blackdown's second grime/dubstep column for pitchfork

gumdrops

Well-known member
Column: The Month in Grime/Dubstep
Story by Martin Clark
As all scenes grow, they expand beyond their cultural point of origin and litter seeds in the most unlikely of places. Even grime, a microcolony within a city so culturally insular vast swathes of Londoners are oblivious to its way of living, has spread spores around the world.

But, unlike other scenes, expansion represents a unique problem for grime. The scene built a unique identity because London-based MCs threw away garage's rulebook and refused to do what U.S. hip hop culture told it to. How can you make grime productions if the rules have been thrown away? Who determines what is grime? And how can people from all over the world "be" grime, if the only grime constant is being a part of a very particular London community?

Drum & bass had it easier. People could get involved. Make your own tunes, DJ at your own raves and, for a bit, follow the UK leaders. But grime doesn't work like that. There's no real formula for what is grime-- yet without a London MC over the top, it isn't grime. Or is it?

It's easiest to say what grime is, when you see it. London badboy MC barking warnings via a pirate station. But then what if there's no pirate station, or no Londoners? What of Manchester's Mark One and Virus Syndicate, playing at Sonar and Glastonbury? The promoters will say, "we've booked a grime act." But have they? What about Leicester's Klass A, universally ignored when on XL recordings, now signed to Dizzee's Dirtee Stank label? Grime MCs are caustically scornful of outsiders beyond their London postcode, let alone beyond the capital .

As the circle of influence expands beyond the UK, grime definitions become more blurred. What of DJ Maximus putting on grime raves in Berlin and releasing 12"s on electronica stable Warp? Or the patronising Grim Dubs series? Or New York's Shadetek now hanging around with Jammer and Skepta at BBQs. What about DJs playing grime in U.S. bars? The final spanner in the works is Roll Deep's Riko joining the blogsphere. On one level, the lack of defined boundaries is disorientating, yet it's precisely that unpredictability that makes grime so vital.

Another measure of grime's vitality is the number of albums on the horizon. Kano and Roll Deep have dropped theirs and D Double E's been involved with two. Firstly he's hosting Lord of the Decks 3, the flagship road-media series, made by the streets for the streets.

On the mix CD, D Double announces his Newham General camp will be releasing an album this summer on Dizzee's Dirtee Stank label. Having heard six or seven cuts, at this stage the LP is sounding rough, rugged, and raw. There are no bussed-in commercial producers, or Kanye hooks-- just raw street riddims from Footsie. It won't sell a million, but it might actually represent what makes the scene so mezmerising.

Lethal B's album "Against All Odds" is a curious mix. On one level it's at least musically consistent, with grime producers providing the bulk of the riddims. Dexplicit gets busy and Plastic Man supplies the album's highlight, the introspective "Hitman". But it's also lyrically inconsistent. Lethal advocates avoiding beef, and seeing beyond local politics and on Track 5, "Mind Your Head", he reaches out to arch-rival Wiley, saying only they can make changes in the scene. But by "Slow" he's using his album to launch lyrical missiles at Wiley, Riko, and God's Gift. War or peace: which is it?

This month dubstep has also been consumed by internal struggles. Contentious and tense, debate was triggered by the changes to dubstep's key club, Forward>>'s summer line up. Out went the breaks-influenced DJs; in came a slew of hot grime DJs. Not everyone was excited by the changes. Amidst a lot of dubious one-post log-in names, vastly differing perspectives on whether increased grime representation was a welcome or mistaken addition were expressed. Nonetheless debate about the future of the sound is always welcome.

Past the infighting, another theme of the month was intrigue. It was triggered by the addition to DJ Hatcha sets of dubs supplied by a new producer named Scuba, in particular two riddims Timba and Aqualung. This didn't fit the mould.

The current era of clipped, minimal dubstep-- as opposed to the breaky Zinc and skippy 2-step influenced eras that preceded it-- owes much to Hatcha sets circa 2003-2004. Exerting very selective A&R control over his sets, Hatcha created a new sound.

A side effect of this policy was that his selection of dubs came from a very select band of producers. Yet here we have a new producer, Scuba, being brought in from nowhere-- and nobody knew who he was.

Scuba's beats perfectly fitted Hatcha's trademark Croydon skunked style. Clipped, dark and minimal, they were an exercise in understatement and restraint. They evolved engagingly and iteratively and wild speculation began on forums. Was it Hatcha himself? Was it someone from the old garage era? Was it someone from the grime or breaks-influenced camps? The truth remains elusive to all but Hatcha and Scuba himself...for now.

Hatcha's sets haven't just been filled with Scuba dubs. Ever exclusive, he's replenished his entire canon with a new selection of bombs, this time more uptempo and energetic than before. Perhaps its under competition from other dubstep DJs raising their game, but nevertheless it's a joy to embrace a whole new selection of tunes, many of them by the Croydon wonderkid Skreams. Check a recent Hatcha set on Rinse here.

It's also turning into a good summer for dubstep releases. First there's talk of queues, yes queues (!) forming in Blackmarket Records to buy DMZ's fourth single from Youngsta, who resides behind the counter. Youngsta is another DJ on fire right now, and his Dubstep Allstars two-mix CD for Tempa is complete. Excepting Kode 9's "Kingstown" (due to drop on Hyperdub), it features each one of the current big anthems, from Mala Digital Mystikz' "Neverland" to Loefah's "Root" via Skreams' "Late Night Request Line". A 100% unreleased compilation? That's some serious dubplate pressure.
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
its an interesting idea - grime outposts opening up around the world, even if its only on a small scale. i suppose its the same problem other musics like hip hop might have had earlier, lyrically especially - other places' incarnation of grime wont have london MCing so perhaps that will render it inauthentic, although with grime, i think theres more malleability musically. precisely because there isnt a rulebook per se, theres more chance of it being moulded uniquely by those in each new 'district'. this idea that grime has no real 'sound' or concrete (sonic?) identity though im not so sure about. yeah, grime is very diverse, sometimes to the point of teetering on the edge of not having a real musical identity or having one that can often blur with uk hip hop (sorry!), but it does have a certain definite aesthetic at work in the best stuff from terror danjah, wiley or wonder et al.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
I've been playing the few grime sides I do have at some LA parties, juxtaposed with hiphop and dancehall. and only a few people are really excited by the sound. I guess most party goers are just scared of the new or just plain complacent. what is more dissapointing is I've sensed a conservatism from some of my best friends in the music scene, who reacts to grime with suspicion and want to slag it off as a passing fad or derivative, merely re-combining elements from other styles. at which point I have to remind them that every "new" sound is just that: a re-combination of other, pre-existing styles, while building upon, adding and mutating them, and often dismissed in the beginning by non-believers as a passing fad. "house music? well it's just repetitive disco isn't it? can't last more than 3 months."
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
i would seriously love to hear what that newham generals stuff is going to be like.... i cant imagine them being that good for a whole album but maybe dizzee can steer them in the right direction and make them play to their strengths. d double sounded great on give you more (even if it was just for a chorus).....
 
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