FILM: HYPER - The Stevie Hyper D Story

HYPER: The Stevie Hyper D Story is the definitive tale of the UK's original junglist soldier.

A massive stage presence and a musical pioneer, Stevie Hyper D supercharged UK rave culture into one of the most significant global musical movements of the last 30 years.

Stevie's nephew Darrell Austin, goes on a highly personal and emotionally-charged journey to uncover the legacy of the one and only bad boy MC Stevie Hyper D.

After years of breaking boundaries under the radar, Stephen Austin, AKA Stevie Hyper D,  finally signed to Island Records in 1996.

On the brink of major success, at the age of 31 the pressures of relentless performing proved too much.

A heart attack extinguished his potential, leaving a gaping hole in his family and the burgeoning jungle scene.

Today his contribution to UK music culture can be traced from 80s reggae sound systems and jungle’s thrilling 90s apex, all the way to UK rap’s evergreen swagger.

The story unfolds through the focus of a family's love for a man, whose life and untimely death were inextricably linked to a genre’s creation.

Darrell Austin, Stevie Hyper D’s nephew, goes on a personal journey through 90s London, to discover first hand his uncle’s legacy.

Through conversations with Stevie’s friends, musical peers and other family members, he is forced to confront his own grief and mental health.

Darrell and Stevie were close in age, so their relationship was more akin to brothers than uncle and nephew.

Their heritage, raised in London, of mixed Caribbean and Gibraltarian descent gave them a shared perspective, which is uniquely British and multicultural in equal parts – and which permeates the film.

Recent years have seen artists like Steve McQueen and Idris Elba remembering and reexamining the untold stories of the London melting pot they grew up in, bringingthe underrepresented Caribbean immigrant perspective to the screen.

While Britain’s outsized contribution to global musical culture is well-known, the contribution of Black and mixed race artists has not been given the respect it is due.

HYPER: The Stevie Hyper D Story, tells an important and compelling story, taking us back to a lost time in British musical culture, when a physical community shared their passion in the record shops and clubs of multicultural London.

Pre-internet, the community brought together disparate elements of the Black Atlantic musical experience to create a genre that would dominate London youth culture before breaking out globally, laying the foundation for turning Electronic Dance Music and rave culture into one of the most significant global musical movements of the last three decades.

“Hands down the best documentary that’s ever been made on jungle drum & bass”. Logan D (DJ, Producer)

“The origin story of jungle D&B’s peerless superhero Stevie Hyper is the origin story of an entire culture. Folk tale, time capsule, family eulogy: there has never been a documentary like this”. Ewen Cook (Journalist)

“This film is a historic and heartrending celebration of pioneering icon Stevie Hyper D, an artist who set the blueprint for contemporary MC culture”. Marcus Barnes (Journalist)

“Seriously moving, it’s got everything in there. The full history!’. Nicky Blackmarket (DJ, Producer)

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