The Best Grime Tracks of the 2000s

Dizzee produced it himself at sixteen, XL put the single out on 26 May 2003, and Boy in da Corner took that year's Mercury Prize. 'I Luv U' is barely a beat — a sine-bass grunt, a chopped female vocal, gaps everywhere — and the argument between the two voices does all the work. Grime's year zero, and it sounded like nothing before it.

Wiley cut this instrumental around Christmas 1999 and sat on it until a white-label 12-inch in July 2002, by which point it had named the whole style: eskibeat. 'Eskimo' has no chords, just a brittle little figure knocking against a hollow kick and snare, and the silence between hits is the hook. Spotify's only copy sits on a 2012 compilation.

Dexplicit built the beat, Relentless released it in December 2004, and it reached No. 11 while clubs banned it outright. Nine MCs queue up on 'Pow (Forward)' — Neeko, Ozzie B, Fumin, Napper, Demon, Flowdan, Jamakabi and D Double E among them — over a bass figure that ricochets like a dropped scaffolding pole. Spotify drops the exclamation mark the sleeve carries.

Youngstar made it for Musical Mob and the 12-inch appeared in March 2002; the eight-bar style that ruled the next three years of pirate radio starts here. 'Pulse X' is two square-wave bass notes, a kick, a snare and nothing else, which is precisely why every MC in London could ride it. Spotify carries it only on a various-artists compilation.

679 Recordings put this out as a single in November 2004, a year before Home Sweet Home collected it, and by then Kano had already served his time in Nasty Crew. What sells 'P's and Q's' is timing: he sits a fraction behind a clipped, springy bassline and never once raises his voice. The link is the album cut.

Wiley spends three minutes refusing every label on offer — not garage, not urban, not two-step — on a record XL released in April 2004. 'Wot Do U Call It?' rides a thin, pinging figure over hollow claps, and Treddin' on Thin Ice parks an Eskimo interlude directly after it. A genre naming itself in public, still slightly annoyed about it.

Billy Squier's 'The Big Beat' is the entire engine here, lifted almost naked and left to swing while Dizzee shouts over the top; XL issued it as a single in August 2003 and it went to No. 17. 'Fix Up, Look Sharp' works because nobody bothered to add anything — one drum break, one brass stab, one enormous voice.

Roll Deep were Wiley's crew, founded in Bow in 2001 with Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder in the original lineup, and In at the Deep End arrived on Relentless in June 2005. 'When I'm 'Ere' is the crew record done properly — bars handed round over a rubbery bass and a hook the whole room can shout. Grime as a team sport.

Nothing about the original 12-inch is easy to date: it came out on Ruff Sqwad Recordings in 2005 as a white label whose A-side pairs a rap version with the instrumental, and Discogs lists an uncredited Wiley on it. 'Together' runs on a chiming, music-box lead that has no business being this sad. Streaming has it only via 2012's White Label Classics.

Jammer runs Lord of the Mics, the clash DVD series he dreamed up for his own basement, and he is Boy Better Know's elder statesman. The single dated 30 May 2005 carries 'Murkle Man' plus a Dizzee Rascal and D Double E remix on the flip. The beat is a horror-film synth motif on a loop, and Jammer chants over it enjoying himself far too much.

Credited on Spotify to Platinum 45 with More Fire Crew — Lethal Bizzle, Ozzie B and Neeko — 'Oi!' hit No. 8 in 2002 and is widely counted as the first grime record to reach the UK singles chart. The beat is a rude two-note riff with an air-horn over it, and the three MCs treat the thing as a relay. Spotify tags this version 'Original'.

Boy Better Know's debut single landed on 25 May 2009 with Skepta, Shorty, Jme, Frisco and Wiley all present, and it only scraped No. 79 while becoming the crew's best-known record. 'Too Many Man' is a chant and a two-finger keyboard riff, arranged so the joke lands harder each time round. Spotify's own 2009 listing carries only the Club Mix, so this is the compilation copy.

679 sent it out on 28 February 2005, one of two Home Sweet Home singles to reach the UK top 30. Ghetto guests on 'Typical Me' and arrives at the end sounding like he intends to take the track home with him. The beat is all taut, clipped bass and handclaps, with Kano's flow gliding straight over the gaps.

Tempa T shouted his way to an underground anthem in 2009, and the single as Spotify holds it contains just two versions, a vocal and an instrumental. 'Next Hype' opens on a siren and never really stops threatening your television. He performed it on Tim and Barry TV in the 2010 film Shank. Spotify labels the vocal take 'Next Hype - Vocal'.

Closing track on Famous?, the 2008 debut Jme put out through Boy Better Know, the label he co-founded with his older brother Skepta after both had passed through Meridian Crew and Roll Deep. 'Serious' is built from about two notes and a lot of nerve, Jme delivering threats in the tone of a man reading a shopping list. Spotify styles him Jme.

Nolay came out of the Unorthodox crew in south London, and this was her first solo release after the crew's 'No Help or Handouts' in 2004; it was picked up for the 2005 compilation Run the Road. 'Unorthodox Daughter' moves at double the beat's speed, her syllables landing like someone taking the stairs three at a time. Spotify's only copy sits on a 2007 compilation.