Connor Norton

Urban Underworlds
Professor Meyer
4 April 2016
TIME FOR GRIME
Precisely as the rapper Rinse explains in Craig Taylors Londoners, Theres no denying, grime
has evolved into a form of rap. Its justI think it had to start from scratch in order for us to
evolve it to a stage where it was our own and it wouldnt sound uncomfy.
Today, the London-based music genre grime is at a pivotal point in its (fairly brief) history. Its
current poster boy, Skepta, has released massive singles like Thats Not Me and Shutdown,
which have transcended London pirate radio stations and even have received crucial cosigns by
rap superstars Kanye West and Drake. Too add fuel to the fire, grime was recently named by
BBC Radio 1s director as Britains next big cultural export.
However, to the average American listener tuning into this type of music for the first time, its
easy to assume its simply MCs with British accents spitting fast raps over lo-fi beats. A look
back at grimes earliest roots, as Rinse notes, illuminates the diverse influences and unique
cultural heritage of this distinct, vibrant form of expression.
To begin tracing the history of grime, I opted to visit the infamous Soho Radio located on Great
Windmill Street in Soho this past Sunday. This independent, online community radio station
boasts a tiny street-side broadcasting hub in the heart of Soho that even features a coffee shop.
From the in-house barista, I was able to score a latte and listen to the moments DJ spin records
just feet away from me.
DOxman, the beanie-clad DJ of the hour, is labeled as an institution in the London reggae
revive scene by Soho Radio. He spins nonstop Jamaican vibes in his weekly set called Soho
Skank and allowed me to get a first-hand feel of the birth of grime production. In Londoners,
Rinse expresses how much of the grime slang originates from Jamaican roots, however, didnt
link many distinct characteristics of the genres sound to these influences as well. By considering
dub, the rework of an existing recording that reggae and Jamaican dancehall was built upon,
the relations to grime become clear.
As I was listening to DOxmans set of obscure reggae riddims interspersed with ones by legends
like Peter Tosh, I finally understood why so much of Jamaican music sounds similar. The genre
is founded upon the mentality of re-presenting, as reggae theorist Julian Henriques describes it,
meaning re-visioning existing music in new forms. Thus why when mass migration to the UK
occurred in the 1950s, Jamaicans sought to re-present the new sounds of their new homes,
birthing drum and bass and then grime.

Grime fully came into form around the early 2000s when MCs such as Wiley began spitting
rapid-fire rhymes over drum and bass beats. In these early days, it wasnt so much about the
lyricism but the relentless energy one could express over a fierce, antic beat. With quick, punchy,
and memorable lines, these MCs rocked underground London club crowds with nonstop
freestyles as well as flexed their lyrical expertise via Lord of the Mics battles.
The genre continued to progress as the dubs evolved, allowing the producers to craft a signature
identity to grime. By the time pirate radio stations (meaning illegal or unregulated broadcasts)
reached peak popularity around London, grime had established its own distinct personality from
American rap, or any other genre. Producers successfully distilled polyrhythms of reggae,
dancehall, drum and bass, and UK garage into a minimal, typically lo-fi sound that sometimes
consisted of little more than a woozy bass line and a sampled videogame blip. After all, without
expensive equipment readily available, grime production was initially crafted on games like Mario
Paint for the SNES and Music 2000 for PlayStation.
But despite buzzing for years in the underground music scene of London, grime didnt get its
first mass recognition until Dizzee Rascal released his debut album Boy in da Corner via XL
Recordings. As a huge fan of this record label, as well as this album, I took a trip on Saturday to
the headquarters of XL at 1 Codrington Mews near Notting Hill. Unfortunately, the most
interaction I got with the label that day was snapping a few photos outside of its art-covered
building and overhearing a few guitars warming up inside. Nevertheless, as a big fan of artists
like Adele, Vampire Weekend, Gil Scott-Heron, Radiohead, Jai Paul, and Dizzee Rascal, it was
enjoyable to uncover the home of their label.
Anyway, Boy in da Corner, a must-listen for anyone looking into grime, won the 2003 Mercury
Prize (a prestigious award that honors the years best album from the UK and Ireland) and
garnered a 9.4/10 on the music rating website Pitchfork. However, grimes worldwide exposure
was very short-lived as many of the genres core artists sold-out to pop sounds.
While Dizzee and Wiley racked up major chart hits around 2010, they werent by grime. Even
Skepta at this time left behind the sounds of early lyric battle DVDs and pirate radio stations for
electro-pop bangers ripe for Cancun spring breakers. Luckily, the MCs of today have recognized
this time of departure and have made a strong effort to get back to the original gritty formula
that grime was created from.
Thats why Skeptas Thats Not Me created such a stir upon its release in 2014. Its the MCs
refreshing return to his roots as he distances himself from the superfluous trappings of the rap
lifestyle. His upcoming album Konnichiwa marks the return to the kind of real-life lyricism that
Rinse prides himself upon. With his hype precipitating to mercurial heights in the city and
beyond, Skeppy has the best chance to finally introduce the rest of the world to the unique
styles of grime music- by being as authentic as possible to its roots.
These sentiments all manifest in his singles defiant chorus: Sex any girl? Thats not me / Lips
any girl? / Thats not me / Yeah, I used to wear Gucci / Put it all in the bin cause thats not me.

References
De Lacey, Alex. "Deeper Than Rap: Grime Is Not a Subgenera of Hip-Hop." Pigeons and
Planes. Complex Media, 3 Nov. 2015. Web. 4 Apr. 2016.
Frere-Jones, Sasha. "True Grime." The New Yorker. Cond Nast, 21 Mar. 2005. Web. 05 Apr.
2016.