Grime: A Producers Art
Grime's relationship with the mainstream is peculiarly schizophrenic. With the exception of Wiley's "Treading on thin Ice", Dizzy Rascal has become the sole representative of the genre. How extraordinary is it that the Rascal can win a Mercury Award and sell thousands of records when a pulsating scene peopled by larger-than-life MCs and genius producers struggles to sell 500 copies a white label? It's media representation gone horribly awry! Currently it's strictly a cognoscenti of nerds and loose-limbed hipsters who've taken the trouble to dip into the (occasionally forbidding) murk of Grime. This is, of course, criminal. Grime needs to be heard more widely, and it's a delight that the 679 label's compilation "Run The Road" has hit the racks and that other compilations scooping up these limited-run releases by EMI and Relentless are mooted.
The FWD scene, here represented by Plasticman, have been lucky to garner support from Rephlex records. For many the Darkcore Croydon Techno sound is more easily digestable than the occasionally ugly tones of the MC-led riot, and its been no surprise to see them trading on the Grime "brand name". But is it the real thing? Fascinating perhaps, but I would say no, even if there are occasionally valuable detentes and collaborations between the two scenes can yield excellent records like Riko's "Popadomz" and D Double's "War Wid". Grime's true face is, though justifiably Dizzy's, also that of a gang of 4-dimensional hucksters; of voices so distinct you'd swear they were synthesised (D Double's "Mui Mui" chant, Trim's disarmingly dopey backward slanguage, Dogzilla's near-camp eyepopping outrage, Lethal B's pugged-into-the-grid delivery, Tinchy Stryder's lispy charm etc). It's the sound of a vernacular, frequently "endish", tripping into the light fantastic painting a blindingly vivid picture of life amid the blocks, of beefs, of friendships formed in shared adversity, of patient talent which refuses to quashed, of poetry and philosophy from the crucible of the street.
And yet it's increasingly the nth powers behind these words which makes the difference. Sure the MCs run the street, and they rule the pirate radio shows, but the producers are sliding surely into view, this in a sense a slow return to order, a reaffirmation of the producer's status in the Pirate Radio continuum. This year's undisputed pioneer has been Terrah Danjah whose Aftershock imprint has run 2004 with tracks like "So Sure" and "So Contagious" laying down new musical potentialities for the genre, positing an almost oriental-sounding R'n'B/Grime collision which may succeed in keeping the scene open to "the ladies" when sometimes its in danger of being a testosterone lockdown. Aftershock also laying down peerless MC tracks like "Bogeyman" and "Gansta Toys"
Again bestride the metropolis like a collossus is the Aim High camp, both Target, who can claim huge tunes Doogzilla's "STDs" and Riko's "The Chosen One" as his, and Danny Weed behind the fabulously-inventive ultra-bizarre riddims of yesteryear like "Rat Race" and red hot tracks like Donaeo's underrated "People Don't Know" and the soon-to-explode "Bad Boy Trim". It's an incredibly exciting time for Grime, and in the next six months, sealed by Wiley's brilliant Roll Deep LP, we'll surely see Grime settle into the unavoidably brilliant endlessly sustaining energy loop it's explosive beginnings have hinted at. Just don't EVER call it UK Hip-Hop.