Poor State of Grime

Blackdown

nexKeysound
hint said:
I got into UKG / Grime through your column in Muzik .

Muzik?

anyway i appreciate your point about schedules and i'm delighted there's enthusiasm and demand for dubstep 12"s on this thread but the reality is that it's not always been this way. people have made dubstep because they feel it, no one has ever made it because it sells, so flooding the market with 12"s is alien to them because selling out your pressing is largely alien in dubstep, no matter how amazing some of the 12"s are.

anyway if you want to help, either form a label (i did!) a promotions company ( good luck :) ) or more simply, get up on the dubplate.net forum and let producers know there's a demand.
 

Clubberlang

Well-known member
Logan Sama said:
That's strange.

The Roll Deep and Kano albums were both "really exciting" when they hadn't been released and people were trading radio rips and leaked copies of tracks.

Is this really true? I mean maybe people who hadn't heard the "leaks" were excited, but the general vibe esp. on the Roll Deep once most of it was heard was not good.
 

Logan Sama

BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
The vibe on the album tracks were so good Relentless added an extra 25 grand to the video budget of the first single.

If you take the 5 people on RWD forum that said they sold out, then fair enough.
 

Clubberlang

Well-known member
Logan Sama said:
The vibe on the album tracks were so good Relentless added an extra 25 grand to the video budget of the first single.

If you take the 5 people on RWD forum that said they sold out, then fair enough.

I'm just going by what I heard here and on ILM. Wasn't a lot of talk in either place about "selling out", just more like people were disappointed that they went in that direction. But maybe that's not a representative sample.
 

Pearsall

Prodigal Son
Having had some time to mull over it, I actually really really like the Roll Deep album. Kano's, overall, I like less, I'd have to say.

Every music has lulls, but there's been enough good stuff that I've heard recently that I'm keeping the faith.
 

Melchior

Taking History Too Far
Clubberlang said:
But maybe that's not a representative sample.

Who care's if it's representative? We're discussing it on here.

Logan, I don't remember anyone on dissensus saying that the leaks etc of the roll deep album were exciting. The pre-release and post-release buzz have been identical on here: that mostly, it's all a bit naff.

PS That was my meomoryat least, but I did a search and couldn't really find anyone saying anything much at all about it.
 

Keith P

draw for the drumstick
I just spent 70 pounds on records. I think the releses are doing ok. I feel its necessary that grime incorporate all different sorts of musical elements, otherwise its going to back itself into a corner. There are aspects of the Roll Deep album I really enjoy and even better tunes I felt were on the leak. "Stop Chattin Breeze" for starters, Big tune. What put me off about the album was the lyrical content stearing into the direction of love songs. It became a bit too overkill for me at times, not enough balance. Now I'm not saying I don't enjoy some of them but I also love the "rawness" Roll Deep is known for.

As for grime losing momentum....

Not at all. Scenes are picking up more and more speed outside London everyday. I think Londoners might see that and feel there's a bit of weight on their shoulders b/c of it. People like Kano and Roll Deep are trying to bring it to the next level, they're just still learning how.

I have one major gripe though. I'm getting frustrated with cameo's being pulled off of albums. The labels are pulling too many strings. In US Hip Hop people are constantly working together on singles and albums etc. Grime needs that badly.
 
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zhao

there are no accidents
on a side note from an "outsider", of the Best of Grime Scene compilations from Woebot, the 2003 is by far my favorite so far, liking it better than the 2004 and 2005 collections. I just played a party last night and dropped quite a few tunes from that. people were all over it.

Matt how do you feel about them? do you notice you like one year more than the others?

while we're at it, how do you feel about my mixes? which is your favorite?

I think it'll be time to do a grime mix soon as I gather some more material :)
 
S

simon silverdollar

Guest
Keith P said:
even better tunes I felt were on the leak. .

yeah have you heard 'don't want it anymore' ? it reminds me of some of the gentler bits from fennesz's 'endless summer'.
 

Tim F

Well-known member
The only album i have from grime this year is Aim High 2, but that's my favourite album of the last two years...
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
im sure its been discussed before but why arent there any grime comps in the vein of say, 'jungle mania'? is there not a big enough market for it? are labels (and i dont mean majors, i mean the mid-level labels)simply scared of taking a risk? at the end of the day, labels just care about profits so if there was some money to be made in grime, they would put out something like 'grime mania 1, 2, and 3' but perhaps there isnt.
 

outraygeous

Well-known member
Keith P said:
What put me off about the album was the lyrical content stearing into the direction of love songs. It became a bit too overkill for me at times, not enough balance. .

wileys album had the very same effect on me

bare love vibes...
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
gumdrops said:
im sure its been discussed before but why arent there any grime comps in the vein of say, 'jungle mania'? is there not a big enough market for it?
My point exactly. I'd like to know how well the Grime / Grime 2 compo's sold (MMS?). I think there's a ready market for such a compilation at the 5,000 units level. Whether that would work economically depends on advances artists require -- but I think there's big untapped demand for grime. I mean, my wife likes all the grime I play her (more the grinding stuff than the sweet stuff or the minimal mysoginist rap stuff).

Something, in fact, like Logan's recent mix, which is brilliant, not all to my taste and I wasn't too sure about the voiceovers but as a product it's excellent. It should be released properly -- there's almost a moral necessity to do so.
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
im guessing 5000 sales might just not be enough to motivate a label into putting something together then releasing it. i know stuff like LOTD DVDs sell about 3000-4000, im guessing its kinda the same number for mixtapes (if not quite a bit less), so maybe its only worth it for the artists and/or DJs to put out cheaply produced mixtape packages. id like to know how run the road did sales-wise - i thought if that did well, there would be other labels clamouring to put out their own grime compilations, so perhaps it didnt do quite enough.
 

bassnation

the abyss
2stepfan said:
My point exactly. I'd like to know how well the Grime / Grime 2 compo's sold (MMS?). I think there's a ready market for such a compilation at the 5,000 units level. Whether that would work economically depends on advances artists require -- but I think there's big untapped demand for grime. I mean, my wife likes all the grime I play her (more the grinding stuff than the sweet stuff or the minimal mysoginist rap stuff).

Something, in fact, like Logan's recent mix, which is brilliant, not all to my taste and I wasn't too sure about the voiceovers but as a product it's excellent. It should be released properly -- there's almost a moral necessity to do so.

i haven't heard logans mix but i quite like voiceovers in mixes if they aren't too frequent. sometimes big ups to the dj over a particularly intense bit of the mix really hypes things up. i'm thinking of some of the jeff mills wizard mixes (electro, early acid, hip hop all mashed up in quick succession) or that dj assault mo wax mix cd.
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
gumdrops said:
im sure its been discussed before but why arent there any grime comps in the vein of say, 'jungle mania'? is there not a big enough market for it? are labels (and i dont mean majors, i mean the mid-level labels)simply scared of taking a risk? at the end of the day, labels just care about profits so if there was some money to be made in grime, they would put out something like 'grime mania 1, 2, and 3' but perhaps there isnt.

there aren't many people doing this because they're loads of hassle to do and dont make much money. on an artist album the copyright rests with one person. on a compilation 30 (say) individual agreements have to be made with different artists or labels which is a stress to organise. seeing as everyone in grime wants to get paid loads (fair enough if you've been brought up on road and are hot...) it makes comps economically somewhere between tricky and unviable.
 
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