Get to know Sir Spyro, the East London grime artist hitting a serious purple patch

With tracks like ‘Side By Side’ and ‘Topper Top’ doing the rounds, Sir Spyro has been on a serious roll for the past 12 months or so. But while he’s riding high now, it’s certainly not been an overnight success for the grime producer. In fact, for Spy, it’s been over 10 years in the making. Starting out in 2005 with a show on Rinse FM – which he still broadcasts weekly – Spyro ended up as the tour DJ for good friend and grime pop star Tinchy Stryder during his late noughties heyday. But now it’s his name up in lights as his slow and steady rise sees him become one of the most sought after beatmakers in the grime game.

“I first started producing when I was about fourteen,” 30-year-old Karl Joseph tells us. “I used Fruity Loops 3, mainly, and I wanted to make grime because it was something I was around on a daily basis.” While the late 2000s saw Spyro’s focus shift a little from beat-making to focus on the club and radio circuit, he got back in the saddle in 2012 when he was commissioned to make a Night Slugs edit. “I got asked by Bok Bok to remix ‘Silo Pass,’” he tells us. “And that got the fire burning again.”

Remixes have dropped in their droves ever since (his refix of ‘Rhythm & Gash’ is a reload classic). But it’s Spyro’s recent originals that have placed him at the crux of the scene: ‘Side By Side’ featuring Bloodline, and ‘Topper Top’ with Teddy Bruckshot, Killa P and Lady Chann are just two of the tracks that have put him in this position. “I’m very surprised by how much love I’ve been getting,” he says. “I’ve been making songs for half of my life, so for my tracks to be getting all this love now is a blessing.” And he’s just as humble when asked what he thinks of people claiming he’s the best grime DJ around: “Hearing that is an amazing statement, for real. But I’ve still got plenty of work to do.”

Currently working on new music with the likes of Capo Lee, D Double E, Faze Miyake and Ghetts, Spyro promises a debut album next year. “My main aim is to keep putting music out there that the people enjoy,” he tells us. “As long as that happens, I’ll be good.”