MATT MAson
BROADSIDE
Cultural aspects, while important, do not in any way allow you to identify a Grime production by ear.
This is an important point, not just about grime but about any genre. Can someone really identify something like grime just by ear?
There are hip hop productions at the same bpm as grime that grime DJs drop in grime sets. Big Pimpin' by Jay-z for example. Grime DJs used to drop that all the time at Sidewinder, with 10 Grime MCs spitting over it, in front of a crowd who had come out to listen to grime, who were going mad. I would argue that what you were seeing would still count as "grime."
Now imagine a hip hop head in New York turns on Hot 97. He has no idea what grime is, and thinks London is a funny little island from Austin Powers. Pitbull's version of Forward Riddim is being played by Funkmaster Flex. But this hip hop head likes Pitbull, so he leaves it on, thinking he's listening to a hip hop tune. Is this "grime?"
I think a true definition of something like this is more nuanced. Geography and all kinds of other non-musical things are just as important as drum programming.