Aftershock (group)

Several members of Aftershock are recognised as pioneers of the rhythm and grime (R&G) subgenre, spotlighted through the softer productions of Terror Danjah and Scratcha DVA and the R&B-inspired vocals of members Gemma Fox and Elrae^[4] and close collaborators Shola and Sadie Ama.^{[21][3][22][2]}

The crew hosted the four-hour UKG M1X Show on

In 2001, DJ/producer Terror Danjah remixed his own song "We Told U", simplifying the drum arrangement to appeal to a UK garage audience, and pitched it to Dreem Teem's label in hopes of a record deal.^[25] Timmi Magic chose not to sign the song, but it was nonetheless played "for twelve weeks straight" on the group's daytime BBC Radio 1 show.^[25] While frequenting cutting plant Music House to press his records to vinyl, Terror Danjah befriended staff member and roots reggae producer Paul Chue, who later suggested that he team up with aspiring music businessman Flash to advance their careers together.^[25] The pair were already acquainted, with Flash having been involved in the label East Iz East,^[25] through which Terror Danjah had released the Nasty Crew-affiliated single "We Are the Worst" in 2002. The two of them set up Aftershock Records the same year,^[17] which initially served solely as a record label and primary released music via the medium of vinyl.^[26] The first release was "We Told U" in 2002, with a limited run of 100 white label records.^[25]

Terror Danjah executive produced some of the label's first records, successfully convincing MCs to vocal instrumentals produced by childhood friends like D.O.K.^[27] From the label's second release onwards, he printed colour labels with logos on each record, investing in a brand identity that he felt set him apart from the plain white-labels used by prominent artists like Wiley.^[25] Early releases included underground hits such as Crazy Titch's 2003 single "I Can C U, U Can C Me (Say My Name, Crazy T)",^[26][4] Nasty Crew's 2003 single "Cock Back" featuring Titch and Riko Dan, Big E-D's 2003 single "Frontline" featuring D Double E and Bruza's 2004 singles "Bruzin'" and "Get Me".^{[28][20][29][30][6][16]} Terror Danjah has claimed the release of "Cock Back" was a defining moment in the label's trajectory, topping the sales chart at specialist record store Rhythm Division and earning a coveted editorial spot as the 'Power Play' on Deja Vu FM, with vinyl sales totalling around 10,000 copies.^[25] The label also released fully instrumental bodies of work, including Terror Danjah's breakthrough EP Industry Standard and the 2004 various artist remix EP Payback, reportedly "one of Aftershock's top sellers".^[17]

In 2004, Terror Danjah and Scratcha DVA (billed as Aftershock) began presenting the 'UKG M1X Show' on BBC Radio 1Xtra,^[31][32] a fortnightly late show on Friday nights, alternating weeks with DJ Q.^{[9][8][33][34]} Shows would typically open with 30 minutes of R&G productions, followed by MC-led songs,^[35] with Bruza and Triple Threat, both trusted collaborators of Terror Danjah's from his former jungle group Reckless Crew, joining as the group's first MCs.^[8] Guests included Shola Ama, Sway and Roll Deep and as of 2005 their slot was four hours long, from 2-6am.^[23][31] The show ended in 2006,^[35] and Scratcha left the crew the same year due to feeling overshadowed.^[8]

In keeping with rival crews' introductions of subsets of "youngers" into their ranks, original members Triple Threat and Bruza each assembled their own subgroups of Aftershock—Tha Lordz and The Hooligans respectively—with the intention of developing the careers of younger MCs.^[20] Tha Lordz formed first in 2003, debuting with an appearance on Ras Kwame's 1Xtra show.^[11] The Hooligans appeared collectively on a remix of Bruza's December 2005 single "Doin' Me", featured as a B-side on the vinyl release. Both divisions released their own albums direct-to-consumer on compact disc in 2006 via the crew's official website: Tha Lordz' House of Lordz Vol. 1, released 10 July 2006, featured members Triple Threat, Specs, Royal, Krucial and Cyclone,^[11] while The Hooligans' It's Coming Home, released 7 December 2006, featured members Bruza, Tinie Tempah and D Dark^[36][13] and included multiple vocal versions of Tinie's single "Wifey", which had become a hit on Channel U, spending ten weeks at the top of the channel's requests chart.^[37] Also featured on the album was a remix of Kano's "Signs in Life".

The Aftershock collective came together as a whole to release its first and only album, Shock to the System, on 26 March 2007, which included nineteen tracks recorded between 2005 and 2006.