Do you give a dime for grime?
If there was music dedicated to
a whole genre of artists worse than Eminem, then it has to be grime
music which is growing steadily in the UK. Grime is a genre of urban
music which first emerged in East London, England in the early 2000s,
primarily a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop.
One doesn’t hear grime music on radio because it might be too
controversial but it has a point to put across but amidst all of that,
there is still a loyal following.
By listening to mega grime artists Dizee Rascal’s and Lady Sovereign,
the music is a reflection how life is like for UK’s forgotten youth,
their experiences and how they go through the ordeal. It isn’t easy when
most of them come from difficult backgrounds in which they project it to
the world. By releasing and enlighten people through their music, it can
be seen how grime has evolved from being typical rap hard-core wrath to
more subtle and emotional beats. Surely, grime music has the power to
make you cry, feel angry and offer some food for thought.
Grime is typified by complex 2-step breakbeats, generally around 140
beats per minute and constructed from “different” sounds. Stylistically,
grime takes from many genres including UK Garage, dancehall and hip hop.
The lyrics and music combine futuristic electronic elements and dark,
guttural bass lines.
Grime emerged from the inner city boroughs of London, notably the
boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Barnet, Waltham
Forest and Hackney in East London. The emergence of grime is
intrinsically connected to its origins on UK pirate radio, with many
performers honing their skills and achieving underground success before
approaching the mainstream. Like other garage variants or mutations,
pirate radio stations.
Grime, however, is a cross-pollinated genre, taking influence from a
variety of different cultural styles as well as musical ones, and is
therefore still in many respects considered to be underground music,
even after mainstream exposure.
Although grime is recognised as a creative and innovative musical
style, there are other contributing factors to its rapid and widespread
growth in popularity; the MCs producing current grime music are
overwhelmingly young as a group.
As with many similar scenes around the world, the grime scene has
encountered some criticism, especially from government officials like
Home Secretary David Blunkett who in 2003 called rap lyrics “appalling”
or former minister Kim Howells’ statement that grime artists were
helping to create a culture “where killing is almost a fashion
accessory.”
However, love it or hate it, grime is here to stay and if only people
listen and understand the lyrics put across by the music only will they
realise how truthfully poignant it is. |
