This east London, England-based trio of MCs was formed in 2000, when third member Neeko joined founders Ozzie B and Lethal Bizzle who had discovered a shared talent for rapping at school. The pair would freestyle while waiting for their teachers to arrive, and quickly made a name for themselves when joining up with pirate radio DJ Shaunie B to form the Cream Team. After Neeko arrived, the trio became More Fire Crew, the ‘more fire’ depicting the way they targeted their ‘haters and bad minders’. Courtesy of Shaunie B they became big on pirate station Amy FM, their fast and furious MCing style apparent in their first single release, ‘Oi!’. Promoted by the Dreem Teem, DJ Luck And MC Neat and Commander B, the track was initially shunned by commercial radio before being taken up by BBC DJs Pete Tong and Steve Lamacq. Signed to Polydor Records in 2001, the Top 10 success of ‘Oi!’ was consolidated by ‘Back Then’ and ‘Soldiers, Fallen’, the latter, featuring N’Jay, written for two friends lost in car accidents.
The trio’s first album abandoned an early no swearing policy, bringing them closer to So Solid Crew in both musical and lyrical language. Despite that they were approached by London authorities in May 2002 to promote a campaign encouraging young people to vote in the local elections. After their commercial success and the termination of their major label recording contract, the trio remained keen to maintain a close contact with their underground roots, fronting three pirate shows a week in London and Birmingham. In 2004, Lethal Bizzle released one of the underground anthems of the year, ‘Pow! (Forward)’.
