British Music: Grime

All information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grime_(music)

Grime is a genre of urban music which first emerged in Bow, East London in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall and hip hop.

According to Sasha Frere-Jones, writer for The New Yorker, grime has developed a fierce sound by "distilling" rhythms to a minimal style resulting in a choppy, off-center sound. Whereas hip hop is inherently dance music, Sasha argues that "grime sounds as if it had been made for a boxing gym, one where the fighters have a lot of punching to do but not much room to move. She also states that grime has maintained a style unique from American hip-hop with clear Jamaican and Caribbean influences.

Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder and Wiley, all members of Roll Deep, were among the first to bring the genre to the attention of the mainstream media in 2003. Grime has received exposure from television stations including Channel U, Logan Sama's show on London station Kiss FM and the BBC's youth oriented digital radio station 1Xtra.

Grime is a cross-pollinated genre taking influence from a variety of different cultural styles as well as musical ones and is therefore in many respects considered to be underground music, even after mainstream exposure. It exists in a largely informal economy in which most artists make their debuts on independently-produced battle DVDs that, like mixtapes are sold out of barbershops and make their way around the city. Even though grime is very popular in the UK, many recording labels have yet to acknowledge its presence as a genre that can compete in the global market. There is a perception that international major labels don't understand the value of grime, as DJ Semtex, an A&R for Def Jam Recordings and also Dizzee Rascal's J says "the biggest conflict I have is with major labels because they still don't get it."

Besides its creative and innovative music style, another contributing factor of its rapid and widespread growth in popularity is that the MC's producing current grime music are overwhelmingly young as a group. The most well known names in the industry, such as Dizzee Rascal and Kano both got their first hits at age 16 and the resultant package of "youth making music for youth" is seen as a crucial factor for Grime's success.

The grime scene has encountered some criticism, especially from government officials like ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett who in 2003 called rap lyrics "appalling" or former minister Kim Howells' statement that grime artists were helping to create a culture "where killing is almost a fashion accessory". Howells went even deeper into the issue, making comments that grime supporters claimed to find "deeply racist", referring to popular artists and crews as "boasting macho idiot rappers". While the government offers one point of view, the artists and listeners offer another. In an article by Jeff Chang in The Village Voice, Dizzee Rascal's often violent and sexual lyrics are heralded as "capturing, encapsulating and preserving" the life that he and his peers live on the streets every day.

Watch some grime videos here:

Bashy

Tinchy Stryder

Chipmunk

Wiley

Dizzee Rascal

Skepta

JME

Devlin

Roll Deep

Boy Better Know

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