Chicken Korma Pilau and Naan

Take a look at this, a documentary I've stumbled upon detailing the origins of Wiley's 'Eski' sound. This also takes a deeper look into the origins of grime and shows how it has expanded into what we listen to today.

It is well renowned that Tim Westwood is not to every hip hop fans taste and is understandable to a certain extent. However, credit must be given to the man since joining 1xtra (alongside fellow Radio 1 veteran Trevor Nelson) in August. Rather than fall back on the safety net of his extensive US Hip Hop connections, Tim has jumped on the grime bandwagon at long last. Although despite initially describing Lethal B's 'Pow' as UK Hip hop, it seems that he has finally seen the light and I for one am happy for this. Since starting his Sunday night show on 1xtra, the majority of his playlist has been Grime with the obligatory US Hip Hop track thrown in for good measure. In my opinion, it can only be a good thing that such a big name dj is helping push the scene.

A good example of this is the recent guests that he's had up on his show. These include Roll Deep, Boy Better Know, Bashy and Chipmunk. Video's of these performances can be seen on Westwood's 'own' television channel,
Westwood TV.

He is also responsible for the 'urban' section of the BBC's latest new idea, Introducing... This involves inviting the cream of what Grime has to offer down to their Maida Vale studio for a one off performance. To watch the Roll Deep and Boy Better Know sets, just click on the videos below. If you want to view the Chipmunk set, just visit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/westwood/introducing

As you may have guessed, I am not a chipmunk fan regardless of his ability/potential.

Roll Deep


BBC Introducing - Roll Deep live from Maida Vale from BBC 1Xtra on Vimeo.

Boy Better Know


BBC Introducing - Boy Better Know live from Maida Vale from BBC 1Xtra on Vimeo.

Catch Westwood's show on 1xtra every Sunday 10pm - 12 midnight. To listen back to the latest show, click here

Biggest tune of the year, end of story.

Just came across this post from Chantelle Fiddy's blog back in 2004, for me this was a time when grime was just pure excitement. Almost as if you knew a huge secret that was to be kept from millions.

"From underground to overground, it’s the flag we’re all going to be waving…
Since Dizzee Rascal clinched the Mercury Music Prize last year for ‘Boy In Da Corner’, and Wiley’s ‘Wot Do U Call It?’ landed, there’s been no escaping the great new genre debate.

Eski, 8 Bar, Sublow, Grime? While the latter seems to be the preferred choice (despite most ‘grime’ artists detesting the term), who wants to sit around discussing names when the music is as good as it is?

Grime is injecting the life back into what was becoming a dull UK music scene, awash with sub-standard R&B and hip hop. It’s the voice of inner city British youth that is been embraced by teens and adults alike. REAL soul food if you will.

The more obvious roots of grime can be traced way back to the days when Pay As U Go turned UK garage as we knew it on it’s head, DJ Slimzee even playing slowed down jungle so his boys could spit lyrics over it. Anthems such as the Wiley produced Know We set new trends. Even the likes of So Solids ‘Woah’, belong with grime’s seminal records. By 2002, a very definite new sound had begun filtering through. Now there are instrumentals, culmination’s of jittery, unpredictable, recondite beats and demoniac bass, some-what unexplainable backing tracks, the preferred choice of DJ’s, ravers and more noticeably, a new skool of MC’s.

Rather than imitate American flows and speech, these Cockney linguists (the majority of the top MC’s hailing from east London) are making a stand, accents exaggerating and switching between their favoured patois and street slang. They use their music as a weapon to gain a voice, a reflection of their world which we tend to ignore but that they don’t want to disregard anymore. It’s a revolt against meaningless, wasteful pop music. And It’s British through and through.

Championed by newer crews like N.A.S.T.Y and Roll Deep on radio stations such as Rinse and Déjà Vu, the scene has been bubbling and evolving. The soundtrack to London street life is now emanating throughout the nations cities, the rhythm of suburbia an indispensable fuel.

And It seems that with XL Recordings exporting Dizzee and Wiley to Top of The Pops territory, the major label pound signs have begun flashing. Kano, Roll Deep, Durrty Goodz (formerly known as Doogz) and Lady Sovereign are about to drop albums, and all, in some shape or form have ridden the grime wave. While the likes of Kano have worked their way up via radio and raves such as Sidewinder and Eskimo Dance, gaining fan bases and making street anthems, others, like Sovereign (and Shystie) ooze the influences but offer a more alternative take on the sound. Even rapper Klashnekoff is looking to get in the studio with heavy weight grime producers Terror Danjah and Jammer, a sight a lot of people never thought they’d see given the UK hip hop fraternities disdain for anything garage. But that’s one of grime’s most attractive qualities – an autonomous, professedly rule-free musical ideology.

So while we don’t know whether grime will be called grime by this time next year (G Hop anybody?)), there is one thing we can be pretty sure about – it’s got a colossal future and we can all be a part of it."

Check out performances from Ghetto, Durrty Goodz and Kano backed by a live orchestra. This shows what grime artists can do given the opportunity.



To watch the Ghetto set, click here

To watch the Durrty Goodz set, click here

Faith SFX's debut singing single 'Passion Fruit' feat Ny and Maveric.
The beat was made with sounds purely from FaithSFX's mouth and arranged and built by S.K.I.T.Z BEATZ. Both of these artist's are ones to watch out for in 2008.

www.myspace.com/faithsfxbeatbox

Durrty Goodz - Axiom EP 43%

Wiley - Playtime Is Over 16%

Tinchy Stryder - Star In The Hood 10%

Ghetto - Ghetto Gospel 10%

Roll Deep - Rules and Regulations 8%

Skepta - Greatest Hits 8%

Kano - London Town 2%

So, an overwhelming winner in Durrty Goodz, follwed by Wiley. It may seem surprising of Skepta's results considering the positive response it recieved upon release back in September. However, somewhat unsurprising are Kano's results as in my opinion, was a dissapointing follow up to Home Sweet Home despite it not being a strictly grime album.

To buy Durrty Goodz - Axiom EP, visit www.avalanchemusichut.com or www.ukrecordshop.com. It is also available from HMV nationwide.

As promised, a new poll has been added to the blog. In the last one, it was established that Wiley is the current 'king' of Grime. Can he repeat this by taking the 'Best Mixtape/Album of the year'? Each one has been given a brief review/breakdown with it's own chickenkormapilauandnaan rating.



Wiley followed up his Tunnel Vision mixtapes with his second album. People within the scene questioned whether a major label would support an artist who produced an album which contained pure grime music, so credit goes to Big Dada for supporting the Godfather.

Tracks to look out for: No Qualms, Bow E3 and My Mistakes

Rating: 5/5



Durrty Goodz had been away from the scene for quite sometime so people were anxious to find in what direction Goodz had taken in his long awaited musical return. To put it simply, Goodz returned as if he had never been away with an EP containing nothing but nine tracks of pure fire.

Tracks to look out for: Keep Up, Take Back The Scene and Switching Songs II

Rating: 4/5



This is Ghetto's long awaited follow up to his debut mixtape '2000 & Life' and it doesn't disappoint. This is full of quality tracks from start to finish.

Tracks to look out for: Top 3 Selected Remix, CPB and Biker's Anthem

Rating: 4/5



By his own admission, this is not purely a grime album but deserves to be included due to Kano's self involvement within the scene (Top 3 Selected remix, Kano mixtape).

Tracks to look out for: Grime Mc, Buss It Up and This Is The Girl

Rating: 3/5



This is Tinchy's first album and follows the mixtapes I'm Back You Know and Lost And Found. Although predominately an underground hit, this album has the potential to also be a commercial success due to the use of female vocals and catchy hooks.

Tracks to look out for: Something About Your Smile, Breakaway and Stereotype

Rating: 4/5



Rules and Regulations is the follow up to the commercially successful 'In At The Deep End'. However, this is a more darker offering more suited to their style prior to this. It contains massive tracks produced by Target, Danny Weed and Wiley.

Tracks to look out for: Flame Grilled Whopper, Celebrate Dat and Babylon Burner

Rating: 5/5



After years of waiting, Skepta finally release his debut album entitled 'Greatest Hits'. Although described as a Grime album, it contains tracks which cover numerous genres of music and displays Skepta's diversity as an artist.

Tracks to look out for: In A Corner, Blood, Sweat and Tears and I'm Doing It Again (Duppy)

Rating: 4/5

Wiley 54%

Ghetto 24%

Skepta 16%

Tinchy Stryder 4%

With Wiley taking over half the votes, it further confirms his claims that he is the current 'king' of grime. Thanks to all that voted, a new poll will follow soon.

So after all the hype, I thought I'd go and grab Skepta's Greatest Hits. HMV: Sold out, Virgin: Sold out. Now I know this is a big mixtape but that was unexpected. Still, it bodes well for Skepta if the rest of HMV and Virgin are the same nationwide. Whilst I was in Virgin, Big Smoke magazine caught my eye with no other than Wiley plastered all over the cover. There's a good in depth interview with the Godfather himself on pages 36-39 which I have transcribed below (apologies if this is old news)....

"'I've made about £250,000, maybe more, out of the back of my car boot' he says with an air of nonchalance, shrugging and leaning back on the sofa. 'But its how much I'm worth. I'm not getting shitter at what I do. I'm getting better. All the money I've spent, I've cried about before, I can't cry anymore, it's how much I've shelled out. Now I've got to earn money back and not spend it so in 10 years I can say 'oh shit, I've been working for 10 years and still have money left from 2008'.

Wiley on his daughter

'When I first had her I thought 'Yes, get mature' but at first I got madder, out clubbing and drinking...but then you realise you don't want your child to grow up and hate you, your child to grow up and resent you, your child to grow up and be like 'Dad, where was you?' You don't want your child to do that and it makes you not as judging towards parents. Families are the only things that are constant, they bicker but they're blood and they'll always be a connection. I've got a big family, when you're growing up as a child, as long as you're being tended to and getting to play with your cousins you're happy but when you get into the real world is when you're not happy. Money makes me happy now."

Read the full interview in Big Smoke magazine, available now in Virgin Megastores nationwide.

I've got to say, I like Ghetto. There's a lot of talk about whether he's repping Grime or UK Hip Hop but I feel this is irrelevant. The main thing is that he is making good UK music. I bought Ghetto Gospel after hearing 'Top 3 selected' and the remix that followed. My opinion is that this mixtape was one of the best releases this year alongside Tinchy Stryders 'Star In The Hood', Wileys 'Playtime Is Over ' and Skeptas 'Greatest Hits '. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fully paid up member of the grime club but am an overall fan of real UK street music. I've followed Ghetto since his days in Nasty Crew and was genuinely excited when I first heard him spit on Kano's Typical me and Mic Check remix so I feel qualified enough to provide my opinion on his productions. His style is unique amongst many so called mc's within grime, hitting your eardrums with real venom, each syllable almost over pronounced as if he beleives your not getting the message. Some people see himself and The Movement as 'bait hip hop' but personally, I feel that he is the future of grime alongside Skepta, JME and Tinchy Stryder.

Check my video selector and click on Mercston's Good Old Days to see why I rate Ghetto so highly. Alternativley, goto www.myspace.com/ghettomc

Many of you will already heard of Lauren, as she has already worked with people like Wiley, Scorcher, Bless Beats and Target. Her self styled 'blondie grime' is providing a fresh perspective to the scene. As her myspace declares "Lauren writes simple songs about complex things. Phrases turn, emotions connect & melodies soar." and gives the same effect as when producer Davinche collaborates with such females as Sadie Ama and Katie Pearl, resulting in a soft edge to the harsh gritty beats. Hailing from Essex, this new artist has the potential to gain new fans to the scene, especially females (due to her tones and lyrical content) as many find that this is a predominatly male driven genre.

She also has her debut mixtape entitled "keepin it blonde" due around December time.

For more info, check www.myspace.com-laurenmason1

'Clashing' is an 8 mile style (hate referring to it as that) rap battle in which mc's uses their lyrics and flows against each other in competition. This is a well known way for an mc to gain hype as an artist (especially if they have an upcoming mixtape/DVD to promote). The king of clashes has to be the Godfather Wiley, but a lot of credit has to be given to producer/mc Jammer who arranged and recorded the majority of these clashes in his basement studio. Personally, I'm not a fan of clashes, I prefer to listen to the music that these clashes inspire.

Here are a few select ones to give you an idea and to make your own mind up...

Bashy v Demon



Wiley v Lethal B



Wiley v Kano

Wiley - My Mistakes



Tinchy Stryder - Something about your smile



Mercston - Good Old Days



JME - Serious



Roll Deep - Celebrate



Tinchy Stryder - Underground