Since its founding in 2010, London’s influential Boiler Room series has organized more than 8,000 performances in upwards of 200 cities across the world, garnering millions of views along the way. Although the series’ premise is fairly simple–one camera, one DJ, one room—it has quickly grown into one of the most influential platforms in contemporary music culture. What sets it apart isn’t just the artists it showcases, but the intimacy of the format: performers surrounded by dancers, friends, and strangers, with the line between audience and artist deliberately blurred.
For the past 16 years, Boiler Room has usually focused on the here and now, documenting emerging artists, new scenes, and sounds that feel like they’re still taking shape in real time. That’s what makes this week’s programming feel like a deliberate shift in perspective. Instead of focusing on the future, Boiler Room is turning its cameras toward the past, specifically to the foundational figures of Memphis rap who first began recording in the 1990s.
In October, the London crew descended on Memphis to record a string of Boiler Room concerts that are truly unlike any others in the series. Recorded at the legendary Royal Studios–once the home to Memphis soul icons such as Al Green, Willie Mitchell, and Ann Peebles–the Memphis rap-focused showcase featured crunked-out performances from underground legends Tommy Wright III, DJ Spanish Fly, Shawty Pimp, Al Kapone, La Chat, and DJ Zirk.
Nearly three months later, these performances will finally be available to the public as they’re set to premiere on Thursday, January 22nd on Boiler Room’s channel. For those of you in Memphis, you can join the official watch party at No Comment Wine Bar at 8PM, which promises to feature appearances by many of the legendary rappers themselves…