“I want anybody from around to world to be able to listen to the album and know it comes from London. From the beats, not just the vocals,” stated North London grime legend SKEPTA in a recent interview with The Fader.
His upcoming album, Konnichiwa, marks a pivotal point in the history of grime music. Skepta, the 32-year-old MC/producer, is the genre’s current poster boy thanks to singles like “That’s Not Me” and “Shutdown” that have transcended London pirate radios as well as valuable cosigns by Kanye, Drake, and the A$AP Mob. With his hype precipitating to mercurial heights in the city and beyond, Skeppy has the best chance to finally introduce the rest of the world to the unique vibes of grime music.
But without a release date yet set for Konnichiwa, I figured I might as well do some research and explaining about the genre to provide some context before the big event.
GRIME emerged in England in the early 2000s, and while it can appear on the surface as just British dudes rapping really fast, it defines itself as a development of UK garage, drum and bass, and dancehall. Producers create the signature fierce, antic sounds by distilling the polyrhythms of drum and bass or garage (rave music) to a minimal style sometimes consisting of little more than a woozy bass line and a sampled videogame blip. Awesomely, Skepta’s early production was crafted on Mario Paint on the SNES and Music 2000 for PlayStation.
Around 2003-2004, famous grime MCs like Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Kano, and Lethal Bizzle were among a talented group of artists who broke through and scored the first mainstream media attention for the genre. Dizzee Rascal’s Boy in da Corner, a must-listen, won the 2003 Mercury Music Prize (a prestigious award that honors the year’s best album from the UK and Ireland) and garnered a 9.4/10 on Pitchfork. However, grime’s worldwide wave subsided fairly quickly as many artists sold-out to pop sounds.
While Dizzee and Wiley were having major chart hits around 2010, they weren’t via grime. Even Skepta at this time left behind the sounds of lyric battle DVDs and pirate radio stations for electro-pop bangers perfect for poolside parties in Ibiza. Luckily, contemporary MCs recognize this time of departure and have made a strong effort to get back to the original gritty formula that grime was created from.
That’s why “That’s Not Me” created such a stir upon its release. It’s Skepta’s refreshing return to his roots as he distances himself from the superfluous trappings of the baller lifestyle: Sex any girl? That’s not me / Lips any girl? That’s not me / Yeah, I used to wear Gucci / Put it all in the bin cause that’s not me.
ESSENTIAL GRIME VOCABULARY
Wag1/Wagwan – “What’s up”
Ends – The area you come from (like ‘Hood’)
Mandem – Your crew/friends
Blud/Bruv – Greeting to a friend (‘Why are there Prets every 5 feet in London, blud?’)
Merk – To ruin someone/something
Shook – Scared
Dutty – Ugly/dirty
Wasteman – Someone who’s a waste of time/space/life
Gassed – Excited (‘I get so gassed reading UK Vibes’)
For those wanting a taste test of the wonderful world of grime, check out Grime Time, a compilation by the Ministry of Sound filled with many crucial tracks of the genre.
P.S. Shout-out to the roadman Colin Deery who has ranted to me incessantly about Tim Westwood freestyles for years now. A true grime OG.
(Editor’s Note May 2016: KONNICHIWA IN STORES NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
uk vibes 