rwd and come again

RWD launched in 1999, with no money and no experience. The first office was in the backroom behind Marvel City Records in Crystal Palace. The magazine focussed on UK street culture. UK Garage was the predominant sound, which then evolved into grime. The magazine also featured D&B, hip-hop, R&B, dubstep, house and street fashion.A rich and vital scene, it was criminally unloved by the media. Unless you listened to pirate radio, bought records and tapepacks or went to the raves, you would barely knew that the underground existed or what the artists looked like. RWD's mission was to highlight the raw talent and help build them into legends we knew them to be.RWD survived outside the media system, giving the magazine away for free, across the UK. Long story short: RWD survived many trials and tribulations and we caught a wave.

RWD Magazine featured in the Museum of London ‘Grime Stories: From The Corner ToThe Mainstream’ exhibition, 2022.

RWD Magazine featured in The British Library’s ‘Beyond the Bassline’ exhibition, 2024.

RWD Magazine featured in V&A East’s ‘The Music is Black: A British Story exhibition’, 2026.

We were known as the Bible within the scene and became the UK's No.1 youth culture title. RWD hosted the biggest ever grime rave at the O2, the grime stage at The Prince's Trust Urban Music Awards and the official London Olympic Party. As a business, we navigated the fall of the traditional music industry, as MP3s took over physical formats, before the rise of social media saw RWD evolve into a creative agency working with a multitude of brands. But, after a 10-year hiatus, RWD, the magazine, is back. Representing the culture with a unique style of authority, irreverence, authenticity and humour, all of it, between two covers, where it belongs.

Danny Weed and the Roll Deep crew in the RWD office to work on their colab edition, May 2005

Slix and Ruff Sqwad perform on the RWD stage at the Prince's Trust Urban Music Festival, alongside Roll Deep, Newham Generals, Akala, Shola Ama, Dogzilla, Wiley and Bruza, May 2004

Kano headlines the RWD adiZone's concert at the 02, alongside Skepta, Wiley, Tinchy Strider and Ghetts, September 2008