Before there were online magazines, blogs and endless digital resources for discovering new music, pirate radio was one of the only ways to discover underground music. DJs and tastemakers on these pirate radio stations were essential in not only developing a community of like-minded, forward-thinking artists, but communicating their visions to an international audience. Pirate radio at its core is a platform for new, uncensored ideas, as well as preserving the integrity of the genres it supports. For 17 years and counting, Rinse.FM is arguably the most important pirate radio station of the UK.

Since 1994, Rinse.FM has been a central voice for London’s underground electronic music scene. Beginning with jungle, drum and bass and never hesitant to evolve as fast as London’s electronic music innovators, DJs on Rinse.FM were spinning cutting-edge content which “major” radio stations were afraid to broadcast. Around 2003, Rinse became one of the flagship outlets for the world’s first exposure to grime. Departing from the feel-good attitude of UK garage and house, grime developed a darker, more aggressive take on London’s club music. Grime embraced abrasive, “broken” drums, filthy basslines and antagonistic lyrics. While major radio stations in the UK ignored the growing grime community due to offensive lyrical content and lack of faith in its commercial worth, Rinse.FM cultivated the growing grime sound by playing local, upcoming producers and vocalists. Before the mainstream success of such grime OGs as Wiley, Dizzee Rascal and the whole Roll Deep Crew, Rinse FM was playing their tracks far before they became household names worldwide.

The popularity and influence of Rinse grew exponentially around 2006-2007, as it not only embraced drum and bass, garage and grime, but the newly developing sounds of UK funky and dubstep. Rinse’s commander-in-chief Geeneus exposed London to the unique rhythms of UK funky and became one of the original champions of its developing sound, as well as previous Serious Saturday artist Roska. Of course we can’t forget that Skream, Benga, Kode9 and Plastician all DJed on Rinse in the early developments of dubstep, and premiered brand-new dubplates London had never heard before until their live broadcasts.

Along with Rinse’s history of DJs past and present, Rinse’s current schedule is an excellent overview of all of London’s current tastemakers. My personal favorites are the menacing dubstep vibes of N-Type and Plastician, the technicolor, left-field house sounds of Nightslugs leaders Bok Bok & L-Vis 1990, the new generation sound of grime with Elijah and Skilliam and so much more. I’ve only began to scratch the surface of Rinse’s current talent, and I haven’t even mentioned the “your favorite DJ’s favorite DJ” hosts, Youngsta, Oneman and Ben UFO.

Now in its 17th year and with a legal broadcast license, Rinse will only continue to grow in international popularity. In recent years Rinse has put on gigantic festivals featuring their in-house talent, have released periodic and diverse mixes for their mix series, and the Skream and Benga Rinse show has been picked up by BBC Radio 1. With all this exposure and attention, Rinse still maintains its fundamental authenticity. They continue to broadcast new styles of music, preserve the genres of music they helped develop and remain politically active within the UK community. Various Rinse DJs have spoken out against the recent London riots, urging Londoners to cease the violence and looting. Having been through almost two decades of pushing things forward, Rinse won’t be backing down on badman beats anytime soon. When it comes to hearing the best in UK underground music at any hour, don’t touch that dial!

- Rx