Overview research on Grime

Personally, I know nothing about Grime music, apart from its black origins and low budgeted music videos (no disrespect intended) which are generally filmed around the streets of London, however since its what we have chosen to do for our music video, I thought it only appropriate to do some brief whilst informative research on the genre:

e.g. West Side gang sign

Grime was created to express the oppression of youths in the UK in their day to day lives, and it became popular because it was relatable, and it gave people empathy and street knowledge as well as made them move their bodies to the funky beats and punchy execution of their rhymes. Like American rap at the time, it was also about representing where they came from, like 2Pac and NWA represented Compton/West Side
According to reddit, Grime came from Jamaican music over 20 years ago. In the 1990s England's fast, techno lyric-less music such as Jungle, Breakbeat and Rave music began to decline and in the 2000s was replaced by Garage music:

eg of Breakbeat:

 eg of the more recognisable (to me anyway) Garage:

Garage, of course, also began to get less popular, however this is only because it was evolving - it was beginning to be the foundation Grime - and dubstep - is built on

In the early 2000s, artists such as Dizzie Rascal and Wiley began to make Grime more popular and brought it to the attention of the mainstream world of music. Wiley (right), also gone by King Of Grime and the Godfather of Grime by critics is, by name itself, a very influential figure in the rise of Grime.
Richard Kylea Cowie, better known by the stage name Wiley is UK Grime artist/MC who has been actively making underground British music since 1996.  When Garage music's popularity began to decrease, Wiley formed the entourage Roll Deep, featuring himself, Dizzie Rascal and Tinchy Stryder, later creating what we associate as Grime today. Wiley himself has always sworn to stand by Grime and what it represents, therefore when he made the Mainstream hits "Wearing my Rolex", "Cash In My Pocket" and "Summertime", he left his label at the time Asylum, in 2008 - When Grime had began to take off as a genre in the UK music scene.

Wiley, 1997 (in blue)
One of the things that gave Grime music and the like popularity is when Dizzie Rascal's Bonkers in a music video came out, it was soon in adverts and even featured momentarily in TV shows (like, i remember it playing on CBBC when it was released in 2009)


According to Highsnobiety, these are the main things that differentiate Grime from any other genres - with the help of their other article A Beginners Guide To Grime:

1. Pirate Radio is what made Grime popular 
New Grime artists in the late 90s to early 2000s were the ones who reached out to Pirate Radio in order to get their music heard. These stations were played in places such as night clubs and party scenes.

2. Grime Fashion is real, raw and close to home, like it's lyrics

then

now

Prominent pieces of clothing that made up Grime were loose fitted trainers, jeans, and baseball caps, which defers from Garage fashion, which was all about 'blowing all the money you earned in one night, and your clothes better look the part'. Grime artists wear highstreet sports brands such as Adidas and Nike, with the occasional gold chain from time to time - however the jewellery is not what the music is about, Mainstream hip-hop rap culture tends to flash jewellery and expensive looking clothes, not Grime. Grime fashion also inherits some American rap and black culture, wearing brands such as New Era and sports team merchandise such as caps and t-shirts.
3. No music video or discussion about Grime can go without a crew/hype team/entourage 
examples Krept & Konan - Don't Waste My Time / Stormzy - Shut Up

4. Grime is blowing up, globally
people from America, even Australia are begining to show interest in Grime artists such as Stormzy and Skepta:

Famous rap/hip-hop singer Drake has begun to show love for UK culture, seen with Grime artists and using British slang on social media - courtesy of Complex article http://uk.complex.com/music/2014/10/drake-london-road-man

5. Despite its growing popularity, Grime, for the most part, will always stay 'a UK ting'

 thanks for reading!