive preview tickets, a film download, bomber jackets, rave whistles and slip-mats.

If the Kickstarter is successful, HYPER will be released in cinemas nationwide in WINTER 2024. The campaign runs until the 21st of September 2024, so hit the link below to find out more:

Stevie Hyper D Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mcsteviehyperd/hyper-the-stevie-hyper-d-story

Find out more on their Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/MCStevieHyperD/?locale=en_GB