I recently stumbled upon Simon Wheatley’s website http://www.dontcallmeurban.com . I’ve seen a lot of his work circulating Instagram over the years via the form of mood boards. The picture of Skepta in a fluffy hat leaning against the wall in a local chicken shop and Kano in a white suit looking like Tony Montana would often crop up on my feed. When I found his actual website which was there to show off his portfolio, I was happily suprised by some videos I had never been before. The video of above is a hidden gem, probably not as easily discoverable as it was published on Vimeo as oppposed to the more popular YouTube. The video follows Grime MC Chronik and friends discussing the gentrification of Stratford in London during the follow up to the 2012 Olympics. With the anniversary of the London Games coming up I think it’s an insightful watch into how it affected local communities, a narrative we don’t often hear about.

Check out this article on MC Chronik from 2011!