10 iconic Skream moments

Skream was barely out of boys trousers when he started laying the foundations for a career in music. He's made it no secret that he regularly bunked off school in his teens, instead preferring to make tunes in the bedroom of his Croydon, South London home and, later, working in Big Apple Records with the likes of Artwork and Hatcha. Now, we're not condoning palming off education, but his preference to dedicating himself to music hasn't exactly hindered him, has it? He was a major player in the dubstep scene, arguably lifting it from dark basements and placing it into the spotlight of the mainstream thanks to his 2009 remix of La Roux's 'In For The Kill'.

Not one to settle into a comfort zone, he moved away from dubstep around 2011 to test himself in the house and techno game. It's no surprise that he's excelled in that, becoming an Ibiza regular and standing side-by-side with the likes of Jackmaster, Seth Troxler and Jamie Jones. And he's only just getting started, with an album said to be in the works.

You know what, though? He's achieved everything while being a man of the people: always down for a good time and getting himself fully involved. Respect goes out to him for that. See a bunch of his best moments below.

Skream's a dubstep pioneer. This is why. There's no doubt he had an endless list of tunes he could've included, but he narrowed it down and ended up with 13 crackers. The spangled rings in 'Midnight Request Line' may well be one of the most recognisable sounds ever in dubstep and 'Dutch Flowerz' just brings a whole lotta beaming happiness into the equation. 11 years on, it still comes with the same amount of thwack that it did from the beginning. If you hadn't guessed from the artwork, he was just 20 years old when it was released.

Anyone that was a teenager in the late-00s will know all about Skins. The Channel 4 drama following sixth form students in Bristol was rife with partying and debauchery which meant it needed a killer soundtrack to accompany it. A remix of Gossip's 'Standing In The Way Of Control' is the track most would think of when it comes to the show, but other artists' music played include DJ Shadow, Roots Manuva, Tricky, Bloc Party and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Skream made the cut in S01E08, focusing on the antics of Effy. 'Skream!' album tracks 'Angry' and 'Colourful' both feature, as well as two exclusive mixes according to the episode's tracklist. Some sources even claim it was the first time dubstep was played on television.

If you're after a dubstep education, just fire up his first Essential Mix from 2007. He loaded it with exclusive dubs of his, his wonky remix of 'It's Not Over' by Klaxons and tunes by Coki, Rusko and Mala, the latter's being 'Alicia', credited to an unknown artist at the time. Narrow-minded house and techno heads complained after it was aired, wrongly claiming dubstep wouldn't catch on, but the likes of Macabre Unit and Mr Beatnick were among those bigging him up. Oh, he was only 21 at the time, too.

Props to the team behind this show (translated as Into The Night With), 'cause hanging around with Skream and Goldie, two of the biggest characters in the game, must be a task. One we'd all like to have a crack at, obvs! Unfortunately the famous clip from this - of them eating dinner and chatting absolute nonsense - has been taken down from the 'net, but you still get a little taste of what's to come in this snippet. Goldie does feature in the majority of this, but you do see Skream sticking his middle finger up at the Metalheadz boss. He also says he's only had two hours sleep. That doesn't sound like him, does it?

You might need to turn the heating up when listening to this, 'cause it gives you a serious case of the chills. Released in 2009, just as dubstep was hitting the big time (and becoming extremely bastardised in places), Skream grabbed hold of a pop anthem and declared 'Let's Get Ravey'. He ignored the loud, obnoxious route many were taking at the time, instead sticking to his raw, crisp sound. That combined with Elly Jackson's angelic vocals and an unexpected breakbeat finish amounted to a crossover banger. Cue 17-year-olds winding their car windows down and riding through town with the volume cranked up.

Enter the dubstep supergroup. These three had been pals for years before forming in the late 00s, having met at Big Apple Records in Croydon. An album deal with Columbia Records was signed in 2010, with the self-titled LP featuring Katy B, P Money, Ms. Dynamite and John Legend arriving in October that year. Of course, with this three behind it, there was always going to be a hilarious story to go with it. As Artwork told RA, the amount of money they got from the deal meant they could hire a mansion in Cornwall to record it. Being mischievous lads from the city, Skream and Benga went "fucking stir crazy" and the only tune they came up with while there went "Ketamine, check. Cocaine, check. Ecstasy, check. Let’s party.” None of that renegade behaviour mattered, though, as the album hit number five in the UK Albums chart. Hello, mainstream.

There aren't many DJs that can say they've featured on the cover of Mixmag twice, especially before they've reached the age of 30. He first graced it as part of the 'New School' issue in November '08, alongside The Martinez Brothers and Friendly Fires among others, later fronting a dubstep special in July '10 with old pal Benga. Joker, Caspa and Rusko also featured in that, with the crew getting up to all sorts of mischief on the cover shoot. Wonder if he'll make it a hat-trick of covers anytime soon...

One look at this archive photo will tell you how much a pair of jokers Skream and Benga are. The childhood pals had a fair share of banter to go with their tunes on their In New DJs We Trust show, too. More of that dubstep brotherly love was aired back in 2013 when they held a tour of BBC's Broadcasting House for Radio 1. The pair took us down to the CD archives, messed around in the Master Control Room and sat at the news desk. The best part of the whole thing was them presenting the weather and announcing "heavy downpours of bass". And Skream realising his flies were undone. Twice.

Diehard dubstep fans weren't best pleased with this, but the success he's experienced since making the transition is a big two fingers aimed at the haters. It was performing on larger stages in North America and "playing stuff that I didn’t want to play any more", as stated in this interview with fabric, that inspired the change, and he soon found himself hanging out with Jamie Jones and co. in Ibiza. After 10 years of playing dubstep, it was a risky move to make, but he's reaping the rewards now. As well as releasing on labels like Boysnoize Records and Crosstown Rebels, he's part of the boisterous J.E.S.u.S supergroup with Jackmaster, Eats Everything and Seth Troxler and counts Space and Amnesia among the world-famous venues he's played at. Mixmag HQ's another, obviously. Watch his most recent set with Alan Fitzpatrick below.

Silly, just silly. But you really can't put anything past Skream. Ahead of playing at Eastern Electrics, he jumped on the back of a rickshaw, DJ controller on his lap, and treated unsuspected Oxford Circus shoppers to some tunes. A "proper giggle," he said. We're still laughing at the cab driver not having a clue what's going on, tbh.