‘ grime’s about the underdog winning’

Caroline Simionescu-marin, 22 Project: New Gen

A former editor of grime website GRM Daily, Caroline is a talent scout at the label XL Recordings. She compiled last year’s New Gen album featuring new urban music talent – including Ray BLK, who went on to win the BBC’S Sound Of 2017, previously awarded to Adele and Sam Smith.

Caroline claims grime is inherently progressive and has opened up more opportunities for women. ‘It has an independent spirit, helping the underdog win,’ she says. ‘It’s so rebellious and punk in essence. Everybody wants to tap into it now.’ She was inspired to create New Gen after seeing grime go from niche to mainstream. ‘I remember going to see Stormzy in a venue with 50 people,’ she says. ‘ Then I saw him at Brixton Academy with 5,000.’ For all this positivity, she ‘wasn’t totally happy’ to have just two women on the album. ‘At that point there weren’t as many women coming through.’ She’s confident that the sequel will work towards gender equality. ‘I’ve already found some amazingly talented female artists,’ she says.