Born in the bedrooms of British estates, Grime is one of the most vibrant and powerful cultures, capturing the ideals of London’s youth with the world left in awe. Where 80s New York had hip-hop to represent them, the portrayal of life in their city, early 2000 London remained in a limbo in-between the shadow of the punk takeover and the UK dance sounds which emerged.
The answer wasn’t flashy, it was gritty and rough; grimy, even, a reflection of real life. Blending home-grown sounds of garage and jungle, it was illegal pirate radio stations based in kitchens which inevitably cultivated a booming culture. London’s answer to hip-hop, it gave a voice to the voiceless within the fast paced, digital world of 21st century Britain.
From the streets to the award show stage, there’s definitely been a huge change in the past few years alone. A major turning point was when pioneer Dizzee Rascal was awarded the coveted Mercury Music Price back in the year 2003, but it’s taken another 13 years for grime to be once again be praised at the award show.
In the past two years alone grime has grown from essentially a small group of friends to a global phenomena. Just this month, North London’s Skepta took home the coveted Mercury Prize, beating David Bowie and Radiohead with his album Konnichiwa. But what actually sparked the grime explosion? Why has it taken 16 years to reach the worldwide spotlight and why now?
If we look back to the early 2000s, we find early pioneers like Dizzee Rascal, Kano, Wiley, D Double E. There was a point where many reached out to American sounds, compromising their unique identity to adopt a more traditional hip-hop voice. The result was the mainstream Dance Wiv Me rapping Dizzee, the Wearing My Rolex Wiley, and even the Amnesia Skepta. It didn’t stand out because, well, it didn’t stand out. It didn’t feel original and it lacked a key theme for these artists, integrity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnEZmk7as9Y
“I’ve been keeping my ear to the streets, The UK run out of ideas, Everybody doing covers of American beats,” Skepta acknowledged in his single Ace Hood Flow the following year, a theme which many seemed to suddenly pick up on and acknowledge in the scene. In response, artists’ decided to journey back to the original sounds, the vibes that they had begun with, a change which resulted in Skepta’s first global grime breakout That’s Not Me, capitalising on the original ‘eskimo’ sounds.
From here many more followed, including another leader of the grime trend Stormzy, who found his break with a freestyle over the Functions On The Low instrumental, a tune originally released back in 2004. These days it comes easier, with new artists Santan Dave and AJ Tracey blowing up with their single Thiago Silva, a booming remix of the 2003 Pied Piper instrumental.
The decision to return to the genre’s roots and build upon their past rather than jump on a foreign sound cultivated something truly original and important, something that authentic and entirely British. During a time when mainstream rap was stretching out in countless directions thanks to a growing boredom among listeners, grime endeavoured.
Now, as listeners and outsiders to the culture, we’re standing at a real turning point. Beyoncé is dancing to Skepta onstage, Drake is a part of Boy Better Know. It’s not even close to the underground anymore.
So what does that mean for the future? Already the term grime is becoming broader and broader, reaching out to different sounds and vibes, but staying unexplainably grimey. It’s hard to predict what such a new form of expression will do next, but already we are seeing this trend of nostalgia, and the legendary Jammer agrees, “You’re always gonna get people recreating what’s been done before if it was great,” the BBK member and Lord of The Mics founder explained, “Moving forward, someone’s gonna come along and add their thing which is new, mix it with something old, and that’s fusion, out of a magical thing something else is gonna come.”
The one problem with a genre that champions such specific sounds and rhythms is that it has its limits, it’s boundaries. That said, there’s marked diversity with many artists, be it Novelist‘s experimental beats, J Hus’ addictive dancehall blend, or Section Boyz’ trappy inflections, so it’ll be interesting to see where grime will shake and shift to in the coming months and years. Will it prevail when it’s no longer the new kid on the block?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GYYYZbGEuU
Image: Noisey
A new mini-documentary, filmed at SXSW, takes a look at the tremendously growing popularity of grime in the USA. The five minute video features interviews with artists and media including founder of SBTV, Jamal Edwards, Lethal Bizzle, Ghetts and Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, discussing the rise of grime outside of its UK roots, the importance of bringing this culture to other parts of the world, and the US reaction to such a distinctly British style of music.
it’s early days to look at the impact that grime is having in other nations, but at the same time, it’s incredible to see how quickly audiences have taken to Skepta, Stormzy, Wiley and more.
Crowdmix and SBTV got together to create the video about the growing phenomenon, which allows an inside look at the way it’s been embraced, and what people are making of this British invasion on US airwaves. This year’s SXSW was in particular hailed as a turning point for grime overseas, with so many artists drawing mammoth crowds to their incredibly high-energy shows.
Watch the full video below, which provides some really interesting insight into the power of the upcoming movement and the developing relationship with US fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53miK-8GsvM
Read our feature on Getting to Know Grime: The Rise of Boy Better Know
Image: BBC
Glastonbury Festival, now in its 46th year, has just released its first major lineup for the 2016 edition, taking place at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset from June 22-26.
Let’s be honest here – it’s pretty damn safe, and could mostly be predicted by the US festival lineups like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Governor’s Ball and Panorama.
It was already announced that Adele would be the main headliner. Now, it’s been revealed she will do so alongside two of the most unbelievably safe headline picks of all time, Muse and Coldplay.
Zzzzzzzzz.
I know, I know, you can’t expect a daring and edgy lineup from the biggest festival in the world, but come on. I guess after last year’s intense anti-Kanye controversy, they decided to lay so low that protesters would fall asleep before they could even think about complaining.
While the lineup was predictable, it’s by no means bad. Notable others include Foals, Beck, LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey, ZZ Top, Disclosure, New Order, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Last Shadow Puppets, and Explosions in the Sky.
But what’s most exciting about this year’s lineup is the influx of hip-hop and grime artists on the bill. Okay, so there’s not tonnes, but there’s an incredibly solid selection, including Skepta, Stormzy, Lady Leshurr, Little Simz, Vince Staples, along with hip-hop’s one-man jazz prodigy Kamasi Washington. And the most exciting part is that they’re not stuffed down near the bottom (although we’re pretty damn stoked to see Hinds down there,) they’re way up top where everyone can see.
Just look!
It’s awesome to see the world really taking notice of grime like this – having quietly brewed in its little corner of the world for years now, 2016 is the year that grime takes over. Yes, sure, going global will undoubtedly bring all of the trials and tribulations of mainstream success, but for now, we’re excited to see where it goes.
Read our feature on the growth grime and one of its biggest labels, Boy better Know
Image: Glastonbury Festival
Over the last few months, UK grime has very quickly started to take over Australia, with the rest of the world right behind. With kingpins Skepta and Stormzy recently paying visits down under, and grime getting tonnes of airplay on stations like Triple J and FBi, we’re on the cusp of a complete takeover. With that in mind, we thought it important to catch the masses up on the genre, and in particular its most influential label, Boy Better Know, or BBK.
Before there was BBK, brothers Jme and Skepta had a regular stint on pirate radio, blasting grime as part of Meridian Crew, with another historic grime artist, Big H. After a number of their acquaintances went to jail for attempted murder, the crew split, and from the ashes, rose BBK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or-HggsrwPM
The boys remained on the radio, soon moving to a Sunday night Rinse FM show alongside BBK signee Wiley, and continued to spread their own music and that of their friends. Piece by piece, the unmistakeable grime sound began to grow, with a whole lifestyle along with it. This included what’s become a successful clothing brand, with Jme printing BBK t-shirts to sell at shows and alongside their music, popular video clips airing online and on TV, putting on huge parties around London, and more.
From North London to North America, grime is spreading – fast. And BBK are at the very top of it. Let’s take a look at their journey to the top.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyONbqggasY
Grime was already going strong during BBK’s birth, but only in a small part of the world. One of the main reasons it’s drawn attention is the community feel, the family vibe. One of the most exciting aspects of grime is that everyone shares everyone else’s releases and supports one another, meaning that fans are constantly being exposed to amazing new music personally endorsed by the top grime artists. Skepta, Wiley, me and others not only share their own major releases, but mixtapes, remixes, new tracks more. Simply check out any one of their Facebook or Instagram accounts for your own personal grime playlists.
Interestingly, grime had been influencing a lot of mainstream hip-hop production flow well before it shot to its own fame. Along with rise of trap, these heavier beats and changes in speed and delivery have really influenced a lot of recent hip-hop – particularly that coming from the UK, but a number of big name collaborations have spread the influence far and wide. International collabs, notably A$AP Mob’s Young Lord with Skepta, and of course his long-running bromance with Drake, have slowly allowed a much bigger, international audience exposure to the genre.
The last couple of years have been monumental for BBK and grime as a whole. Perhaps its first massive endorsement came a little over a year ago, when Kanye West brought out basically the entire UK grime scene, plus a number of hip-hop artists on stage at the BRIT Awards, including Skepta, Stormzy and Novelist, to perform a blistering rendition of All Day, drawing massive international attention to the entire crew and the genre as a whole.
Without doubt, the biggest international endorser of grime, and BBK in particular, has been Drake. The Canadian megastar has long waxed lyrical about his obsession with the genre, going so far as to say that the first time he met Skepta, they immediately became brothers. He’s shared his love of Wiley and Skepta, the documentary series Top Boy and more to his many millions of Twitter and Instagram followers. More recently, Drizzy and Skepta have collaborated on each other‘s stages and on record, and the pair have reportedly signed one another to their own labels, OVO and BBK – and this will most likely include shared international distribution, which could potentially bring even more grime into the USA. Drake has gone so far as to get a BBK tattoo, while Skepta has taken it a little easier, posting a joint OVO/BBK t-shirt at the now-infamous recent Section Boyz show, at which both Skepta and Drake made a cameo appearance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO6DxYzB5ZE
An important note here is that while the Drake co-sign is great, it’s not necessary. Grime was already exploding before he hopped on board and it’s going to continue to do so regardless. Ten years ago, BBK were making mixtapes and t-shirts in their bedrooms. Ten years ago, Jme and Skepta were 20 and 23 respectively when they started BBK in 2005, and the reason they’ve stayed on top of the scene all these years later is thanks to no one but themselves. Yes, he has certainly been helpful in bringing grime to the masses, but it was going to happen anyway. He just gave it a little push.
Constantly releasing music, throwing parties and doing shows has kept them relevant all this time. For a long time, they didn’t even really intend on blowing up beyond their own country, but of course, now that’s changing. They’re older, and wiser, and better than they’ve ever been, and the world is starting to realise that. At the rate they’ve been going over the last year particularly, it’s clear that grime, with Boy Better Know at its helm, is moving further and further into the mainstream spotlight – and we’re absolutely, totally okay with that. Grime is more than just music, it’s an institution: grime has its own language, its own fierce independence, its own capital, its own fashion. And the world is very quickly taking notice.
Although some grime enthusiasts will of course protest its rise above the underground, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens when artists from other countries, especially the USA, begin incorporating and adapting the style more heavily into their own music. This has been a long time coming, and we couldn’t be more excited to be able to introduce more and more of the world to one of our favourite styles of hip-hop.
Co-written with Jack Colquhoun
Image: SBTV