WITH A slew of grime heritage to his name, including one of the genres most iconic instrumentals, producer and engineer Striver, celebrates his legacy with the release of ‘Recovered Drive 1’.

A selection of his decade-old archive into the present day, Recovered Drive 1 is Striver’s 8-track, 2020 project, presenting classic Grime instrumentals, new beats and guest features from Flirta D, Gully Ranjah, Vener Remah and Scrufizzer.

Beginning his musical career as a DJ at the age of 14, Striver was born of the pirate radio era, having been inspired by tuning in to So Solid Sundays on Delight FM in 1999.

Music production and a doggedly determined DIY attitude to establishing a music career, soon landed Striver with a residency on pirate radio station Elite FM and his initiation into South London collective Nu Brand Flexxx. With an in-house producer now on board that could capture the young, energetic and raw talent of the crews MC’s Sas Killa, Boya, Tinie Tempah and Peigh, a perfect match was made.

Striver’s first release was “Dreaming” feat. Chanel, Sas Killa, Mr Wong (2005) and dominated seminal TV station Channel U before filtering into nationwide radio station BBC 1xtra.

2006 saw the release of grime classic “Gash by da Hour” also produced by Striver, which launched onto TV screens and went straight to no.1 spot for 13 weeks on Channel U, hitting BBC 1xtra, Choice FM (now Capital Xtra), BBC Radio 1 and UK underground stations like RINSE FM as well as CD compilations over the including UK Grime vol.1 and Pure Grime.

Following the success of Gash by da Hour, Striver created the 2007 remake of Maxwell D’s “Serious” while Nu Brand Flexxx recruited MCs Meter, Hoodlem, Infa red, Blacks, TK and Brags. The growing collective then released “Anthem”, which entered the Channel U charts at no.1 and remained there for 10 weeks.

Executively producing Nu Brand Flexxx’s debut album “Rangoose Vol.1” in 2008, Striver lead the recording and mixing of the project. His production skill has also been used to work alongside artists including Wiley, Tinchy Stryder, Nasty Crew, Roll Deep, Crazy Titch, Big Narstie, Flirta D, Carns Hill, Jae5, Randy Valentine, Mr.Wong, Maxwell D, P Money and Blacks.

On the live circuit he has performed his music in London, Amsterdam and Ayia Napa, and also counts Lovebox, Luton Carnival, Anti-Racist Festival, Victoria Park Festival, Lewisham Peoples Day, Choice FM @ Emirates stadium and the O2 arena for football star Kanu amongst some of his live shows.

In 2020, Striver is back on the buttons and in the studio. Working closely with younger cousin Jae5 it is clear to see that visionary sounds in exciting genres are at the fingertips of this family from generation to generation.

Making a marked return by releasing Recovered Drive 1, Striver explains: “Recovered Drive 1 is a mixture of some of my most classic instrumentals along with new instrumentals that capture the essence of grime.”

He added: “I lost most of my hard drive with archived music a while ago and recently recovered the entire drive, which was a wake up call – it was the energy I needed to put music out again as well as creatively tap into my production zone. 

“One of my motivations to creative music is to spark someone to pick up a mic and write about their life experiences but also boost, brag and embrace the all-round hype energy that grime brings. More than anything, Recovered Drive 1 is to let people know that Striver is back.”

Presenting Grime instrumentals that have never before been available, new beats and guest features from Flirta D, Gully, Vener, Ranjah and Scrufizzer, Recovered Drive 1 also invites Creative Director Almass Badat to collaboratively curate the 8-track project and visualise the artwork, which is a contemporary take rooted in where it all began – Striver’s South London 2007 studio.