The group was founded by DJ Marcus Nasty and MCs Sharky Major and Stormin in 1999,[1] and its membership underwent frequent changes in the following years,[5] with most artists forming or joining successor crews by 2006.
It is regarded as a pioneering collective within grime music history and several of its former members have charted in the United Kingdom, including Jammer, D Double E, Ghetts, and Kano.
[20][10][18][21] Prior to the crew's formation, Sharky was performing at youth clubs and house parties, typically alongside Crazy Titch and Demon.
[22] Stormin had previously been a jungle MC in YGS Crew alongside Armour and Dizzee Rascal (then a DJ by the name Dizzy D),[23] performing in Bow youth club the Lincoln Arches and house parties,[24][25] and already had a reputation for freestyling, beatboxing and clashing other artists.
[26] Stormin invited Armour to join the group shortly after its inception,[6] and Dizzee participated in several of the crew's early radio sets, also collaborating with them on the dubplate "Ready 4 War" which later appeared on the 20th anniversary edition of his debut album Boy in da Corner.
[17][18] Fans would record the shows onto bootleg cassette tapes which they shared with friends across the country, furthering the group's popularity and attracting regional bookings outside of London.
[26] Jammer claims that he was asked to choose between Kano and Dizzee Rascal, and made the decision based on whose tones he felt would best complement his productions.
[26] Another Nasty Crew single, "Cock Back", was released in September 2003; produced by Terror Danjah, it saw Hitman Hyper and D Double E joined by guests Crazy Titch and Riko Dan.
[43] In July, Kano appeared on the first edition of Jammer's battle rap DVD series Lord of the Mics, clashing Wiley, which brought him further attention from the industry.
[44][32] Younger Nasty, a then-new faction of the group consisting of its junior members, appeared on the same DVD, teaming up with local crew Kids in da Hood to clash North West London's SLK.
The group collaborated with producer Blackjack on the single "Nasty Gang Banga" in 2005, released via DJ Cameo's label On a Level.
After leaving Nasty Crew, D Double E reached number eleven on the UK Singles Chart and received a MOBO Award in 2004 for the Lethal Bizzle song "Pow!
[55][56] [57] He later formed Newham Generals with Footsie, Monkstar and DJ Tubby, regarded as some of the first dubstep MCs,[16][7][25] and has since charted as a solo artist, including with his 2018 debut album Jackuum!, which reached number 61 on the UK Albums Chart,[58] and "Fresh N Clean (Silence the Critics)", created for IKEA's 2019 Christmas advert, which reached number 47 in the UK.
[73] Co-founder Marcus Nasty secured a long-standing residency on Rinse FM, through which he has been credited as an early champion of the UK funky genre.
He remained an active grime artist at the same time, including under his Teddy Bruckshot alias, until his death from skin cancer in February 2018.
[26] BRIT Award nominee CASisDEAD has claimed the crew's Deja Vu FM show introduced him to the genre,[75] as has Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter Scribz Riley.