HYPER – The Stevie Hyper D Story

For anyone lucky enough to see Stevie Hyper D at the peak of his creative prowess during the mid to late 90’s, they will know that he wasn’t just a charismatic and highly influential Mic controller.

He was also a game changer with a skills set that propelled lyrical creativity and vocal delivery into a whole other realm, and to be fair, down a road that has never really been travelled before or since.

He was a one in a million performer, with an entire package that combined ‘the look’, which was clean cut and highly polished with ‘the sound’ which was a unique blend of London street culture, key drum and bass and jungle phrases and his very own genetic blend of Caribbean and Gibraltarian heritage.

This dude could chat at double speed and burst into song all within the same few bars, and his iconic “Junglists, are you reeeeeeeaaaaaaady” and “Selassie I know, yeah, we don’t want these nights to go yeah, no way” have stood the test of time quite unlike any others. I was lucky enough to see Stevie belt out those and many other iconic lines at a lot of big raves like Dreamscape and Helter Skelter in the mid 90s, and you’ve never seen a place come alive like it did when he let rip, so as an underground website, we’re very proud to be able to support this project in our own small way.

His was a sound unlike any other jungle MC at the time, and his delivery style is as hard hitting and relevant now as it was over 25 years ago when he was at the peak of his success. 

That success was cruelly cut short when he passed away due to a problematic heart condition in July 1998 aged just 31.

If drum and bass culture across the Globe could name just one thing it was infinitely proud of (clearly among many), then it is that it never, EVER forgets it’s fallen soldiers. We value our community members regardless of their social and artistic status, but Stevie was in another league, and left the Global scene a legacy that is as strong now as it ever was, and it’s about to get even stronger.

Beat Culture have teamed up with Stevie’s nephew Darrell Austin to bring to the masses a film project quite unlike any other in the realm of underground drum and bass. According to the movie’s promotional material:

‘Darrell Austin, Stevie Hyper D’s nephew, goes on a personal journey through 90s London, to discover first hand his uncle’s legacy. Through conversations with Stevie’s friends, family members, musical peers, and legendary modern acts Stevie has inspired, Darrell uncovers and tells the whole story.

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, uniquely British and multicultural in equal parts, which permeates the film’.

This movie project has been waiting to be told for over a quarter of a decade, and is about to hit cinemas nationwide BUT: It needs your help.

The UK release and distribution of the film is being uniquely funded by a Kickstarter project that needs to hit a target of £35,000 in order to reach full fruition. The project has already raised the incredible sum of £22,000, but the crew need more. DNB hasn’t seen a movie project on this scale of professionalism ever before, and it could be years before it sees another one, but YOU could play a historical part in this process by buying, donating and ultimately helping to fund this unique movie that not only delves deep into Stevie’s history, and the vital and unprecedented role he played in the worldwide advancement of drum and bass culture, but also looks into the history of the scene itself. DNB is a Global phenomenon now, but back in 1998 it was still homegrown and uniquely British.

We managed to secure a few words with the head of Beat Culture, Jamie Ross-Hulme to gain a small insight into the project, and why the Kickstarted fund needs your support.

Jamie! Welcome in!

Thanks Dan, much appreciated.

There are some BIG names on the contribution list in terms of interviewees for this project. I’m pretty sure every person in DNB (and beyond) and their dog wanted in on this, so how did you decide who to include and why, and what were the personal highlights for you and Darrell?

We had a key list of people that we needed in the film, such as Darrell and the family, Nicky Blackmarket and Darcus Beese, as all of those people really drive the narrative of the film. Outside of that, we were lucky to be working closely with Matt Gale who made the radio documentary. He gifted us all of his rushes from the audio documentary, which meant we had a much wider scope to play with, as some key figures such as Shabba, Skibba (god rest his soul), Ray Keith, GQ and Grooverider had all been covered by that. Outside of the key jungle DNB crew, we were lucky to get Jammer, Matt from Gorgon City, Megaman, Heartless and many more. For me, a personal highlight was Darcus, who is a UK music industry legend who not only signed Stevie, but grew up with him back in the day.

Wow. That is some name drop!

There’s an awful lot at stake when you work on a project like this, as not only is there an end product to complete that has to stand the test of time, there’s also a human being behind this story who was, still is and will always be one of the most highly regarded MCs in the game. I can only imagine that there have been some emotional and likely deeply profound moments during this incredible journey?

It took a long time for Darrell to feel comfortable in the process, not just on camera. But behind the scenes with the story we were telling. Some of our early cuts, were very different to what we ended up making. We went in deep as a creative team to really go into the psychology of grief and loss. That’s what lies at the heart of this film, a tragedy. Not just for the family, but for UK music as a whole.

Absolutely, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be blubbing when I see it. These people organically become a huge part of our lives as ravers. I still look up to them now like I did when I was 18!

The completion of the Kickstarter campaign is absolutely essential to get this thing out into the world, starting of course with a UK wide cinema release. I might be wrong, but I think this will be a first for a drum and bass related project? You must be nervous, but also incredibly proud of what you, Darrell and the rest of the team have achieved with this?

I believe that is correct. As far as jungle drum & bass, I think this is the first film to be released in cinemas nationwide. Which will be an amazing achievement for us, when it happens (all being well). The film is really amazing, we couldn’t be prouder of it. It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity to tell a story like this and we really believe that we’ve done it justice. The feedback we’ve had has been unbelievable.

Our main nerves at the moment lie in hitting our goal on Kickstarter. That will enable us to tell this incredible story to as many people as possible.

It’s not all for nothing though, the rewards are epic and range from screening tickets to Blu-Rays and much much more. Please get involved and join Team Hyper-D now!

The Kickstarter is out in the world and it’s full of Hyper-D exclusives and there’s even the official trailer for the film, HYPER: The Stevie Hyper D Story on the link below.

There are some insane exclusives on Kickstarter for Hyper-D fans and music fans alike. These will not be available anywhere else. Including but not limited to:

• A one-off collectors edition blu-ray
• Exclusive preview tickets
• Film download
• Bomber jackets
• Film poster
• Rave whistles
• Slip-mats

If the Kickstarter is successful, HYPER will be released in cinemas nationwide in WINTER 2024.

If you want to play your own part in the lead up to the release of this historic piece of jungle history, you can pledge at the address below.

Every single penny will go towards this production getting the attention and support it deserves.

FIND OUT MORE HERE:

HYPER: The Stevie Hyper D Story by Team Hyper — Kickstarter

Stevie Hyper D (@mcsteviehyperd) • Instagram photos and videos

BeatCultureLDN (@beatcultureldn) • Instagram photos and videos