GRIME- breaking news, gossip, slander, lies etc

Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
Am I the only person round here who actually likes the new Dizzee tune?

I know its not Grime, and I can't stand Calvin Harris but I just can't help but like it. Went out dancing the other night in a fairly cheesy club that plays all the big Rnb and hip hop chart hits and it sounded great in amongst Estelle, 50 cent etc. And you've gotta admit its miles better than anything on Maths and English, although that isn't saying much admittedly.
 
V

viktorvaughn

Well-known member
slackk said:
Spyro's completely essential birthday set; JAMAKABI, Killa P, Badness and Dizzle Kid
http://www.mediafire.com/?m2zxiynmmdx

I'm surprised I haven't seen Spyro mentioned much in here. Since that 1000 beats in an hour set he's been completely live to be honest, not a single bad set. That said, this is the set of the year so far for me.
You just need to hear it.

elijah i need to get at you still

edit- 1:14:00 into this set, DOK makes a grime beat out of "When Will I Be Famous"; it's a lot.
oh yeah, spyro dropped "tour de france"

!
Click to expand...

Someone chatting about 'we real black people, we nuh interbreed' or something...:slanted:
 
Grievous Angel

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
mos dan said:
there isn't really any pr in grime is there? charles is a don with what he does for rinse, fwd, etc, bashy and wretch have a pr guy...
Click to expand...
Yup, charles is great. Puts the work in.

mos dan said:
i guess i'm just wondering if anyone thinks the lack of PRs makes a significant difference? personally i think you'd see more reviews in mainstream publications, but as we've discussed before does that make a big difference?
Click to expand...
Reviews don't seem to sell records. Interviews in mixmag help house acts but don't really help grime, dubstep, deep house etc.

You know what sells records in underground genres?

Hype on forums. Tastemakers recommending something. And plays on radio.

I was talking to my distributor about grime when I was over there stamping the Lady Dub 12. I think they're doing something with No Hats No Hoods - seem to be sending out Lady Dub with their promos. Anyway - their feeling was that if they could just get more grime product, they could sell it. Reckon there's a ready market for decent grime records. It's just a question of getting vinyl. Same for represses of old grime classics - there's plenty of punters out there for them. Downloads haven't killed the market.
 
Elijah

Elijah

Butterz
PR Companies are not really neccesarry, most of them are pests.

If artists told me what they wanted to achieve I would do it for them, and charge a much lower fee.

Most of the PR companies send me tosh about how great their artist is.

I got one the other day about how their artist has had more achievements then a heavyweight boxer. Theres no need to patronise!

PR people can be too demanding as well, blog this blog that, play this in a rave. Really they should be looking for opinion from the tastemakers and feedback, if they really think it is worth talking about or playing, then they will do so.

Most of the stuff PR companies do now, just involves investing time, something I could just give my 15 year old sister to do for a pinky. - Sending out emails, CDs, Getting feedback, ensuring social networking sites are maintained properly etc. Artists are pretty close to DJs and journalists anyway more time they are just too lazy to send them stuff. In that case they deserve to fail.

What grime people need to find really to get out there better is booking agents rather then PR companies. Look at BBK they didnt get were they are because they were sending people bravado to their inbox every day, they were out in the raves, and making good quality music, then people approached them.

Seems like we always have to use BBK as a good example of how to do things init?!
 
Elijah

Elijah

Butterz
Grievous Angel said:
Yup, charles is great. Puts the work in.


Reviews don't seem to sell records. Interviews in mixmag help house acts but don't really help grime, dubstep, deep house etc.

You know what sells records in underground genres?

Hype on forums. Tastemakers recommending something. And plays on radio.

I was talking to my distributor about grime when I was over there stamping the Lady Dub 12. I think they're doing something with No Hats No Hoods - seem to be sending out Lady Dub with their promos. Anyway - their feeling was that if they could just get more grime product, they could sell it. Reckon there's a ready market for decent grime records. It's just a question of getting vinyl. Same for represses of old grime classics - there's plenty of punters out there for them. Downloads haven't killed the market.
Click to expand...

put me in contact with them. Ive got two EPs ready to go on my hard drive.
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
I'd never really been exposed to music PR people before doing Woofah and they seem like a really mixed bag.

Charles at Zonked is a good guy.

Many of the others are guilty of:

a) Random phone calls
b) spammy emails, often duplicated 3 or 4 times
c) pointless emails ("just dropping you a line to let you know that [Artist] had beans on toast for his tea, call us if you wish to cover this!")
d) Sending inappropriate music (house? "chillout"?)
e) nagging and chasing
f) more nagging and chasing
g) even more nagging and chasing

By far the best people I've dealt with have been Greensleeves - they just send me loads of great music which is appropriate for the mag and then leave us to get on with it.

Apart from them, most of the stuff we've reviewed in the mag has been paid for out of our own pockets.
 
Grievous Angel

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
It is extraordinary how poorly targeted most PR is.

Most woofah stuff either comes straight from the artist or as John says is paid for.
 
Elijah

Elijah

Butterz
john eden said:
Apart from them, most of the stuff we've reviewed in the mag has been paid for out of our own pockets.
Click to expand...

If you wouldn't pay for it, theres probably no point talking about it I guess.

Would you be interested in a contribution from me for the next Woofah I have a couple of ideas I could run past you.
 
mos dan

mos dan

fact music
Elijah said:
Most of the stuff PR companies do now, just involves investing time, something I could just give my 15 year old sister to do for a pinky. - Sending out emails, CDs, Getting feedback, ensuring social networking sites are maintained properly etc. Artists are pretty close to DJs and journalists anyway more time they are just too lazy to send them stuff. In that case they deserve to fail.
Click to expand...

i agree, and i agree that PRs are mostly pests too, where it would serve their interests better to be more hands-off. some of them can get almost stalker-like with their phone calls - i've learned the hard way you should NEVER give a PR your phone number!!

but then clearly some grime artists could do with sorting out their attitude to journalists (or getting a PR to do it for them): a certain member of ruff sqwad with a mixtape out called me four times in the space of a weekend recently, and when i finally decided to answer all he had to say was 'my mixtape's coming out this week' - which i knew anyway. he didn't offer to send me one, he just asked me to write it up. i fished for some kind of interesting news about the mixtape, or news about ruff sqwad in general, and he had nothing to offer me - just the usual vague statements that they were 'on this ting'.

he later sent out a press release-type email promoting his mixtape that was barely literate.

sorry, on both counts that's a FAIL
 
Elijah

Elijah

Butterz
mos dan said:
i agree, and i agree that PRs are mostly pests too, where it would serve their interests better to be more hands-off. some of them can get almost stalker-like with their phone calls - i've learned the hard way you should NEVER give a PR your phone number!!

but then clearly some grime artists could do with sorting out their attitude to journalists (or getting a PR to do it for them): a certain member of ruff sqwad with a mixtape out called me four times in the space of a weekend recently, and when i finally decided to answer all he had to say was 'my mixtape's coming out this week' - which i knew anyway. he didn't offer to send me one, he just asked me to write it up. i fished for some kind of interesting news about the mixtape, or news about ruff sqwad in general, and he had nothing to offer me - just the usual vague statements that they were 'on this ting'.

he later sent out a press release-type email promoting his mixtape that was barely literate.

sorry, on both counts that's a FAIL
Click to expand...

MCs need to balance pre release press with after release. More time they shout about it for two years it comes out, they go on Logan/Westwood/Cameo possibly perform at DC then you dont hear a word of it again.

These promotional efforts more time reflect the quality of the product anyway, some rushed desperate attempt of bringing some hype to their name and some money in their pocket.
 
mos dan

mos dan

fact music
Elijah said:
These promotional efforts more time reflect the quality of the product anyway
Click to expand...

sad but true.

btw does anyone know why the listen again for logan's show doesn't work? i know the chipmunk and jme rips are up, but i want to hear the junior spesh shout-out that i missed, lol.
 
B

Blackdown

nexKeysound
mos dan said:
a certain member of ruff sqwad with a mixtape out...
Click to expand...

a certain member of ruff sqwad with a mixtape out sent me the mixtape but didn't pay the postage, so i have to go an collect it and pay it. BUT bigup him for actually sending me one: most grime MCs dont send their tape out as they dont care about PR.

I've had this explained to me by key insiders as basically an issue of audience. when grime MCs say they want to be "big," they meen "big to their peers." big elsewhere is irrelevant to them as it's invisible on road.

you could say this is myopic, because you'll never get rich by simply marketing to a group in one city that mostly wants to download their music for free. or you could say that accusing them of being myopic is to fundamentally missunderstand what grime is about, which is status through reputation in a given community...
 
B

Blackdown

nexKeysound
Elijah said:
PR Companies are not really neccesarry, most of them are pests.
Click to expand...

I'd hate to be put in a position of defending PRs - i've spent years avoiding them, setting up sitting on walls in Mile End interviewing Wiley myself - but the one place they are essential is getting into the castles of print media and, to a lesser extent, radio.

No newspaper (for better, or in my view, worse) will listen to acts without PRs and take them seriously. their publications are lesser for it, but it's the way things are and probably a function of the volumes of offers they get.

but fuckitt tho, that's why i blog rather than beating my head on the door of the arts section of national newspapers...
 
Elijah

Elijah

Butterz
Blackdown said:
a certain member of ruff sqwad with a mixtape out sent me the mixtape but didn't pay the postage, so i have to go an collect it and pay it. BUT bigup him for actually sending me one: most grime MCs dont send their tape out as they dont care about PR.

I've had this explained to me by key insiders as basically an issue of audience. when grime MCs say they want to be "big," they meen "big to their peers." big elsewhere is irrelevant to them as it's invisible on road.

you could say this is myopic, because you'll never get rich by simply marketing to a group in one city that mostly wants to download their music for free. or you could say that accusing them of being myopic is to fundamentally missunderstand what grime is about, which is status through reputation in a given community...
Click to expand...

Thing is, thats all the audience they think is there bruv. They think the only people that are listening to their music are on the roads, when you and I know this is far from the truth. Some of these gangster mcs should actually see whos purchasing their music, they would be suprised who is into it.

Only reason he has targeted you, is because you write about it, when he should be aiming for your attention just because your into grime and underground music anyway.

They aren't sure how much power any outlets have either, whether its bloggers/forums/free downloads they are kinda unproven to translate into a major sales difference, but they are willing to try ANYTHING sometimes to get attention. I was on Scratchas show a month or so back on a Monday Morning and since then people have been filling my inbox with tunes that I can't really do anything with right now as I am not on radio, but they are willing to do anything for "promotion".

Proper structured promotional efforts are non existent.
 
straight

straight

wings cru
john eden said:
I'd never really been exposed to music PR people before doing Woofah and they seem like a really mixed bag.

Charles at Zonked is a good guy.

Many of the others are guilty of:

a) Random phone calls
b) spammy emails, often duplicated 3 or 4 times
c) pointless emails ("just dropping you a line to let you know that [Artist] had beans on toast for his tea, call us if you wish to cover this!")
d) Sending inappropriate music (house? "chillout"?)
e) nagging and chasing
f) more nagging and chasing
g) even more nagging and chasing

By far the best people I've dealt with have been Greensleeves - they just send me loads of great music which is appropriate for the mag and then leave us to get on with it.

Apart from them, most of the stuff we've reviewed in the mag has been paid for out of our own pockets.
Click to expand...


I spent a few months this year working at a PR/events agency and was shocked how little brainpower went into the music side of it. unless there was a massive budget for a silly party then you were expected to hassle reviewers nonstop, it was embarassing in the end. The PR/marketing world has some mystical aura around it that means artists think they can never get the same coverage themselves but in my experience 90% of it is getting clueless work experience kids spamming
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top