Music Genres - Grime

 

Grime is a genre of music that emerged in East London in the early 2000s. It is primarily a development of UK garage and jungle and can represent growing up on the streets of poorer London. Prominent artists that stylized this genre include JME, Ghetts, Kano, Lethal Bizzle, Skepta, and Wiley. In the last decade or so it has blown up across the country, and it is starting to get the rest of the world hooked on the unusual beats, fashion, beefs, and attitudes.

 

 

One of the most popular groups in grime, and one of the main reasons why it has gone so global in recent years, is Boy Better Know, or BBK as they can be known as. The group includes such artists as Skepta, JME, Wiley, Frisco, Jammer and DJ Maximum. They have played shows all over the country, like Wireless in London, Reading Festival, Red Bull Culture Clash and will soon be doing a tour in America. They have been influential in the Grime movement and continue to gain popularity as time goes on.

 

There are many sub genres of grime, and freestyle is seen as one of the most entertaining for the listeners due to its unpredictability, catchy instrumentals, and deep lyrics. Fire in the booth is a segment on Radio One Extra with Charlie Sloth where artists from all over the country come and try to conquer what is to considered by many grime artists and fans to be a real challenging task. Artists who have tried their hand include, Wretch 32, Tinie Tempah, Chip, Stormzy and many more.



 

Grime is an expressive form of music, I think that is obvious already, some artists use it as an outlet to express their rough upbringing, or to send a message and get their own points of view across. One artist who captures this a lot is Akala, in many of his songs he speaks about black inequality, racism and slavery, he uses many of his own experiences from his childhood to make the message more effective. His Fire in The Booth talks about the history of black racism and how we can fight against it, he is one of the many artists who have a deeper meaning in their songs. So when people say grime is useless and too loud and violent, we can say there is much more to it than first seems.