is it external hype though? various artists and DJs have been proclaiming it the real uk hip hop, the real voice of the streets, etc etc for a long time. the main hype around grime was that it wasnt a slavish imiation of american hip hop but our very own version of it, and thats come from the artists as much as the press who might have been over enthusiastic to pour superlatives on it because at last, we have something thats 'ours'...
Grime-where did it all go wrong?
- Thread starter luka
- Start date
Totally agree. The hype has died, grime hasn't. It has been a good year for grime. And what with Wiley's new mixtape out 'tomorrow', Ruff Squad's Guns n Roses 2 out later this month and albums due to drop from plastician, skepta and newham generals. there's still a lot of grime being made that's worthy of attention.
Logan Sama
BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
And that is true. That is exactly what it is. And by definition that's why it isn't in every home in London. It is made by 15-24 year olds mainly, and therefore consumed by them.
However when it comes to presenting it in a format which makes it pallatable in clubs, it seems people aren't willing to give it a chance in favour of the well polished machine which is Hip Hop and Dancehall
However when it comes to presenting it in a format which makes it pallatable in clubs, it seems people aren't willing to give it a chance in favour of the well polished machine which is Hip Hop and Dancehall
well lets see where the albums go. im optimistic and dont want grime to die either, its probably the only genre that still gets me excited really. i just hope these 'albums' wont be full of compromises or R&B/hip-hop sounding stuff in the name of 'versatility'. IMO grime needs to make sure people cant say 'but that sounds just like uk hip hop' (and not all uk hip hop sounds like 94 hip hop, see: sway, SAS etc). hope that doesnt sound like im trying to 'limit' the artists but that stuff doesnt interest me very much.
people didnt used to give hip hop the same chance either. same thing with grime. used to be hard putting on proper hip hop nights, but now, people are much more open to it. everyone wants to play 'urban' music since it went properly mainstream in the late 90s. grime just needs more time.
people didnt used to give hip hop the same chance either. same thing with grime. used to be hard putting on proper hip hop nights, but now, people are much more open to it. everyone wants to play 'urban' music since it went properly mainstream in the late 90s. grime just needs more time.
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Logan Sama
BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
This I know.
And I don't mind waiting, cos I am not a leaving any time soon.
And I don't mind waiting, cos I am not a leaving any time soon.
mos dan
fact music
here's what i said on the subject - in response to simon reynold's 'death knell' post and martin's funky house comment - on dot-alt.
interviewed fuda guy last week - still transcribing but here's a snippet: "i don't know how long it's gonna take - it might take a while, but we'll get there. TRUST."
interviewed fuda guy last week - still transcribing but here's a snippet: "i don't know how long it's gonna take - it might take a while, but we'll get there. TRUST."
Gabba Flamenco Crossover
High Sierra Skullfuck
In the last 24 hours I've seen 3 group of kids around brixton spitting bars over grime tunes on thier phones. I told them it was dead, even tried to hit them up with a bit of funky house freestyle, and you should have seen the response I got!
Some people are living in the past...
Logan Sama
BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
Should have played them The Cure And The Cause.
Excloos
Excloos
hmmm, not much has changed since this thread was made has it? theres still some good stuff out there, of course, but i do think most of the 'new school' grime MCs are crap and plain boring. still though, grime is still the best thing out there IMO. a roll deep set here, a newham gens set there and im happy.
viktorvaughn
Well-known member
^Who do u think is the best younger / nu-school MC around?
benjybars
village elder.
gumdrops i swear you've got the maddest taste on road
best youngers imo
Devlin (but been around for a while so doesn't really feel like a younger)
and Griminal.. they both DUPPIED fuck radio 3 very differently.. in fact devlin on that set is one of the most impressive things i've ever heard in grime.
I have to say all this recent talk of the death of grime seems mightily over-zealous.
If we look at history there needs to be something that fills the void. Jungle had UK Garage, UKG had Grime. People don’t just switch off their pcs and stereos and create a vacuum. At the moment nothing has appeared that seems to be able to maintain the continuum successfully. Please dont say Funky House (or even 'dirtypop') There would need to be something that could successfully replace the masculine tone of grime. Uk Garage successfully managed to meld both the masculine and feminine and replace Jungle, but music production is a mans game even if the pendulum may swing into the feminine now and again.
If we look at history again we see the manufacturing of scenes to be a dismal affair (see: 'urban house... pleaseplease don't mention grindie.) The renaming of a genre is entirely possible, if the makings of scene have already blossomed (dark 2-step Garage=dubstep.)
UK Garage apparently 'died' in 2002 but coming back to the South of England I have been greeted with non-stop UK Garage on my local pirate (freeze fm) and countless nights. No trend really dies, it just evolves.
Lastly Grime has operated since its inception under the fact that there is next to no financial input or economic gain to be had from its 'industry'. Acid House to UK Garage had a financial infrastructure that it relied on. Take that away and it becomes detrimental. Grime has operated since its inception with little to no reliance on finance, partially due to its ability to operate in the virtual, that is the un-regimented and democratic realms of cyberspace. If record shop closes, it's no skin off of grimes back (watch out for server crashes however.) You just a willing kid/MC/producer (creates the mode) need pirate copies of fruity, (method) and a radioshow or a forum. (medium) Taking personal taste into account is irrelevant.
To 'kill' the genre, Grime you would have to replace it with something else.
If we look at history there needs to be something that fills the void. Jungle had UK Garage, UKG had Grime. People don’t just switch off their pcs and stereos and create a vacuum. At the moment nothing has appeared that seems to be able to maintain the continuum successfully. Please dont say Funky House (or even 'dirtypop') There would need to be something that could successfully replace the masculine tone of grime. Uk Garage successfully managed to meld both the masculine and feminine and replace Jungle, but music production is a mans game even if the pendulum may swing into the feminine now and again.
If we look at history again we see the manufacturing of scenes to be a dismal affair (see: 'urban house... pleaseplease don't mention grindie.) The renaming of a genre is entirely possible, if the makings of scene have already blossomed (dark 2-step Garage=dubstep.)
UK Garage apparently 'died' in 2002 but coming back to the South of England I have been greeted with non-stop UK Garage on my local pirate (freeze fm) and countless nights. No trend really dies, it just evolves.
Lastly Grime has operated since its inception under the fact that there is next to no financial input or economic gain to be had from its 'industry'. Acid House to UK Garage had a financial infrastructure that it relied on. Take that away and it becomes detrimental. Grime has operated since its inception with little to no reliance on finance, partially due to its ability to operate in the virtual, that is the un-regimented and democratic realms of cyberspace. If record shop closes, it's no skin off of grimes back (watch out for server crashes however.) You just a willing kid/MC/producer (creates the mode) need pirate copies of fruity, (method) and a radioshow or a forum. (medium) Taking personal taste into account is irrelevant.
To 'kill' the genre, Grime you would have to replace it with something else.
viktorvaughn
Well-known member
gumdrops i swear you've got the maddest taste on road
best youngers imo
Devlin (but been around for a while so doesn't really feel like a younger)
and Griminal.. they both DUPPIED fuck radio 3 very differently.. in fact devlin on that set is one of the most impressive things i've ever heard in grime.
Cookie seems pretty good.
I listen to loads of Grime but i've kinda realised it's 80% roll deep/wiley/trim/ruff sqwad/etc (i.e. fairly well established acts), so i want to make a bit more effort with some other people.
I must say i am feeling Devilman/D.E.Velopment's tape a bit. He has a kinda poor shabby flow but his voice is quality. Must listen to it a bit more.
viktorvaughn
Well-known member
i will check out devilman and griminal some more.. if only to prove to myself that theyre not worth bothering with
(seriously, i will check out in depth)
Heh. Devlin's tape is good and he has great lyrical skills for one so young but he is a bit samey for me. He doesn't seem to have any humour of change of pace in his tunes. Guess he's one to watch.
dd528
Well-known member
So, this isn't a conversation I find myself having with people any more...
How true this has proven to be.
I think my overriding feeling about the period when everyone was talking about the death of grime is that what actually died was a dream that many people around the scene had of what they wanted grime to be (i.e. big money, major record label smash, with all the associated things that entails). What has endured is, happily enough, the quality of the musical foundation underneath all the bullshit. People want to hear grime, and where there is a demand, there will always be a supply.
I'm gonna be at Rinse's 18th birthday at Warehouse Project in a few weeks. I would never have thought, a few years ago, that such a high quality grime lineup would be playing at such a major night in a city outside of London in 2012. Seems to be all going right at the moment. Hell, half the people who will be there for WHP wouldn't even have hit puberty when Dizzee won the Mercury Prize and all that hype was at fever pitch.
How true this has proven to be.
I think my overriding feeling about the period when everyone was talking about the death of grime is that what actually died was a dream that many people around the scene had of what they wanted grime to be (i.e. big money, major record label smash, with all the associated things that entails). What has endured is, happily enough, the quality of the musical foundation underneath all the bullshit. People want to hear grime, and where there is a demand, there will always be a supply.
I'm gonna be at Rinse's 18th birthday at Warehouse Project in a few weeks. I would never have thought, a few years ago, that such a high quality grime lineup would be playing at such a major night in a city outside of London in 2012. Seems to be all going right at the moment. Hell, half the people who will be there for WHP wouldn't even have hit puberty when Dizzee won the Mercury Prize and all that hype was at fever pitch.
rubberdingyrapids
Well-known member
sure, but isnt that just the standard heavyweight lineup that gets used for pretty much every rinse event now? I suppose having Royal-T, Preditah + C4 is a bit new but Boy Better Know, P Money, Elijah & Skilliam are pretty regular players.
slackk
-
It's funny really because grime just muddles along and has arguably outlasted both dubstep and funky, which were basically the biggest "threats" in the early stages of this thread. Could arguably say the same about the road rap thing which is basically just a load of grown men hyping themselves on twitter at this point bar a couple of exceptions.
I know the funky hype has basically became the minimal tech thing and I'm sure house variants are going to maintain interest no matter what but I'm glad grime has the lasting power of a sort.
Obviously it's more of an instrumental thing now (mainly because there are very few genuinely good MCs still doing it) but I think there's a lot of really strong stuff out there right now.
I know the funky hype has basically became the minimal tech thing and I'm sure house variants are going to maintain interest no matter what but I'm glad grime has the lasting power of a sort.
Obviously it's more of an instrumental thing now (mainly because there are very few genuinely good MCs still doing it) but I think there's a lot of really strong stuff out there right now.