Red Hot Entertainment - Junior Spesh

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Contains strong language

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Red Hot Entertainment - Junior Spesh

2007-10-08
2m

Grime crew Red Hot Entertainment’s viral tribute to the Junior Special deal at their local chicken shop.

The institution of the Chicken Shop looms large over UK internet video. The Chicken Connoisseur hit on a winning formula taking this food seriously, to a point, in reviewing establishments across London, while Amelia Dimoldenberg's Chicken Shop Date interview series has used them as a setting for an ever-expanding media empire.

Long before all this, a legitimate banger of a track dropped in 2007 that paid tribute to the Junior Special: a £1.50 deal of wings and chips that was apparently fuelling the musical activity of grime crew Red Hot Entertainment. Red Hot were no joke but as the four members – Jaxor, Klayze Flaymz, Terra & Ray – go in over a dubstep-infused beat from DJ Krissy Kris, listing the specifics of their order (‘mayonnaise on the left’ ‘give me some tissue in case of mess’), the line between comedy, parody and genuine grime classic becomes blurred.

Junior Spesh is funny, but only because it combines its humour with a track that could fill dancefloors and sit comfortably on grime radio. The song was already a hit before the video dropped, but the visuals of the crew rapping at their local SFC took Junior Spesh and Red Hot nationwide, hitting 1 million views.

Music video for the Grime comedy song 'Junior Spesh' by Red Hot Entertainment. The video features the four MCs lip-syncing to the song inside and out front of a chicken shop in East London. They detail the £1.50 Junior Special deal as well as the extra costs for mayonnaise or a drink with a string of humorous asides about their dislike of Pizza Hut ('Pizza Hut I don't do') or the need for tissues ('Gimmie some tissue, case of mess').

Online Video

From viral memes to video essays, discover highlights from a new BFI National Archive collection...

First came the Cinema Age, then the TV Age, and now the age of Online Video. Digital film created for distribution online is today’s most dynamic, influential screen form. Encompassing much that’s new, from ASMR and Unboxing Videos to Twitch streaming and TikTok twerking, it’s also breathed new life into older film forms, filling our screens with fresh takes on advertising, journalism, satire, public information, campaigning, training and much else that’s been with us since time immemorial, and variously taking the forms of comedy, drama, documentary and animation. It’s become embedded into every aspect of UK (and world) society.

This unique collection of 50 online videos combines iconic highlights of British online video with other examples chosen to illustrate that sheer diversity. All were acquired by the BFI National Archive as part of the Lottery funded Our Screen Heritage programme. Our thanks to the Lottery, and lottery ticket buyers nationwide. for their support of this vital collecting and preservation work.