Overview

"""Don't Call Me Urban!"" is the definitive contemporary documentary record exploring one of the biggest social issues in the UK - drug use, the wayward behaviour of deprived black (and white) youth - it is the only book to give an unbiased account of a significant and vibrant genre of music in the UK and abroad. The pictures in Wheatley's book are unique and, unlike similar books, feature ordinary people as well as the people that have emerged to bring the ethos of grime to the attention of a wider audience. The book analyses the culture of 'grime' that has burst out of London's decaying council estates over the past decade. Although ostensibly a genre of 'urban' music, acknowledged as the UK's answer to hip hop, the author sees 'grime' as an era when youths living in these deprived areas began to behave in an increasingly wild manner. These youths live a fantasy largely based on an 'urban' culture imported from the USA, where Simon believes rap music has degenerated from an originally 'conscious' base to one in which the 'gangsta' strain that emerged in the late 1980s/early 1990s is now dominant. ""Don't Call Me Urban!"" seeks to cut through the perceived glamour of 'urban' culture and document through photographs and stories what is the social reality of being black (and white) on a London council estate, where 'urban' music - specifically the culture of emceeing and rapping - has become a standard means to communicate and express feeling. The mindless postcode warfare that now plagues London, and is the cause of many of the sudden wave of teenage killings, can be seen to have roots in the confrontation of east and west coast in US hip hop. Simon Wheatley gained the trust of the key figures in the grime culture who allowed him to capture the harsh elements of the street with its raw violence and drug taking as well as the more intimate and tender moments of their lives. The portraits and commentary from the likes of Dizee Rascal, Wiley, Jammer, Skepta, Fumin', P Money, Flirta D and Kano make ""Don't Call Me Urban"" a contemporary and definitive account of a culture which remains a frightening mystery to many. The title takes its inspiration from the objection to the word 'urban' that many black youths feel. AUTHOR: Simon Wheatley is an independent documentary photographer who spent over 7 years in the underground 'urban' music scene in London. His work with this sub-culture led to an invitation to join Magnum in 2005, which has brought these photos to international attention."

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9781904794479

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Wheatley's searing and sympathetic images achieve a strange beauty for all the emptiness and despair they capture. -- Metro (January 31, 2011) An honest and bitter-sweet document of our time that should continue to have significance long after the moments of its making. --Chris Steele-Perkins No one else has really documented the culture and what it is to have a life of grime. -- Dacre Bracey, RWD magazine Wheatley's pictures just ooze a feeling of isolation and the tension within many of the frames almost reaches out and grabs the viewer. --www.BBC.co.uk/news The book is a visual reflection of what grime represented, chronicling the conditions that spawned the genre. --www.InvisibleMadeVisible.co.uk It's a must have. --www.bjp-online.com Wheatley's brilliant work of photojournalism is much needed as a sociological study. --Isabel Taylor, www.zyworld.com I love the way he's captured the realness and rawness of London and its youth - especially in the action shots. --www.elektrodrop.com

I love the way he's captured the realness and rawness of London and its youth - especially in the action shots. --www.elektrodrop.com

An honest and bitter-sweet document of our time that should continue to have significance long after the moments of its making. --Chris Steele-Perkins Wheatley's searing and sympathetic images achieve a strange beauty for all the emptiness and despair they capture. -- Metro (January 31, 2011) No one else has really documented the culture and what it is to have a life of grime. -- Dacre Bracey, RWD magazine Wheatley's pictures just ooze a feeling of isolation and the tension within many of the frames almost reaches out and grabs the viewer. --www.BBC.co.uk/news The book is a visual reflection of what grime represented, chronicling the conditions that spawned the genre. --www.InvisibleMadeVisible.co.uk It's a must have. --www.bjp-online.com Wheatley's brilliant work of photojournalism is much needed as a sociological study. --Isabel Taylor, www.zyworld.com I love the way he's captured the realness and rawness of London and its youth - especially in the action shots. --www.elektrodrop.com

Author Information

Simon Wheatley is an independent documentary photographer who spent over 7 years in the underground 'urban' music scene in London. His work with this sub-culture led to an invitation to join Magnum in 2005, which has brought these photos to international attention.

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