Ever since West Side Story brought a pirouette to a knife fight, the inner-city musical has had a credibility problem. Take Jungle (Prime Video), a six-part drama set in a neon-lit, near-future London and told “through the prism of UK rap and drill music”. Is it intended as a cri de coeur from the disaffected urban youth? Or a slice of stylised entertainment, as escapist as any other? Could it possibly be both?
Even Jungle’s narrator seems unsure, though he is fronting it out: “What if I told you that this was all real?” asks a tough-talking voiceover early on in the first episode. “That it wasn’t just a story with a bunch of cameras, actors and musicians, all put together for your entertainment.” What if? The implication is that we cosseted TV viewers, in our comfy living rooms, couldn’t hack the unfiltered urban realness. Perhaps co-creators Junior Okoli and Chas Appeti would have been wise to get those “just a story” basics right before picking such fights?
