This documentary is not so much a look at a music scene as an answer to one of 21st century's quintessential question: "Is there a life after going viral?"
Blackpool grime is an interesting experiment. Several young artists of the northern seaside town became overnight sensations after recording millions of views on YouTube in 2016. But unfortunately, as of 2019, none of them managed to translate their fame into regular income.
One of the staple of YouTube's attention economy is the total disregard for the aftermath. Many of the online grifters who make and break memes do not have the time, resources or even interest in finding out what happens to the people they propelled to the top. And, unfortunately, mainstream media is often slow at filling the void, as their bread and butter is still all too often TV, movies and top 40 stars. Which is why entities like Noisey and Channel 4 should be lauded when they do walk the walk.
It's Grime Up North was released 2 years after Noisey Blackpool's second and last edition in 2017, though the recording occurred in mid-to-late 2018. Unlike Noisey's 30 minutes format, Channel 4 decided to go for 2x45 minutes. While the pace suffers a bit, the increased amount of air time allows the crew to follow more artists, for a longer span of time.
Noisey focused on Blackpool's big 3 - Little T, Soph Aspin, and Afghan Dan. To everyone's delight the two feuding teenagers are back on Channel 4. Both are still aiming to hit the big time, but are going different directions: Little T is staying in grime, but has to fight off the bad stage fright and anxiety that plague him. Soph, meanwhile, is as confident as ever, and has shifted her attention to pop music. Afghan Dan, however, is the major absentee, which is not a huge surprise given that he spent most of 2018 in jail. Filling the gap is no other than the charismatic CallyManSam, through his latest project LOE(with Shelton, Ricko and Damo), a welcome addition after failing to meet the cut twice on Noisey. One of the show's highlights is LOE's powerful live performance of his biggest hit "It's CallyManSam", at the end of episode 2. Also featured are Alex Aspin, Millie B - who left the scene after being a mom at 18 - and the lesser known but eccentric Tommy Kray - chasing the dream between two jail stints.
While being nowhere near as nasty or sarcastic as YouTube hitpieces, IGUN is still aimed at a mainstream public, and sometimes just scratch the surface of the reality of being a struggling artist, or growing up working class in a crumbling, gloomy seaside town. The show spends a lot of time with Little T's mum Donna, but more one-on-one time with the actual artists would have been appreciated. Also, like Noisey, IGUN makes the surprising decision of not ever mentioning BGMedia or Jack Wilkinson. Despite being behind all of Blackpool's stars biggest hits, the producer remains as elusive as ever in 2019. A real shame, there was more to dig there.
Overall, a slightly superficial show, but a pleasant update on our favorite northern misfits nevertheless. Here's hoping for a season 2 in 2020.