Grime

The East Factor

Our citizen-reporter unleashed at the MOBO AWARDS witnessed Grime’s furious take-over

By Hermann Djoumessi

We will not write about grime in the way most of the mainstream press seem to do: Providing an A to Z of the movement, or a dictionary-like definition of the word. Dizzee Rascal calls it ‘Council estate state-of-bass’. You will have to make up your mind after reading this piece. Risk-taking being part of CEN Magazine’s remit, we will have to assume that you have by now bought Sway, Kano and Roll Deep’s latest releases, that you fully understand the difference between spitting (rapping) at 16 or 12 bars, that you have been shopping at Deal Real on Carnaby street (the shop that first showcased Grime artists and anything urban and hot), that you admit Dizzee Rascal is the best thing out of East-London since sliced bread, that you have heard of Lady Sovereign and her signature to US hip-hop heavyweight Jay-Z’s multi-platinum label and that of course, on the 22nd of September you were at the MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards as we were and witnessed Grime’s hostile take-over on the urban scene.

On a lukewarm night, with reality TV ‘stars’ taking the podium and winning awards (as Lemar, winner of BBC’s Fame Academy did, heading home with UK Act of the Year), the controversial ceremony that hit headlines for all the wrong reasons (brawls, too many US winners) a few years ago, tried to re-connect with the British public acting as talent-spotter and launch-pad for the future of the UK music industry.

Issues and tissues have been raised and whether the MOBOs are right or wrong is a matter left to you, the listeners and buying public.

As anything urban, the most important thing beside talent and your street credibility is who you know (Dr Dre introduced us to Eminem, who did the same with 50 Cent, who repeated the feat with The Game). In Kano and The Mitchell Brothers’ case, the gate-keeper/ promoter / producer is Mike Skinner (from The Streets) and his label 679 Recordings. Kano from East-Ham with his debut LP Home Sweet Home won Best UK Newcomer at the MOBOs. Lethal B also from East-London won Best Single with POW (Forward) and Miss Dynamite was one of the main acts of the night with her new release Judgement Day.

The MOBOs academy seemed to be willing to embrace a new urban genre that doesn’t rely on ‘Guns and Bitches’ to promote itself (unlike its US counterpart) but on clever lyrical interplay, high-debit verbal flow, UK Garage / Ragga influences and humorous British tales of grime inner-city life. The US counterpart of Grime as you know is not Gangsta Rap but Crunk. It comes from the south of the US (by ‘south’ read anything below the east and west coast) with Lil’ Jon being one of its main acts.

The US will still remain the standard bearer of anything urban but only originality will allow you to strike a chord with a UK audience and ultimately survive in a notoriously fickle urban music scene. Those artists seem to have grasped that idea and you should prepare yourself to a legitimate assault on any credible airwaves, broadband or record shop. Grime as a new musical movement is a true reflection on an emerging sub-culture deeply rooted in its UK origins. The East-London roots of the movement simply highlights the vibrancy of the area and with Dizzee Rascal still for a few months the uncrowned King of Grime, the MOBOs had to do the right thing by rewarding these outstanding artists.