Grime pre-2006 is better than grime in the modern day. An intriguing matter, so true or false? True. There is no doubt about it. Now, I know you're thinking here we go again, another negative blogger stuck in the days of where we spoke about the first grime tune and how we'll never see the glory days again. This is far from the case, as a quick trawl through this blog and my other work will show. I'm fully supportive of the new wave of stars, guys like P Money, Little Dee, Young Kye, Double S, Scru Fizzer et al, but with every new song I listen to I can't help but ask myself: 'Is this stuff really what it used to be?'
If we were to look at things through the lens of pirate radio, then the answer is a rather loud no. Some of the young, up-and-coming MCs are full of talent, ready to be unleashed on to the scene - but their aims seem to be more focused on getting signed by the best possible major label - or rather putting all their energy into a mix CD. A quick flick through the FM dial reveals plenty of music, from deep and soulful house, to worn-out funky riddims with dead MCs on board. There are quite a few bashment stations and a lot of the tower block rooftops are transmitting the finest drum & bass out there, but there is no grime and no old skool garage.
A few years back a search of the same proportions would've revealed the exact opposite outcome, with stations such as Laylow, Raw UK, Delight, On Top, Freeze, Frontline and many more broadcasting the finest of grime and garage known to man. MCs generally don't seem interested in the pirates anymore. So of course OG'z or Bloodline might roll up to Rinse every so often, but it would never compare to having Essentials on Raw UK every Tuesday, or about 20 MCs randomly turning up to Deja or Pyro and just going mental. Most of the artists these days only care about making appearances on Kiss 100 or BBC 1xtra, two stations which do minimal to support their scene anyway. But that's a whole different story.
From the raving perspective, again it's a strong no. Producers owe a lot to this problem in one sense - they're making a lot of beats, fast, but not those that you could really vibe out too, everything seems like it's made for a set or with the one specific MC in mind. That's one reason why I appreciated the latest Rude Kid offering so much; two of the beats from the 'Jack Daniels EP' were 100% skankers and would fit in at any type of rave. As would selections such as J Beatz - 'Dutty', Swindle - 'Airmiles', Mighty Moe - 'Energy Riddim' and D Double E - 'Bassline Murder'. These tunes could easily tear down a club. I don't know about everyone else, but I want to go out at night time, have a drink and vibe to the sounds of grime and vibe, not to stand up and listen to an MC spouting on about the size of his shotgun all night, that's for when I'm indoors.
Producers such as Slackk provide great energy with their beats, as do producers such as Spooky and Bok Bok, but most producers will fail to take on the energetic sounds and prefer creating something that will look good on a crappy mix CDs production credits, not an actually well-polished beat that would sit well on an album or a really good compilation. It's not just producers that are to blame. This generation of teenagers have been brought up on the Internet, they would much rather sit indoors knocking one out to some two-bob porn flick as the latest Wiley album downloads in the background, as opposed to getting off their backsides and having a laugh at ChockABlock, Dirty Canvas or Rinse Vs FWD.
Another problem which faces grime music these days is that there isn't a defining tune, or a huge selection of them anyway. If you asked someone to introduce a first-time-listener to the genre, chances are they would struggle, or only manage to mention a couple of tunes. I mean, a few years ago I could have reeled off a list as long as Canary Wharf, for example: Roll Deep – ‘Terrible’, Musical Mob – ‘Pulse X’, Dizzee Rascal – ‘I Luv You’, Wiley – ‘What Do You Call It’ (Eskimo), Jammer/D Double E – ‘Birds In Da Sky’ and of course Lethal Bizzle - ‘Pow!’ Now you would probably hear, "Oh there's that Tempa T tune, what's it called, oh yeah 'Next Hype', its sickkk." As much as ‘Next Hype’ is a grime anthem, there's a huge pause when asked to name some more recent gems. Especially when every MC wants to go to number one in the charts with watered down Justin Bieber-like rubbish.
We need more tunes such as the wonderful collaboration between Sukh Knight and P Money on 'Slang Like This,' the grime/dubstep hybrid which has been play listed for daytime broadcast on Radio 1. Because the pirates are dead, the rave scene is dying and mix CDs get shabbier with every attempt. Is grime the same wonderful music we were hearing a mere 4 years ago? I'm not too sure.
Words: Frankie Frank
Online editing: Joseph 'JP' Patterson
