Rinse celebrate the best of UK music culture with a new series of events, documentaries and compilations

Music institution, Rinse, launch new project I LOVE:, delving deep into some of the UK’s most influential contemporary music cultures with a specially curated series of events, documentaries and compilations.

From humble beginnings as a pirate radio station, Rinse has been at the beating heart of grassroots music movements in the UK for more than two decades. As a driving force behind some of contemporary music’s most influential genres like dubstep, grime and UK Garage, Rinse has intimate knowledge of those involved, the cultural contexts and continued legacy, placing them in a unique position to tell these stories from an insider’s perspective.

With just a handful of episodes planned each year, the new series kicks off on Saturday 9th October 2021 with I LOVE: FUNKY at Ministry Of Sound. 

A quintessentially British music movement that truly represents the cosmopolitan melting pot of cultural influences, Funky takes inspirations from across afrobeat, UK garage, tribal, house, soca, broken beat, grime and more. Reaching mainstream success in the mid-naughties with chart hits and packed out dancefloors across the UK, Funky’s legacy continues to inspire new generations of producers and music fans alike.

For I LOVE: FUNKY, Rinse will showcase the genre across four rooms of music with Ministry’s iconic main room, The Box, featuring Funky’s biggest originators. Crazy Cousinz with Versatile are responsible for some of the genre’s biggest hits including ‘Go’, ‘Do You Mind’ and ‘Bongo Jam’. Legendary collective, Circle, made up of Tippa, Kismet, Fever, Supa D & IC are also confirmed, with further sets from Rinse Founder Geeneus alongside Katy B for her first live Funky performance in over 10 years, prolific figure Marcus Nasty and Pioneer alongside Spidey G. Live PAs will also come from Shingai Shoniwa performing Dennis Ferrer’s timeless classic ‘Hey Hey’ and the smooth vocal stylings of Donae’O performing ‘Party Hard’ and ‘Devil In A Blue Dress’.

Room 2 will celebrate the pioneering producers, tune creators and beat makers at the core of Funky’s infectious sound starting with Apple – the man credited with creating one of Funky’s first tracks ‘Dutty Dance’. DJ Naughty brought a tougher, more percussive style to Funky and Hard House Banton’s iconic track ‘Sirens’ showcases a deep, stripped-back production style. Also confirmed are mainstay Rinse FM radio hosts, Funkystepz, Funky veteran MA1, Fingaprint and Perempay.

Showcasing the current generation of artists pushing Funky’s sounds forward, room three – Baby Box – will host DJ Polo, Juls, Scratch DVA and AYAYA. Record label CoOp takes over at The Loft with sets from label founders Alex Phountzi and IG Culture alongside cohorts Cengiz and EVM128. In addition to the Ministry Of Sound showcase, Rinse will also release a documentary featuring key figures of Funky as well as compilation I LOVE: FUNKY Classics – available as both digital and vinyl releases.

The I LOVE: series is the first in a number of new projects from Rinse, with further details announced in the coming weeks.
Commenting on the bold, new project, Rinse Founder, Geeneus said: “​​After 20 odd years of nurturing and developing underground music genres, it feels like a good time to reflect on them and celebrate all the U.K. underground has achieved. The ILOVE series is a very special and personal project to me, as I have spent my life watching the sound of the underground evolve and I will continue to keep on delivering amazing music that I love.”

Putting the ‘fun’ into funky, tickets for I LOVE: FUNKY at Ministry Of Sound are on sale now from: https://rinse.fm/ilovefunky