Stevie Hyper-D

Stevie Hyper D, born Stephen Austin on 20 September 1966 in London to a Spanish mother and Barbadian father, emerged as one of the most pioneering MCs in the drum and bass and jungle scenes of the 1990s. Growing up in West London, he found his voice through blues parties and sound system culture, nurturing a lyrical talent despite learning to read and write only around the age of 16.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Stevie Hyper D became celebrated for inventing the now-ubiquitous double time MCing style, a rapid-fire delivery that doubled the traditional vocal flow while still fitting perfectly within the beat’s structure. His commanding stage presence and ability to galvanise a crowd earned him legendary status at seminal rave nights like One Nation and Dreamscape, often punctuated with his iconic chants such as “Bad boy come again!” and “Junglists, are you re-a-dy!”.

In 1999, after his untimely death from a heart attack on 5 July 1998 at the age of 31, Stevie Hyper D achieved a milestone as the first drum and bass MC to secure a major label release with The Next Step on Island Records, issued posthumously. Prior to that, his album The Legend, produced by Benny V and released on the independent label Dance Concept, featured the standout track Buffalo Soldier, which would later earn a nomination for DNBA Tune of the Year in 2004.

Nearly three decades after his passing, Stevie Hyper D’s influence endures as a musical legend and cultural template for generations of MCs across jungle, drum and bass, garage and grime. His life and legacy are revisited in the 2024 documentary HYPER: The Stevie Hyper D Story, directed by Jamie Ross-Hulme and spearheaded by Stevie’s nephew Darrell Austin, which brings previously unseen archival footage and personal insights to a wider audience.