So, it seems like a lot of you Americans are getting into grime nowadays, so I thought I’d just provide you all with a little history lesson since there appears some confusion about the subject.
Grime isn't rap or hip-hop in the way you'd think of American rap music. It's certainly influenced by hip-hop and related rap techniques (something that is particularly evident with the current wave of popular grime artists and their connections/collaborations/support from the likes of Nas, Kanye, A$ap Rocky, Danny Brown, Drake, etc.).
However, Grime's MCing style is primarily rooted in the Jamaican dancehall tradition via the assimilation of toasting/chatting/singing into first, the late 80s/early 90s rave and hardcore scene, and, by way of the hardcore continuum, continuing on into the genres of jungle, drum and bass, and garage in the late 90s/early-mid 00s, in which MCs held as much stature as the DJ themselves (as sometimes even more so) when it came to the primary avenues for one to actively consume those styles of music: listening to pirate radio broadcasts and attending raves/DJ sets/dance nights.
>>64606709
Musically speaking, the "beats/instrumentals/riddims" of grime, are mainly rooted, not in the breakbeat-anchoring stylings of jungle/dnb in which several formative grime MCs first came to prominence, but instead in the stylings of sub-genres in the "UK garage" sphere. Essentially, garage, while influenced by both jungle/dnb in addition to New York Garage House and a multitude of other genres, had at the time of grime's emergence fractured into many different sounds. On one hand you had the rhythmically bumpy 2-step style which ranged from everything from cheesy Top 40 R&B and pop songs to disjointed, spacey, sub-bass heavy proto-dubstep (or "dark garage" as it was called then) as well as more "pounding" speed garage/4 to the floor garage/bassline styles, the proto-dubstep-linked "breakstep" sound, which fused the dark garage and with DnB breakbeats, as well as a whole lot of other nameless stylistic deviations that ran all over the musical spectrum.
The rapid rate of technological advancement beginning the late 90s (and exponentially accelerating in the first part of the 21st century) ushered in two very important developments: PCs and laptops and professional-grade personal music production software that were more powerful, more affordable, more accessible, and most importantly, actively designed for in-home use by your average consumer. The door was opened for a whole slew of young producers (many of whom were a racial minority, lower or middle class, and/or hailed from tower block housing projects or disenfranchised neighbourhoods) who previously would not have been able to create music without the having to seek out costly and often technically challenging resources like a recording studio/mixing console/DAWs and DAT, synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, physical source material for sampling etc. that were generally necessary to make a record. Now armed with the proper weapons, these producers went about crafting their own ammunition.
>>64606737
While most of the producers of the formative grime styles dubbed things like “Eskibeat” and “Sublow” drew from many of the different garage variants floating about, they were tethered together by a distinct focus on particularly rhythmically complex and low end-prominent garage strains. These styles, which were resonating in distinct circles of the London underground scene, featured a sort of rough, tough, and raw "streetwise" sound that bore marked contrast with bubbly gloss of mainstream pop garage synonymous with a culture of glitz and excess and the soundtrack of choice for celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham, posh youths on holiday in Ayia Napa, suburbanites, and pretty much any Top 40-listening nonce. What was once a multi-faceted, organically flourishing genre, rooted in the progression of the hardcore continuum and associated with its own distinct club scene and micro-culture, had not achieved mere crossover success outside of the realm of dance music, but instead had been completely embraced by the mainstream and then appropriated and bastardized by bandwagon-jumping record execs looking to cash-in on the latest musical trend.
Almost like an act of protest, they these producers took those heavier styles and went into the exploited them to their peak maximalist tendencies. A massively overdriven kick stomps through a sparse musical landscape, pierced by a sour, slightly detuned bassline. Often elements like video game sound effects and atypical and/or heavily manipulated drum samples serve as jerking clatter of percussion. To sum it up succinctly, Grime is the hardcore continuum boiled down to its most primal and raw state.
>>64606709
tl;dr grime is shit
Other than Boy in da corner, what are some essentials?
>>64607909
Are you talking like albums or what? Because outside of BiDC, most quality grime is either in single form or exists as part of an MC set.
>>64606709
So basically youre saying
>its all robot music that sounds the fucking same
>>64608134
>>64608145
This is the only counter argument electronic fags can muster
Too lazy to learn an actual instrument, too lazy to defend your music
Makes sense
>>64608208
I just spent an half hour writing a history of grime, so I'm not too keen on arguing with what is most either a poor attempt at trolling or an embarrassingly misguided attempt at elitism. Enjoy your twangs though.
>>64607909
Wiley - Playtime Is Over
JME - Integrity
The Bug - Angels & Devils
Ruff Sqwad - Guns & Roses Vol. 2
DJ Magic - No Hats No Hoods Edition 1
Skepta - The Tim Westwood Mix
V/A - Run The Road
V/A - Hyperdub 10.1
>>64608319
>im wrong so you must be trolling
You are really bad at 4chan you must be new or something
>>64606709
It's pronounced "garridge" mate. Like luggage. And baggage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpXUFpjIhDk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKHKgk2yS9U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfJyV0jPn64
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXrtYj9S0sQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7b2POsa8gQ
If you like the above then you like Grime, if not then don't bother with it since it was never better than it was here.
Is it Gucci, or is it not?
>>64609468
I get the feeling it's some Buju Banton Limey rip off.
>>64606709
Nice, very informative. Always did wonder what the deal with Grime was
