On the face of it, grime is seen by many as just another music genre.
But to Nikhil Nagarkar, it’s not only a way of life - it’s been a life saver.
The 35-year-old is a successful businessman and one half of critically acclaimed Manchester grime collective Virus Syndicate.
His company - EY3 Media, based at The Sharp Project in Newton Heath - has successfully turned over more than £1million since its launch in 2014, something that he never thought possible given his background.
While at school, Nik wasn’t the most academic of students - his teachers often told him he would never amount to anything, and he dropped out with no qualifications before he sat his exams.
After falling in with the wrong crowd, his life started to spiral out of control as he got in and out of trouble as he struggled to work out what he wanted to do with his life.
But he found a lifeline from a surprise place - music.
A lifelong lover of hip hop, jungle, dubstep and grime, in 2001 Nik found himself turning his passion into a business venture.
Nik told the Manchester Evening News: “I was told in school I demonstrated no ability in anything whatsoever. I was no good at exams - I ended up leaving with no qualifications and had no prospects.
“After then I was in and out of trouble and it wasn’t until I was about 18 when I got into music. That sort of gave me a bit of focus. Especially when I started working and it became a career rather than a pipe dream.”
Hip hop and jungle were always something that Nik was fascinated by, so it was only natural that dubstep and grime followed suit.
And it was with a fusion of these that Nik, aka Nika D, created Virus Syndicate with his pal David Hindley, aka JSD, and their mates DJ Dre, Shado, Goldfinger, Rimic, CB, and Markone.
One year later, the group saw a line up change - Nik and JSD were joined by Mark One and Goldfinger.
“We initially formed at Fielden Park youth centre on Barlow Moor Road,” he explained. “We came together through mutual friends.
“At the time everyone was forming grime crews but wanted to be different and have a name that wouldn’t pigeon hole ourselves too much, hence the name 'syndicate' - although we did toy with the idea of being Virus Crew at the very start.”
Keen to get their music out there, Nik and JSD joined radio station Rinse FM in 2004 as presenters and used it as a platform for their creativity.
They received not only a staunch following from listeners who loved their music, but they also scooped a record deal.
“It was pretty unbelievable,” said Nik. “We went from MCing over jungle to mixing grime with dubstep, then playing our music on the radio, performing at small venues. Next thing we know Virgin Planet Mu are offering us a record deal.
“Our first album was critically acclaimed and our first video went top 10 on MTV Slowdown. We couldn’t believe it.”
It was in 2014 that Nik and JSD decided to turn what they knew into a business of their own, and set up Eye3 Media.
When they are not selling out venues across the globe as Virus Syndicate, they run their own label and media company, which creates multi-platform video content.
“I am nothing special - I am just a bit relentless,” Nik laughed. “A lot of people feel that there are no opportunities but I feel like in Manchester now there are more opportunities to be whatever you can be. Probably anywhere in the world right now.”
Nik also believes that Manchester is grime’s unofficial homeland - a movement that might even be more prevalent than Oasis’s Britpop era.
“Grime is embedded into the culture of the city,” he said. “I think it’s not necessarily the music. It’s the culture, the way you dress, speak and act. The way you are.
“I feel it’s more of a cultural thing than even Oasis - grime applies to a more multicultural audience which especially resonates in south Manchester.
“I’m from a mixed race background and because of the mix in diversity, I think that’s why it has been embraced so much here.”
Dad-of-one Nik said he doesn’t see the culture slowing down any time soon.
“Grime is going to get bigger and bigger,” he said. “People are growing up with it - As that happens more and more, the next generation will continue with it.
“I have a little girl, called Kyra, she’s only 17 months old and she loves it. She will grow up thinking it’s the norm, and hopefully will continue the legacy.”
To find out more about EY3 Media visit https://ey3media.com/ .
To find out more about The Sharp Project, visit https://www.thesharpproject.co.uk/ .
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