July 2020: I C O N S
Rebel Book: #63
Book: Rise Up: The #Merky Story So Far by Stormzy + Jude Yawson
Meetup: Hop In – Virtual Event Space?
Fuel: Fresh Icons Needed (Cocktails From Your Cupboard by Mix + Muddle)
When thinking about this month’s theme, we were interested in more than a story of fame and celebrity. We also wanted to look at artists who have represented genres that reflected a shake up in culture and politics. We looked at books with their roots in punk, rave, rock and hip hop, but it was grime which came through this month via the story of #Merky.
Grime is one of the most most important and politically sharp genres here in the UK today (in our opinion). As such, it made for an excellent event. We had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Monique aka The Professor of Grime, who talked us through her PHD ‘Hallowed be Thy Grime’, the cultural and political significance of Grime, how genres develop and her thoughts on why #Merky has become so phenomenally successful…
Next up we welcomed Ben Anderson (Co-Founder of Musicalize) and Ciaran Thapar (Nonfiction Author and Journalist) to have a chat with Ben about what it’s like to work with Stormzy + the #Merky Crew and what separates Grime from Drill music. Here’s what they had to say…
It was awesome to see Ben SG in his element, moonlighting as Co-Founder of Attachment London, bouncing ideas about music! Of course it wouldn’t be a Rebel Book Club event without asking our guests about their favourite non-fiction reads. Here are their suggestions…
We asked our members to do a Rise Up review in a tweet and here it is… Beautifully summarised by RBC Member Tom…
Rise Up gives you the inside scoop of Stormzy’s journey to stardom from the streets of Croydon to headlining Glastonbury. It showed me the level of dedication and raw emotion that goes into passion projects like an album and how to build a movement around a disruptor brand like #Merky.
Find out more about our guests + support their work…
Dr. Monique Charles’ is a woman of many talents, check out her Sound Therapy work over at @IRunTheSoundSystem.
Outside of Grime Academia, Dr. Monique specialises Sound Therapy with tuning forks, which is a completely different to the sound baths with bowls that are currently in vogue. She has been practicing for years and has her own studio. She also offers regular slots at Remind Studio, which will resume once it is safe to do so.
Monique says, “I think <Sound Therapy> would be beneficial for many people at the moment who are experiencing mental health issues and general stress from our unprecedented climate. A lot of my work is at the intersection of Black music, sound, spirituality and wellbeing and this practical aspect of my work is beneficial for a wide variety of people.”
Check out her website here, or follow her via @irunthesoundsystem on Instagram.
Thank you to our wonderful guests and everyone who came along to dive deeper into all this #Merky! Onto the next…
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If you’d like to be part of our community of Rebels, head over to RebelBook.Club to check out our membership options, or drop Membership Manager, Anca, a note at hello@rebelbookclub.co.uk
