Chicken Korma Pilau and Naan

It's been a while I know but came across this piece today, is this an accurate reflection of grime? Decide for yourself.

Grime is a sub-genre of urban music which first emerged in London, England in the early 2000s, primarily a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop.

Musical style

Grime music is typified by sparse and minimalist 2-step breakbeats, generally around 130 beats per minute. Stylistically, grime takes from many genres including UK Garage, dancehall and hip hop. It is often simplified as a type of convergence of speed and garage, and then slowed down. The lyrics and music combine futuristic electronic elements and dark, guttural bass lines, and are intriguing because they incorporate not only biographical but socio- and political commentary lyrics to the pumping base line. The rapped lyrics will often contain jabs at other musicians, and concerts are often organized as battles between competing performers, rather than simply performances. This dichotomy is also evidenced in other parts of the music, such as the freestyle rapping. Due to its experimental nature and diverse stylistic influences, artists involved in the grime scene initially resisted attempts to classify or pigeonhole the style, resulting in a range of different labels, including sublow, 8bar, and eskibeat. Grime is sometimes associated with dubstep, a similar but largely instrumental genre which also evolved from the early 2000s UK garage scene. According to Sasha Frere-Jones, writer for The New Yorker, grime has developed a fierce sound by "distilling" rhythms to a minimal style resulting in a choppy, off-center sound. Whereas hip hop is inherently dance music, the writer argues that "grime sounds as if it had been made for a boxing gym, one where the fighters have a lot of punching to do but not much room to move." Frere-Jones also states that grime has maintained a style unique from American hip-hop, with clear Jamaican and West Indies influences. Writer Hattie Collins supports Frere-Jones' s analysis by asserting that grime is "an amalgamation of UK Garage with a bit of drum'n'bass, a splash of punk and a touch of hip-hop thrown in for good measure."

Origins and development

Roll Deep, a well known British grime crew, performs at the 2006 Love Music Hate Racism festival.Grime emerged from the rave culture in the late 1990s. It exists largely in an informal economy: artists make their debuts on homemade DVDs on which they compete with other MCs. In many cases, rappers in the genre are teenagers living in areas around and near Bow, 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. This indicated the movement of UK Garage away from its house influences towards darker themes and sounds. Among the first tracks to be recognised as grime were "Eskimo" by Wiley and "Pulse X" by Musical Mob. Grime has been a way to get noticed for the poor multicultural inner city youths of the UK but with Gang culture always associated with it alot of society has not taken to it.Some grime recordings are produced independently, for example homemade DVDs of rap battles. Many such DVDs are recorded at the home of producer Jammer, head of record label Jahmek the World; homemade debut recordings are sold in record stores and barber shops and played by independent radio stations . An online profile of a Jammer mix album bills it as "a UK assault on hip-hop" and emphasizes its global appeal. Dizzee Rascal and Wiley, former and current members of Roll Deep respectively, were among the first to bring the genre to the attention of the mainstream media in 2003, with their albums Boy in Da Corner and Treddin' On Thin Ice respectively.

Dizzee Rascal particularly garnered broad critical and commercial acclaim, with Boy in Da Corner eventually winning the 2003 Mercury Music Prize. Grime has received a lot of exposure from television stations including Channel U, Logan Sama's show on London station Kiss FM and the BBC's youth oriented digital radio station 1Xtra.Grime however is still in many respects considered to be underground music. It exists in an informal economy where most artists make their debut's on DVDs that, like mixtapes are sold out of barbershops and make their way around the city. These artists also receive a lot of help from pirate radio stations which keep the public up to date with the music. Even though grime is very popular in the UK, many recording labels have yet acknowledge its presence as a genre that can compete in the global market. DJ Semtex, an A&R for Def Jam Recordings and also Dizzee Rascal's DJ, says that "the biggest conflict I have is with major labels because they still don’t get it." He says that they just don't understand the value of grime, and more so UK music a a whole as other countries do.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 Culture Secretary Kim Howells statement that grime artists were helping to create a culture "where killing is almost a fashion accessory." Howells went even deeper into the issue, making comments that many found to be "deeply racist," referring to popular artists and crews as "boasting macho idiot rappers." While the government offers one point of view, the artists and listeners offer another. In an article by Jeff Chang in The Village Voice, Dizzee Rascal’s often violent and sexual lyrics are heralded as “capturing, encapsulating, and preserving” the life that he and his peers live on the streets every day.

Hip Hop Crossover

Some argue that Grime, although related to hip hop is very different and British in its ways and content to avoid seeming parasitical . Some media labeled Black British Grime artist such as U.K. duo S.A.S. (Streets All Salute) have philosophically tied their struggle to that of African Americans in order to claim hip hop as their own since hip hop is seen as music that grew out of the struggle of urban African Americans. Using this philosophical ideal as a stage they have attempted to crossover into mainstream hip hop and attempt to access the U.S. hip hop market. Such artist self identify as hip hop/rap artist when dealing with the U.S. market although the media labeled them as Grime artist just by the mere fact that they are U.K. based. These artists thus have strayed from rapping over Grime beat patterns and preferred to rap over distinctly American hip hop beats. In this context they risk being labeled as sellouts in their home land of the U.K. At the same time, there are many connections between grime music and dancehall reggae, especially because reggae and hip hop are so interconnected. Because of England's position as a former colonial power, controlling much of the West Indies including Jamaica, and the long relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. it seems inevitable that through pre- and post-colonial migration patterns many of the producers and consumers of black music in London would be of Caribbean descent, or at least exposed to the culture as it has been transferred to the neighborhoods of London. Jeff Chang writes that U.K. music critic Kodwo Eshun felt black music had been "shackled," a clear reference to the legacy of colonialism and slavery that informs much of reggae, hip hop, and now even grime. This attests to the interconnection of all three styles of music, due to patterns of migration, forced or otherwise, and attempts at localization and authenticity. New York Times music critic Kelefa Sanneh notes that at many grime shows, MC's will interrupt tracks, asking the DJ to rewind the backing track or to go on to the next one. Sanneh notes, "This is a grime tradition borrowed from dancehall reggae" . On one grime blog, the author goes from critiquing grime artists to dancehall artists in the same page, crossing between British slang and Jamaican patois. When discussing grime artist Jammer, he notes "I love all these little fleeting connections between grime and reggae. When Goodz or Trim just drop a line into their lyrics about their Dads doing stuff with soundsystems or whatever it just reinforces the links which are self evident. “Lyric Maker, from England not Jamaica” indeed…" . These connections between grime, reggae, and hip hop are part and parcel of the historical connection between the U.K., U.S., and the West Indies. Musicians are slipping bits of history into the pot, and mixing up new and old.

International growth

Dizzee Rascal was the first grime artist to gain international acclaim after winning the Mercury Music Prize, though he received as much notice for his stab wounds as he did for his debut, Boy In Da Corner. It wasn't until the release of his third album, 2007's Maths + English, that Dizzee experienced the same kind of international acclaim. Dizzee was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize again, and despite the fact that the album wasn't released in the United States in 2007, it received high praise from international music critics, magazines, websites, and blogs, including Pitchfork Media, Rolling Stone, NME, and Rock Sound. The 2005 release of 679 Recordings' Run the Road compilation, showcased some of the most popular grime releases to that point, increasing the popularity and fame of grime and grime artists internationally. A particularly notable grime artist who has had success overseas is Lady Sovereign, who reached #1 on MTV's TRL, appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, and is now signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, though her music has departed considerably from her early output on pirate radio stations, and she does not define herself as a grime artist.[citation needed]Although grime is known as a truly unique musical style, it is not solely the beats that contribute to the sound and the international appeal. It is important to note that the MCs producing current grime music are overwhelmingly young as a group. The most well known names in the industry such as Dizzee Rascal, Kano, and Lady Sovereign began recording at twenty, sixteen, and seventeen years old respectively. This age bracket is important in the international growth of this musical style because it is youth making music for youth. There are more and more concerns as grime becomes more popular about it "selling out" and becoming too mainstream of a genre. It is a legit concern that its roots in immigrant and under-privileged struggle origins will be lost to corporate power, as some are beginning to see with the great success of popular artists such as Lady Sovereign and Dizzee Rascal. "I've seen a lot of people at the top end of music who have no idea what's going on in the street," says Lady Sovereign, expressing her concern that grime will lose its authenticity with its popularity.

Style

A very important artist in Grime music is Wiley. The producer and MC considers himself the Godfather of Grime. He was an important figure in the growth and exposure of Grime music. He released a pair of strong albums during the early 2000s -- 2004's "Treddin' on Thin Ice (XL)" and 2007's "Playtime Is Over (Big Dada)." The most famous artist of grime is Dizzee Rascal. Dizzee was the first of the emerging grime merchants to release an album in America. So far, Dizzee is the most successful Grime artist. Songs like "Fix Up, Look Sharp" and "Dream" make Dizzee Grimes first real star. Lady Sovereign is the Queen of Grime music. She is the first non-American female rapper to be signed to Def Jam and that is a huge accomplishment, not only for Lady Sovereign but for Grime music. Her first single "Love Me or Hate Me" became the first video by a British artist to reach number one on America's MTV Total Request Live. Lethal Bizzle (also known as Lethal B) has also made a large impact most notably for it's international success. '“Pow,” a song by Lethal B, and grime’s biggest hit to date, has made its way to New York, where it is currently being played on Hot 97 by the influential d.j. Funkmaster Flex. The American m.c.s Stat Quo and Pitbull have already recorded new verses for the track." Lethal B has a particularly interesting perspective on Grime and what has really attracted him to the genre and the movement. "It's also about freedom of speech - one of those genres where you say what you think, talking about real-life situations. And there was no rules - anybody could do it."

Female Artists in Grime

In addition to Lady Soverign--the internationally known Grime and Hip Hop artist (and incidentally the only white female artist to gain popularity in Grime)--there are several other female artists making a name for themselves in this genre, which like hip hop, has often been dominated by men. Other female artists include: Lady Fury, No Lay and producer, Mizz Beats. Lady Fury began her music career at the age of 16, and became famous for her "murk dem riddim." Now at age 19, she works with youth, encouraging the creativity of young MC's while continuing to perform and record her own music.

Sets & Clashes

In addition to the grime scene some of the artists sometimes made bars (lyrics) up about another artist. The artist will probably mention the barz in a Set or a clash. The artist who is provoked by the barz will reply to the one who provoked with a 'Slew Track' or just a ordinary set freestyle. If the artists agree they will have a clash and will spit barz about each other until one of them wins. Theres also wifey riddems where grime artists make tracks about the girls they love.