Grime Music- The British version of Rap?

Britain's thriving urban music scene is reaching out for acceptance among the mainstream pop culture and American audiences. Despite its UK success, the fertile grime scene is little more than a needle in the haystack compared to the billion- dollar industry of US rap. So, what's the problem?


Garage music particularly the darker, bass-heavy, raga and hip-hop influenced UK two-step garage better known as 'grime' has grown in reaction to the sweeter more commercial flavours of artists such as Craig David and Mis-teeq. Grime has a complicated relationship with rap, its US cousin. With roots in the UK rave scene and reggae sound system culture, it cannot be simply considered as a home grown version of rap…


It is midnight, and the bass-lines are troubling stomachs. Snares and high hats are messing with ear drums, and all eyes are on the MC Kano. I am in the Hammersmith Palais, SW London, joined with the rest of young London and all its ethnic diversity who are wearing the clubbing uniform of Dolce& Gabbana and Prada; cockily or sparingly depending on their gender. They are enjoying a Friday night of urban music whilst I'm backstage preparing to interview the young but well respected garage artist, Kano. "I used to make beats and take them to the studio, which is how 'Boys Love Girls' came about. By then I was going on radio and I started getting into it properly." Kano tells me.



Just to clarify- Kano's definition of 'properly' is selling thousands of his debut single, 'Boys Love Girls' on white label, climbing the slippery ladder of respect in the grime scene. "I got signed on my 19th birthday to 679 Recordings"
he continues, "after four years of recording, I finally got signed and I think that the more people that get signed and
go through like Dizzee [Rascal], the more the grime scene will get recognized."


Not everyone shares the same luck as Kano. Generally it is very hard to gain recognition as an artist, let alone a garage artist. Glyn Aikins of Relentless Records explains that a lot of urban artists were being dropped as there was general confusion of viability in urban music.
This was in 1999, when Relentless Records joined with Ministry of Sound as a business opportunity to move into the urban music scene. The first single to get a record deal was Craig David's 'Re-rewind,' due to public demand. The tune was huge on pirate radio and after receiving a deal with Relentless it ended up charting at number two just before Christmas, beaten by Sir Cliff Richard. "But the song generated so much interest that Craig signed an independent deal elsewhere, which is the risk of doing single deals." Aikins said.


It seems like most garage artists ranging from Dizzee Rascal to So Solid Crew, started in the pirate radio scene. However, gone are the days where MC's battle on radio, where you could pick up a pirate radio station just to hear the latest underground song, or a jump off between different crews and DJ's. These days if the audience cannot visualise the artist as well as hear them, it is unlikely they are to create a stir or even receive the blink of an eyelid in the underground grime scene. Why is this…Channel U?
Channel U is a channel on Sky TV which aims to promote the UK urban scene. It has transferred underground urban music from being a vocal approach on radio stations to a visual stance.
Following the release of Dizzee Rascal's 'I love you' hit song which conquered the underground radio scene, he produced a video on Channel U. This allowed for a higher audience rating and maximized sales as a white label record. After the song was aired on Channel U, Dizzee Rascal was approached from numerous record labels and he eventually signed to XL Recordings, which required two albums from him. Subsequently, this new medium transformed the underground scene and the majority of artists invested into Channel U and video producers to help realize their goal.
After all, as Sky TV is installed in about 1 in every 4 homes throughout the UK, they were not restricted to pirate radio stations which could only serve a limited radius.


Directors of Mastermind Productions, Sesan Ogunro and Antoine Dixon who produce around 60% of the videos on this Channel, meet up with me in their recording studio in South East London. These young black men at the meagre age of 24, own a video production and an animation company. Not only do they produce for Channel U, they also have a hand in numerous animation based projects throughout the UK and parts of Africa. They explain what they feel is wrong with UK garage music and the grime scene. "Americans find it hard to understand the grime language. It's a slang which has generated from a clash of garage, hip-hop and reggae. This eclectic mix is unusual for Americans and they've never had the chance to experience this culture." Sesan says.
"On that note," Antoine adds, "Lethal B released a song with American rap superstar Twista. That song was successful in England." Twista collaborated with grime artist, Lethal B, however the song was not well received in the US. Therefore, "the record label agreed on having two versions of the song; One to please the UK crowd and another without Lethal B for the US. It's these apparent decisions which also add to the restriction of UK urban artists," says Sesan.

Take a look at the top five albums: Kaiser Chiefs, the Editors, Hard-Fi, Jack Johnson and James Blunt. The charts used to be full of black British music, be it pop, garage, whatever. Now it's vanished.
Where's Jamelia? What happened to Ms Dynamite's second album? And what about Beverly Knight, Mis-teeq, Craig David? Not since the mid-90's Britpop era has indie music so dominated the charts. Suddenly it is all about skinny jeans and guys with guitars.

The problem seems to lie at the heart of the music industry. Its interest in black British music is seldom genuine. It wanes quickly and is ready to move onto the next best thing. They never stick around long enough to nurture black British talent, which means underground music like 'grime' never have a solid foundation. Hence, its ability to seemingly disappear.


Few record company executives understand the current underground scene. Even though they might see a potential of a new signing, they don't necessarily know what to do with them.
"Black artists are the first to go if there is a problem," says Kwaku, of the Black Music Congress. "So many of them are dropped after the first album, the first single even. There needs to be sustainability."


The last boom for black British music was when the UK garage scene exploded at the turn of the millennium. But it didn't make enough money, quickly enough, so the A&R men went elsewhere. They went back to what was familiar to them, to the music that reminded them of their youth, the stuff they understood and knew how to sell; indie music.
And then, of course, there is the download factor. The same technology that has spawned a thousand mix tapes also means people have stopped buying music in the quantities they used to. In these down-load friendly times, indie fans are the best kind to have.


They buy records and pay extortionate amounts to wade in mud to see their bands play at festivals. "Indie kids want to own their music: they go to gigs and festivals," says Shabs Jobanputra, MD at Relentless Records. "Urban consumers don't go to festivals; it's not about living on a housing estate in Brixton and going to Glastonbury. Touring doesn't have the same value in black music."


Indie music's tradition of festivals, gigging and the loyalty it creates means it hasn't been hit hard by downloading and file-sharing. Meanwhile black music fans' object that the artist is a 'sell out,' once an underground track or artist goes mainstream, they lose their credibility as well as a large part of their fan base.

Eleanor Williams, a straight talking label manager helped produce Stush's "Dollar $ign" and "Boo!" Ms Dynamite's famous underground tune.
Sitting in her honey yellow office tucked away in a Deptford business park, a frustrated Williams blames the media. "They report stories that are inaccurate. Thanks to the negative press, we can't book clubs, and that takes kids further from their enjoyment and faster into crime." It is a fact that the majority of clubs within the Central London zone are prohibited from playing garage/ grime music at all. The occasional dancehall song (Sean Paul) can be played but not garage. The main attraction of a city to foreigners is its culture. In the case of London, its diversity.

Different music genres which help to represent various parts of the British identity is prohibited to be aired within its most thriving sectors and nightlife clubs. "This is a form of division and exclusion," she adds, "they [the government] don't understand what's going on in their own country and don't want to know.
All is not lost, artists do get signed and still make money but it is the initial process of signing to a nurturing and motivated record label, which proves difficult. This thriving grime culture and underground scene helps to create various job opportunities. It also seems that the language barrier of the grime culture is being broken down with the slow but steady rise of UK and US collaborations: Missy Elliot and M.I.A, David Banner and Kano, Lethal B and Twista, Ludacris and Asher D and so on.


So what is the future for black British music? Perhaps to invest and nurture the talent, instead of just dropping it, makes a huge difference. BBC radio's 1Xtra and digital TV Channel U are a good start. It is about ensuring the foundations are available and supportive so that when black British music is back in the limelight, it stays there. I believe this country is big enough to sustain more than one style of music at a time. After all, the pioneers of rap would never have imagined that their music would turn into a huge industry. Maybe in 10 years time people will look back at grime music in the same way.