MC Hyper – Middlesbrough / North East Makina MC
When people talk about the history of North East Makina, attention often turns towards Sunderland's New Monkey, Newcastle or Gateshead. But Middlesbrough and the wider Teesside area developed its own generation of DJs, MCs and ravers – and one of the names from that early scene was MC Hyper.
Hyper is particularly interesting for the WGR archive because evidence of him survives from two directions: memories of the early Middlesbrough MC scene and recordings connected with the New Monkey.
An Early Middlesbrough MC
One of the best pieces of evidence about MC Hyper comes from a 2014 interview with Middlesbrough's MC Banks.
While talking about the history of MCing around Middlesbrough, Banks looked back beyond his own career and specifically remembered Hyper.
He said:
“If you go back to where it started there was an MC called MC Hyper.”
That's a significant statement.
It places Hyper among the earlier generation of MCs remembered as part of the developing Middlesbrough rave scene.
Banks also mentioned other Teesside MC names including:
**MC Tempo
MC Rocking
MC Glocky
MC Jester**
Together they help show that Middlesbrough had its own MC culture developing alongside the scenes in Sunderland, Newcastle and elsewhere in the North East.
The Teesside Makina Scene
Makina became particularly important across the North East during the late 1990s and 2000s.
Spanish Makina records mixed with Hardcore, Hard Trance and other fast rave styles, while MCs developed the rapid lyrical style that became such a recognisable part of North East rave culture.
Middlesbrough wasn't simply watching what was happening elsewhere.
Local DJs and MCs were building their own following, recording tapes and CDs, performing at events and travelling around the region.
MC Hyper appears to have been part of that earlier Middlesbrough generation.
MC Hyper at the New Monkey
Hyper's name also appears in surviving material connected with Sunderland's legendary New Monkey.
One recording circulating online is simply titled:
New Monkey – MC TNT & MC Hyper
That's an interesting combination because TNT is another MC whose early North East rave history can be documented through surviving New Monkey material.
The recording gives us something better than memories alone.
We can still hear Hyper performing.
2 November 2002
The surviving New Monkey catalogue provides further evidence.
Recordings dated 2 November 2002 include Hyper alongside DJs associated with the club, with titles connecting him to:
**DJ Nitro
DJ Matrix
DJ Direct**
This firmly places Hyper within surviving material from the New Monkey's classic early-2000s period.
For anyone researching North East Makina today, recordings like these have become important historical documents.
They preserve the sound of the club – not only the records being played but also the MCs who performed over them.
Hyper & TNT
The surviving MC TNT & MC Hyper recording is another connection between the Middlesbrough and wider North East scenes.
The New Monkey wasn't built around one fixed DJ and MC combination.
Different performers appeared together, MCs went B2B, DJs changed throughout the night and artists travelled from different parts of the region.
That movement helped create the distinctive North East Makina culture people still remember today.
Hyper's recordings show that a Middlesbrough MC was part of that wider network.
Middlesbrough Had Its Own Story
This is something we want to document properly at Weedy Garage Radio.
North East rave history wasn't created in one city or one club.
Stockton, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Hartlepool, Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland all contributed to the culture.
There were famous clubs and famous names, but underneath them was a much larger network of local DJs, MCs, promoters, record shops, bedroom DJs and ravers.
Some became nationally recognised.
Others became legends within their own towns.
And some survive today mainly through old tapes, CDs and memories.
Remembered by MC Banks
The fact that MC Banks specifically remembered Hyper years later is particularly valuable.
Banks himself became closely associated with the Middlesbrough and Teesside Makina scene.
When discussing the MCs around him, he mentioned Hyper, Tempo, Rocking, Glocky and Jester.
He also explained how tapes and CDs helped MCs build their names.
That was hugely important before SoundCloud, Mixcloud and social media.
A tape could be copied.
A CD could be passed between mates.
A recording made in Sunderland could end up in Middlesbrough, Stockton or Hartlepool.
That's how reputations spread.
Before Social Media
It's also worth remembering how different the rave scene was during Hyper's era.
There wasn't an Instagram page documenting every appearance.
There weren't smartphones filming every set.
A huge amount of the scene existed through:
**Tapes and CDs
Flyers
Internet forums
Rave websites
Word of mouth
Photos taken inside clubs**
When those websites disappeared and people's collections were thrown away, parts of the history disappeared with them.
That's why finding even one surviving Hyper recording matters.
What Happened to MC Hyper?
By the time of the 2014 MC Banks interview, Banks indicated that Hyper wasn't particularly active anymore.
Unfortunately, reliable information about what happened afterwards is difficult to find.
We haven't found trustworthy documentation confirming Hyper's real name, and we don't want to attach somebody else's identity to him without evidence.
There are probably people around Middlesbrough and the wider Teesside rave community who know much more of the story.
That's one reason we're adding Hyper to the WGR archive.
Sometimes publishing what can be verified helps bring out the missing pieces.
Preserving the Middlesbrough MC Generation
MC Hyper might not have the enormous online archive that exists for some New Monkey performers.
But that doesn't make his place in the story less important.
We have an established Middlesbrough MC remembering him as somebody who was there near the beginning.
We have surviving New Monkey material.
We have recordings linking him with other North East performers.
Together, that's enough to establish MC Hyper as one of the names worth preserving in the history of Middlesbrough and North East Makina.
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Do You Remember MC Hyper?
We'd particularly like to hear from the Middlesbrough and Teesside ravers on this one.
Did you see MC Hyper performing?
Do you remember him from Middlesbrough events?
Did you hear MC Hyper at the New Monkey?
Did you own the TNT & Hyper recording?
And most importantly – have you still got anything?
We're looking for:
**Old tapes
CD packs
Flyers
Photographs
Videos
Event line-ups
Old rave website pages
Personal memories**
If you've got something connected with MC Hyper, get in touch or post it on the WGR forum.
https://weedygarageradio.xyz/forum?topic=107
Every old tape, flyer and memory helps rebuild another part of the history.
Weedy Garage Radio – Keeping North East Rave History Alive.