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."
