2009: The year grime began to pay

Five No 1 singles, record label feeding frenzies, influencing the US charts – no one imagined grime would get this big. Dan Hancox explains how Dizzee Rascal and Tynchy Stryder set the world alightThe music industry loves a goldrush – to sign grunge bands in the wake of Nirvana; to sign American garage-rock bands in the wake of the Strokes; to sign scratchy British indie bands in the wake of the Libertines. It's a process that's been repeated throughout pop history. But, even a ye...

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