All Frank Everything

catching the drift.

2012-07-18T22:55:00.002+01:00

One thing is for sure, if it doesn't only just induce feelings that range from uncontrollable euphoria to raging sessions of gun-finger-hype, music forces us to reflect. For example when you hear an artist for the first time and you know they'll eventually reach the top tier of their field, the ultimate peak of their career; I'm not sure what best describes these goals for a Grime emcee. Certainly not in the modern era, anyway, I presume earlier it would have been a booking at some spectacular rave - Eskimo Dance/Sidewinder - these days it's a safe bet to say iTunes sales. When I put on Drifter's free download it brought back memories of emcees I was pretty sure were going to be massive, like when I first heard 'This Is The Beginning', I knew Dot was going to be massive. This morning I walked into McDonalds to get my breakfast and they were playing Dot Rotten. It's surreal. Like walking into Foot Locker and they're playing P Money or Devlin, another two emcees I would listen to years back and be like, "yes, this is fucking amazing, these are people who WILL do well".

Reflecting, the latest two emcees I've been inclined to feel this way about are Rival and Merky ACE, and after listening to this free download I'm presented with, Drifter. The South London emcee is one from the category of "floaters": around the scene or thereabouts, appearing on the odd set or YouTube video, flying in and out of any local rave. In such periods of quietness it's hard therefore to get excited about an emcee, even during his fantastic SBTV video alongside Amazer where he sends for Marvell, and again when he touched Kiss with P Money and Blacks, he really stood out on that set. But then he disappeared again, as he asks on the track 'Where You Been': "why do you think they call me Drfiter?".

'Catch My Drift' as a whole is a very pleasing collection of tunes. 'New Beginnings' works well as an opener and serves its purpose as an introductory statement: he both acknowledges then dismisses the fact that he is indeed a Drifter within the genre - "it's a par if you ain't got top ten tracks - hold on - I ain't got top ten tracks". An impressive aspect of emcees - when they choose to do it - is when they build on the themes of tunes and lyrics, this is demonstrated on this occasion when the aforementioned tune slightly falls into 'Where You Been', then later on again through 'Who I Am'.

In the midst of that, production and content differentiates between the very South London influenced tone of Dot Rotten and A2 rhythms, the spacey vibes of Rude Kid (the amazing 'Raindrops' instrumental features) and the Dubstep bounces of True Tiger and Psythe. 'Bars & Flows' is a real highlight: it takes on a classic Dot Rotten beat and Drifter just lets loose over it, in a similar fashion to way he does on 'Only If You Knew' which also features P Money. It's a mixture of admirable wordplay and a wide range of sharp flows and subject matter that really brings the jigsaw together, 'Levelling Me' is another discreet banger in the sense that at first, it's a casual listen, by then end however it's left a real impact on the listener. We always expect a lot from débuts and in Grime they typically emerge (eventually) as the emcees best work: full of raw hunger and unrelenting energy, as this collection of tunes exhibits, wonderfully. Download it now from www.sbtv.co.uk

For more on Drifter: Sightracked / Twitter

we all want mor£

2012-07-09T19:40:00.002+01:00

In 2011, South London emcee M.I.K told me that aside from gathering more bookings, his main focus was the singles he was putting together. 'Do It' was the single we discussed at the time and he's had a few since - including the rave smash 'Shutdown' and catchy offering 'Flushing MCs' - now he aligns with Launchpad Records, Faze Miyake, Family Tree and DJ Q to bring out 'Mor£', one of the year's more promising Grime singles.

"We both listened to MOR£ and straight away it grabbed us", explain George and Louis of the Launchpad duo. "It's a really exciting track from one of the most exciting emcees in Grime at the moment in one of, if not the most exciting crew. From the instrumental (produced by Faze Miyake) to the vocals provided by M.I.K it's just pure, solid Grime."

He's not far from the truth either as 'Mor£' is one of the better singles to have emerged from a cluster of pointless Grime packages that have been chucked recklessly onto iTunes this year, as everyone attempts to ditch the mixtape scene in search for a pattern that allows them to do a budget video, a free download followed by an iTunes/Bandcamp EP and then, hopefully attain more bookings. 'Mor£' counters the lyrical content of most prominent singles from emcees also: insisting on gathering more money and "more" everything rather than boasting how much of it M.I.K has already, the engaging flow that's evocative of a 2004-flashback-fm style matches up well against Faze Miyake's grinding yet bubbly production.

"It was a good feeling knowing they (Launchpad) were interested in the track", answered the emcee when asked about the single, and it's accompanying remixes. "I know they've worked with a lot of well known artists in the scene, so yeah it was a nice moment. [The single] was recorded in my mates studio earlier this year, well January and DJ Q was playing it a lot so I just asked him if he would be interested in doing a remix, he said he was game for it. As for the Family Tree remix that was always going to happen; it's just a matter of getting everyone in the studio to do it. I was always going to be happy with the turn out of the remixes because I knew the people that were involved with it are good at what they do."

After speaking to him M.I.K reiterated his desire to make more music and pick up further bookings, whilst Launchpad's intentions now lie with their focus artist, Manchester's Blizzard. "We're taking a real hands on approach with the A&R side of things, we've got him (Blizzard) in studio with some great writers and singers so we're just putting together some projects from him. His debut single 'Neckbreaker' made it to the top 20 in the Hip Hop charts so we're putting out a full EP of his in the next couple of months. We have also spoken to some Grime scene legends and we are anticipating a few single/EP releases, ones that will genuinely excite Grime fans."

Launchpad just like M.I.K and his fellow crew members (Merky ACE, Shifman, Ego & TKO) excite me immensely when things like this come together: ideas are suggested, the work is done and then a quality package is the outcome. The aforementioned forumla most emcees seem to be following isn't as sustainable as some would make out: more time should be taken in the thought process as to the productions emcees choose to spit on for what they want to casually throw out, as well as the lyrical expression. 'Mor£' works because it varies from the norm and generally excites the listener, as it's radio plays backs up. Download it now, from iTunes.

(Launchpad are on Twitter, follow @LaunchpadR).

Bloom; Trim; Slackk and some Eski-ish.

2012-06-25T19:56:00.004+01:00

I guess now would be an appropriate time to delete 'Three Lions '98' and 'World In Motion' for another two years. England depart from a major tournament in the most gut-wrenching way possible once again and in the bewildering void that's now ahead, it's probably only Grime that's going to get me going. I do mean proper Grime though. Lately I've had a bit of a craving for new producers and new sounds; in general and I suppose ultimately, I am after some new takes on Grime. Of course the Butterz camp are forever flying the flag - internationally I might add also - as Royal T and Champion come-down from the highs of playing New York as does Elijah: these guys are the epitome of progression, breakthrough and development within and therefore beyond the scene. Mr Mitch is another name associated with that cluster and thanks to his 'Gobstopper' imprint, this little gem of a production from Bloom entitled "Quartz", will be let loose on the world.

As of late, I'm forever hearing different names of genres being proceeded by the term "future": "future garage", "future jungle" - for goodness sake - "future techno"? I'm not sure quite what drives people into branding something which is currently thriving in the present, and probably borrowing substantially from the past as "future", anything with an atmospheric undertone and blips of industrial-inspired noises seems to beckon that term; is what Bloom has made here future Grime? The tune is undoubtedly a delightful package of Grime, utilising various original Grime structures and rhythms without getting carried away - it deserves the hype and praise of Khan's "Percy" - a tune which does indeed run away so fast with the idea of circa-02 Grime you're left bored.

"Quartz" is the type of tune you'd expect on a set from the aforementioned parties, it'll probably even be one to gather the backing of those DJs who are not 100% Grime but love the experimentalism, i,e Oneman, Plastician, Dusk & Blackdown. It'll probably fall into the playlists of the traditional heads as well, your Spooky, Score 5, Oil Gang type of DJ; maybe this next producer/DJ who has an excellent EP out would play it too, yeah, it's Slackk. Co-incidentally, he's even remixing the tune, as is Starkey. Delight.

Slackk is a producer who's story alone is compelling enough to get you into his beats, a Liverpudlian raised on Acid House, the founder of grime-heaven Grimetapes; the man who's brought back Eski. You remember Eski right? The sound when Grime existed with no name, minimal mixtapes and albums, just raves, radio and vinyl. As someone who is not a producer and hasn't really had the intent to ever be, words are not my strong point when it comes to describing the actual sound of Eski: light, delightful clicking and blipping with tingling basslines paint it well it enough, I believe.

Slackk's new EP on Local Action delivers a lot of the above, with extra slabs of synth and melody, the highlight naturally "Almost Transparent", a sandwich of 2004 Wiley and Ruff Sqwad production. It's an absolute must-buy and you must also get a hold of "Polar Bear" as well, that really is a new take on Grime.

That whole Eski era and some of the more recent displays of its influence on the likes of Logos and Becoming Real have been crammed into a special radio show by Digital Dust, which you can listen to on Sub City right here. It features the quite amazing 'Atlanta 96' (Keysound) which I've been playing for weeks now, the accompanying video to it (below) is also something special, as is the story behind what should have been a Keysound release, but is now the property of R&S.

Without appearing to be some sort of Dot Cotton gossipmonger, it would appear that Blackdown had arranged a release that would pair the unlikely combination of Harmonix - alias of now famous James Blake - and emcee Trim. I know nothing much of James Blake nor his aliases, I'm only aware really of his music, and that's all I've ever strived to care about really, outside of Grime. The way Grime works however, forces you to acknowledge an emcee or producer beyond the realms of 140 beats per minute, and it's stories such as the following that embody the eternal light-controversy that compels me day-in-day-out.

Blackdown writes: "James was unsure if he wanted to do something quite like a straight grime tune but definitely wanted to work with Trim’s voice. I remembered that on one of the Soulfood mixtapes there was an acapella, so I sent it over to him, alongside a “best of” Trim zip. I also dug out and recorded my interview with Trim that I did in IoD when we did “The Bits” photoshoot.

The interview tape became a third track that looks like it’s not appearing. The acapella became “Confidence Boost,” one of the most incredible productions of the last 5 years. Proper “wot do you call it?” in its own right. As he was sending over different versions of “Confidence…,” I strongly remember James explaining that he was trying to manipulate Trim’s (spoken) voice so it sounds like he’s singing backing harmonies with himself. I’d guess he used a plug-in that layers different harmonics on top of themselves but to this date I’m unsure how he did it. It’s genius in both its ideas and execution."

The two tunes which are set for release are as described above: genius. I don't even really want to say too much about them as the music does the talking in all brutal honesty; I would however like to point out that if you've heard "The Bits", then you will know how much of an exceptional piece of music that is and how much I admire that tune does make these two efforts look a little less extraordinary. I think I'll leave that to opinion though. Have I found a few new takes? Obviously.

Coyote Records

2012-06-21T21:31:00.002+01:00

Recently I read a post on the fantastic site Dreamer's Row, where the writer (and DJ) Lungi Lee remarks: "the lines which seperated grime and garage were as blurry as a chalk outline on concrete on a rainy day". Honestly, those lines are more blurry than ever. In my previous post I explored with Royal-T the notions behind his unique take on Grime, his productions which I branded 'progressive', and the first release on Tomas Fraser's shiny new label 'Coyote' further scrutinises the boundaries of a genre ever increasingly becoming producer based.

Mella Dee is a producer I know next to nothing about but my lack of knowledge didn't prevent me from enjoying his fantastically minimalist rhythm, which in parts is in debt to Pulse X and elsewhere a switching sensation of drums and bassy clicks. At the point you feel an instrumental is bound to become boring, Mella switches up, utilising faster drums and alert flashes of pleasant noise. Mr Mitch hands over a remix which threatens to explode throughout with continued use of whistles and building tension before it bursts into carnival-like life late on and MA1's brilliant offering uses one of the melodies of the year but as I mention below, there is a remix by Baobinga which particularly intrigues me. It starts off with a fantastic skipping motion before incorporating a plethora of rolling sounds, it lightly feels like TRC's 'Skipping Rope' had it been rolled through a large funk-me-up machine and is my highlight of Coyote's first package.

So below I catch up with Tomas Fraser, currently a writer for Sonic Router and Clash Magazine (where, ironically, he's been profiling Grime labels), the brains behind this whole operation. You can buy Coyote 001 right here.

Let's just go with the obligatory starter: Coyote Records, what's the story behind it?

I'd been writing for a few years and that enabled me to look at things from an artist's point of view. Because I'm not actually a musician myself, releasing records was always an option. I was also lucky enough to go to university in Leeds with some talented guys deejaying at nights I used to go to, so I got to know that scene quite well.

Labels have always fascinated me too and because I'd done quite a bit of writing on the likes of Butterz, roska's label roska kicks and snares and so on, i felt inspired to give it a go. i felt i could bring my own take on grime and garage and sign some good, forward-thinking tunes and release them on vinyl. i'm passionate about physical product so that was always key to my thinking.

I can relate to the physical product appeal. If we go back a bit though, before the modern Grime labels, perhaps let's say to the time when you were growing up. What labels were big then?

All I knew when I was growing up was pirate radio and Heartless Crew, until I was about 14. Boy In Da Corner came out. I used to spend a lot of money on Sidewinder and Garage Nation tape packs from a local record shop which has since closed down as well, so I got to know Grime as it was first emerging from the UK Garage scene - I've still got a Pay As You Go set on tape - with Dizzee [Rascal] on the mic alongside Wiley and co. So as far as labels go, I was completely lost to that side of things until I was about 17/18.

That's understandable. For me, when I bought vinyls or CDs I would scan the cover notes or booklets intensively, gaining essentially little bits of information or "pub ammo" if you will. How important is that stuff for Coyote?

Yeah I think that's important. I've always been quite keen on making everything just-so with Coyote but I'm not into over-complicating either. I think the aim with Coyote is to let the music do the talking as much as possible; I just want to provide a new avenue for grime-themed music to make its mark.

How much talking do you think your first release has done?

I think its done a decent amount considering it's Mella Dee's first solo vinyl release and we've only been around for a few months. I've been lucky in the sense that through my writing, I've met some really good people and they've supported me throughout: T. Williams helped with the mastering in particular, South London Ordnance offered his advice too and I owe a big debt to DJs. Brackles, Shox, Seb Chew, Spooky, Royal T and countless others have played the track or one of its remixes and only said good things about it and people have been honest with me too which has really helped; I've taken so much on-board from these guys.

Labels are obviously complicated affairs, how specifically do you think being a writer has played on the decisions you've made?

I think it's definitely helped but to what extent I'm not sure. I suppose I've had some good insight into the work that goes into a label, which I thought long and hard about before deciding to launch Coyote but it can also be a hindrance in a way. I think sometimes you can feel like you know too much and that's not always a good thing because there are a lot of risks involved and there's definitely no guarantee of success. I just felt the time and circumstances were right for me and I really believe in what I'm doing.

Tell us about Mella Dee then, why and how you got him on board.

I've known Mella for a good couple of years, mainly just through him deejaying at a night he used to co-promote called "Tropical" - I used to go to quite a lot while I was at university in Leeds - I always liked what they pushed. Since I left and came home, we'd always talk music but never seriously until I started writing and he, alongside Woozee and (at the time) Kid Kosy got signed to Greenmoney as Mista Men. I always knew he loved Grime though and he's been sending me solo stuff for a good year. His output is so high as well, he makes tunes for the pure fun of it: it seemed like the most natural thing to do getting him on board. We're similar in our opinions too, so it's been a pleasure working with him so far.

The Baobinga remix blew me away, I was really impressed with it, what were your intentions with the remixes?

Ah, wicked! My intentions initially were to get as varied takes on the original as possible and I approached a few people before settling on Baobinga, Mr Mitch and Ma1. Grevious Angel got in touch after hearing the original and asked if he could remix it too and of course I said yes. I think each one does something different but they really come together as a package. I was blown away buy the quality of everything to be honest.

You've sort of taken a risk, because whether we listen to commercial-pop music or not and try to maintain how underground we are, dance music as a whole (in the eyes of some people) has become a bit of a disposable market, how will you maintain the labels longevity?

I think it bores down to how much value you give [tracks]: if you treat them as disposable then they'll become disposable. Coyote, for me, isn't just a monetary investment, it's something I'm incredibly proud of and want people to feel a part of.

Musically, I'm quite intent on pushing Grime from all corners of the spectrum, be it left-field and experimental or straight rough-and-ready, but I think the true staying power of a label lies in what you put into it from a personal perspective. If you treat it as the most important thing in the world then other people will too.

I don't want to be overly picky but earlier you mentioned about your own take on Grime and Garage, how progressive do you feel you can be with the likes of (inevitably mentioned) Butterz and Hardrive? I mean I don't want to make it a competition of course, I mean alongside those labels, or even collaborativly.

Both Butterz and Hardrive have been big influences on me and I'd be lying if I said they hadn't inspired me to want to push Coyote but what they have done is incredible and can't be replicated. I think Coyote is good in the sense that people don't really know what to expect and that's helping us at the moment. I'm very keen on using remix work to boost original tracks and provide some really interesting stuff.

So it wouldn't be a fantasy to suggest some re-issues of older Grime tracks?

Oh of course: there's some incredible Grime that's effectively been left behind but I think it's important to focus on the now because otherwise you lose track of what you're trying to do. However brilliant and raw Grime was back then, it isn't necessarily the same now, but that doesn't mean there isn't the scope to take it in new, even better directions. Grime as it was will always be good and we can cherish the memories but I think moving forward is vital!

I wouldn't want to take liberties as you expressed you want to keep the fans guessing, but in terms of releases in the immediate future, have you any concrete names in place?

I've signed a track called "Grade A" by TS7 from Birmingham (you can preview it on Coyote's Soundcloud) and that's currently being remixed by Walton and Mella Dee, that'll be 002.
Our third release is also sorted but I don't want to spill the beans yet - it'll be a trip back to 140 though - that's nice.

Follow Coyote Record's official Twitter and Soundcloud accounts here and here, follow their main man Tomas Fraser here also.

Royal T: THE Interview.

2012-06-19T18:57:00.000+01:00

The cliche introduction isn't even needed: Royal T is THE man of the moment right now. Whilst Preditah, Faze Miyake and more scrap it out for the best producer title, one man and his brand of progressive Grime has flourished on labels such as No Hats No Hoods and Butterz, taking the scene brilliantly. His growth as a producer and a DJ is lightning quick, proved by the fact that by the time we'd eventually pieced together this interview, he has gained himself a slot on Rinse FM and a remix for Cheryl Cole. Time flies eh?

So you recently signed an album deal with Rinse, what was your initial reaction?

My initial reaction was "Let's get to work then...". I couldn't wait to get home and start making stuff and it really hasn't quite sunk in yet. It probably won't until I'm holding the CD in my hand.

When you first gained mass attention with '1 UP', did you ever think you'd end up playing such a major role in the rejuvenation of Grime production?

Nope, not at all. I'd always had aspirations from that time though. I bet if you check my interviews from like two years ago I was always chatting some shit about wanting Grime to be seen as Electronic Music again, and me saying I wanted to have a CD in the dance section of HMV instead of Hip Hop; now that statement might not seem so weird to people who heard me say it the first time around. I always wanted to be doing what I'm doing now, just at that time it was always make or break really.

It's quite an obvious statement but your work is influenced largely by different types of dance music, before you started listening to Grime, what were the main types of music you were in to?

I guess it's no surprise that I listened to a lot of Garage. I was heavily into Oxide & Neutrino, The Streets, Artful Dodger and usually whatever Garage or Jungle tape packs I could steal from my brother's bedroom without being clocked. That question always feels weird for me to answer though because I feel like i've been listening to Grime for so long.

How long is "long"? Even though Grime is young compared to many other genres, we're all from different eras - some from the pirate ages - some from the so called new wave. Where would you put yourself?

I don't even know myself really. I was definitely in the start of secondary school when I started listening to it so, Year 7/8. This must of just been before Boy In Da Corner I think, because obviously I was already into So Solid/Oxide & Neutrino etc. No one else in my class or in my age group really knew anything about it but I remember going down the corridor and hearing all the Year 11s playing Wiley sets and being surprised when this little white kid walked past knowing the lyrics.

Because it was such a gradual thing it's hard to say when and where but my mind always stretchs back to some set clip I always had of All In One and Wiley clashing, the "Suck your Nan Soundbwoy" lyrics. Then there was Musical Mobb - 'Bad Bongo Behaviour', for some reason that tune really sticks out in my mind being in school. It's funny if I think about it because none of my friends listened to it or anything; I could of been one of those twats that follows everything their friends do and if I was I probably wouldn't be doing this interview right now.

I can relate to the friends thing - all my mates rarely listened to Grime and if they did, it was the really Hip Hop influenced stuff or whoever the locals were - Fatal Assasins in my case. That (or they, rather) brings me to my next question: what's it been like working with one of the countrys leading emcees, P Money?

Yeah a very good feeling man. I've been telling people he's the best for the last two years and now people understand this. Very talented fella. I'm a fan regardless of making tunes with him. We have a good understanding so it's cool to work with an MC who knows what I'm about and vice versa.

He did mention to me before in an interview the pair of you have a brilliant understanding, it's almost a bit like, erm, Oxide and Neutrino (laughing).

A brilliant coincidence.

You mentioned The Streets and Oxide and Neutrino, would you say therefore that you was more a fan of vocal tunes? Or would you prefer it not to be as 'categorised' as that?

It sounds a bit stupid but I just liked good music. I remember 'Foot 2 Da Floor' and 'Shoot 2 Kill' being two of my favourite tunes from Oxide and Neutrino and they were obviously both instrumentals. I was still very into the whole instrumental side, especially listening to them tape packs and hearing '138 Trek' in my bedroom. That shit was exciting as fuck growing up because I felt like I had found a gold mine with all these tunes that none of my mates knew about. It's more or less all through having an older brother. My brother bought Original Pirate Material originally and I think I just nicked it. I remember my Dad playing it in the car a lot too.

138 Trek was a very important tune for a lot of people, almost the starting pistol for Grime producers of that time really. What other notable tunes of that period would you say influenced your modern work?

Definitely, other tracks like Alias - Warriors, DJ Narrows - Saved Soul, Plasician - Cha, the bait ones really, there's so many tunes I can think of really but even just those three really, you can sort of see how they've influenced my tunes.

The beautiful thing about you mentioning Original Pirate Material is that the whole glory of the album stems from Skinner reshaping the Garage scene, doing so with his own voice and own style of unique production, a bit like you took to Grime rhythms with YOUR own style and non-conformation. Perhaps the biggest example being your remix of Full Attention...

Yeah it's all about trying new shit. I remember hearing someone saying that all my remixes sounded shit and samey so I returned with that, and even then people wanted to call that fucking Dubstep. I can't win (laughing). I just don't feel comfortable making easy tunes, it's all about creating killers and no fillers. I want people to talk about my production even if they think it's shit. The fact they're talking about that tune rather than a new tune with the same old formula and same old sounds makes it more enjoyable for me.

I'm glad we mentioned remixing because it was something I was going to discuss quite extensively, again it shows your garage roots as some of the biggest ever tunes to emerge from that generation are re-workings. Which was the very first tune you had a crack at playing with and why did you choose that tune?

Oh God, this takes me back and it was actually the first thing I ever exported on Fruityloops ever. It was some really shit refix of Wiley - 'Ice Rink' that I'd made. This must of been years ago when I was in school and wasn't a 'producer'. It's gone now though. Will never get to hear it again. I heard some old remix I did of Teddy's 'World War 4' again the other day for the first time in years. Awful!

Since then you've gone on to do official remixes for Yasmin, Wretch 32, Wiley, Katy B and more, what's been your favourite to do to date and what others have you got in the pipeline?

All of them were really fun to do and most of them have a nice little story to how they happened. Not a lot of people know the story behind the Yasmin Remix. It was never supposed to happen, all the remixes were submitted but Elijah got hold of the parts from Yasmin and gave them to me. I made it, sent it to Mistajam, he loved it and basically ordered them to release it. At the time all the remixes had been uploaded to Soundcloud and were on 500-1000 views after a month. I remember them uploading it and it getting two or the thousand in a matter of days so they had no choice but to release it. That's why it wasn't on the full remix package but released on it's own. We sort of hijacked it, it was fun.

Obviously the Wiley Remix was fun for two reasons. One, remixing for one of my my favourite artists and one of the reasons I'm able to do what I do and two, putting all the old easter eggs of his beats in there. This shit isn't supposed to happen really for remixes, cut and pasted old music into something new. No polished bullshit, so this is why I say my stuff is what it is, you can't get away with doing that in other genres, THAT's Grime.

There's remixing and then, there's sampling. Tell us some smaples you've used so far and where you might look for others.

I agree. Also, I think people need to know the difference between a REMIX and what is quite simply a REMAKE. I've been hearing a lot of dodgy remakes lately listed as remixes. For original work I never ever sample. Even for remixes I hardly ever use the original song parts for my version, I like to have control over every element of the track even if it means remaking the sound.

It's amazing to see how many different types of sounds you incorporate into your tunes, like when I reviewed your EP on Booglaoo I compared it to The Prodigy, on your debut we were all talking about the 8-bit inspiration and then on your latest release I'm talking about Ibiza-style piano stabs. Where does the buck stop for you, and how far will it go? What will you not sample and what are you going to attempt later on?

I'm glad someone has noticied that. I really do and try to keep everything so different from the last as I know it's normal for a lot of Grime producers to follow trends. It's strange really. At the time of '1 UP' there was a lot of half time stuff so I started making 2-Step: everyone followed. I started making break beat/amen breakish/clubby shit: everyone followed. Then I started to make Garagey stuff and it seems everyone's doing that too now. So it's just natural for me to try and stay ahead of the pack because I know what everyone else is like.

While everyone was trying to make the next 'Spartan' I was making 'Inside The Ride'. As far as it goes to attempting anything, I never really force my music making, I let it all come naturally so I don't feel any pressures or restrained to making one certain thing. That's what is good about Grime, the flexibility, so it's all just fun to me really.

Do you think you've had a 'Spartan' moment yet? Like apart from Joyride, that's Spooky's defining tune, what's your biggest tune to date?

Nah I don't think so. Spartan is a classic, I haven't made a classic yet. Pulse X, Woo and all of them are classics and I haven't had anything that's universally spread. I suppose Inside The Ride was a nice tune that sort of formed elements people were used to in my tracks so I guess that's a nice tune to suggest to people if they want to know what stuff I do.

You've been lucky in the fact that so many different labels have been interested in your material: No Hats got '1 UP', Butterz got 'Orangeade', Boogaloo had Damn It and Rinse have Inside The Ride so two things: what were your favourite labels growing up and which labels have you not released on that would intrest you?

I didn't really collect vinyl as a kid or anything. I must of just missed the gap with that I think age wise. Obviously I've backtracked now. I would of loved to have been around in the Black Ops era and had a go at some Sub Low and that. Obviously the Wiley Kats are iconic, I've got a few Eski riddims I've made that I need to finish actually.

I'm not too crazy about labels and stuff, I just appreciate anyone that shows an interest in my music, I suppose the other way around it would be me trying to cater and I'm a bit of a selfish bastard when it comes to that side.

It is almost a standard practice now for a lot of Grime producers to start DJing, a step you took yourself, quite successfully. How did DJing affect the way you approached your own productions?

It just opened my eyes really. I feel it's the way forward for making the sound more prominent again. It can make producers see that there's much more to Grime than just feeding beats for MCs, to brag about on Twitter, or to keep the trolls on GrimeForum happy; otherwise the music just goes in circles. I was always making, let's say a "different" style of Grime to the majority pre-DJ'ing so it was only something that went hand in hand.

I really don't care if people see my stuff as too clubby. I was making all them angry, simple Grime beats back in 2008, check 'Gargoyle' and even 1UP. Things change, evolve and they need to for anything to be pioneered otherwise things just take the same cycle.

Did you worry that doing quite a lot of your beats with a Garage feel would compromise people's view on your originality? Especially with the big Garage renaissance of last year.

No not really, I knew it might be the case but it didn't worry me at all. What's the point in keeping with repackaging shit and keeping within the boundaries, you wouldn't expect a movie director to make a great film then release a sequel with the same exact plot. Also, it just come naturally from me trying to jump ahead of the pack, there's no point in keeping on making the same dead beats over and over again. That's why some genres die because if you become to strained it saturates the soul of the genre, it's not about every producer trying to better each other at making the same riddim. It happened to Bassline and now it's happening to Dubstep.

Boo You has quite obviously been your biggest "smash" with an emcee, tell us everything about the tune: how it came about, how you feel it impacted the scene and how well it was received by DJs.

The instrumental itself has a nice story. Obviously, Butterz released 'Oo Aa Ee' by TRC a while back and DOK had done a sick remix. I was on Skype one day and I told Elijah I was bored. TWO TWO'S NAH I get a sendspace link with the parts to 'Oo Aa Ee'. I listened to DOK's mix which was nice and Grimey so I thought I'd go different with the style.

'Boo You' the vocal came about after sending P a batch of beats. I sent it off thinking none of it, a few months later Elijah hollered telling me "P's vocalled your tune by the way" and the rest is history. It got released on May 16th 2011 and peaked at 16 in the Electronic Charts on iTunes. Very proud.

The thing with 'Boo You' is compelling because back in, let's say 1999/2000 it's exactly the type of tune Kiss 100 would've played at any point during the day, that's the sound they were pushing. But now the same sort of tune is very much Logan's show only, I did read Ez had played it as well. Do you think this was because of the lyrical content? If the tune had a female singer on it, would it have gained more play?

Maybe, but the idea wasn't to sugar coat it for everyone to like, it just was what it was.

A question, or a point more rather I've been making lately is that emcees seem afraid to touch your beats, how far would you agree?

Yeah, I think I agree. I think, to be fair, most [beats] are too advanced in terms of structure and overall sound for them. A lot of them [emcees] nowadays just want something that's gonna make THEM sound good. Something with not a lot going on, something basic. Imagine if an emcee wrote verses over the instrumental bits to my remix, or the original 'Full Attention'. One: they'd be recycling something that was already hype so that's easy. Two: they'd have something built for the club. Three: they'd have the possibility of me, Terror or somebody regularly playing in clubs playing the tune to people who have never heard of them before.

I think it would be stupid for emcees to ignore what P Money has achieved over the last couple of years. I think it basically proves that this formula that was built for emcees to make tunes, post on Twitter then hope for Logan to play it is dying. P turns up, combines hosting along with emceeing over tracks, plus he's spitting lyrics people know because of his TUNES. He's not afraid to pay homage to the DJ or producer whether it be on a track or in a rave. His sets are never a battle between the emcee and DJ and who's the main attraction and I guarantee P probably earned more money doing that set in an hour than most emcees earned last year through "mixtape sales".

You said about not really being a vinyl kid, but it must be a surreal feeling to now have three solo releases on 12", I saw your display of them on Facebook.

Yeah completely. I had always recognised what the 'vinyl' resembled and meant in the industry, but just had no means to buy any back in the day because I was purely just a Grime fan and had no interest in DJing or producing seriously.

Quite early on it was DJs such as Smallz and Vectra supporting you, before your name blew up, what would you say has changed about a DJs attitude towards you since then?

Yeah there were a number of DJs supporting back in the day and it helped so much with my progression as they were the only people who listened and cared about my music. The emcees just used to give me air. All I was then was some random white kid from Southampton that made beats in his boxers at home.

I think now though - or I hope - they have a respect for my craft and what my intentions are now. I will always have time for the ones who supported and helped nuture because I know what it means to be one now, I guess I am one now [a DJ].

You've worked with several MCs now: P Money/OGs, Family Tree and a load more, which THREE emcees would be a perfect collaboration for one of your beats?

[Thinking]Tough one! But I'll go with P Money, D Double E and JME. I really want to work with Riko soon!

Tell me about your first set with emcees, I was there that night at the 'Alibi', I think it was one of your earliest bookings as a DJ also. Were you nervous?

Great question to follow that. Yes - I was shitting myself [laughing]. It was all spontaneous. Originally it was just supposed to be me DJing but Family Tree turned up and they jumped on. It went down really well and was also a learning curve for me because I'd never done that sort of thing before. That was on 19th Feb 2011, look at the flyer now and look at how things are different from then. The whole crew understands the whole club element and they've all elevated now, it's good to see.

Let's go into the Rinse CD a little. Obviously I'm not expecting you to "reveal" anything as such, just, well can you tell us roughly what you expect you're going to do on there?

It's complete track wise. I only have to make a few minor changes and it's all finished. I'm proper chuffed with the outcome!

Can we expect it to be an all-grime CD? Is that a stupid question given what we already discussed?

Yep, all Grime. It's just a Royal-T CD really.

Follow Royal T on Twitter - @RoyalTMusic -

Sample Busters #2: Barrington Levy/Footsie

2012-05-26T18:49:00.002+01:00

[Sample Busters #1: Area 51/Statik]

The Rastaman Pickney EP has been available for well over a year now, but only recently did I clock the sampled goodness. Barrington Levy's tones have been sampled in Grime before - see Spooky's 'Murderer' - Footsie takes hints from 'Under Mi Sensi' however and the end result is below. Look up the brief Logan Sama set from when Chronik came out of prison, the beat is a great inclusion there.

old dogs, new dogs, any new tricks?

2012-05-21T22:01:00.002+01:00

It's amazing how our different everyday surroundings effect the way we perceive music, in particular Grime. What sounds like a future classic from a pair of Dre Beats on a bus can hit you differently whilst smothered in the Terracotta haze of a local chicken shop and in turn, what you hear over the crackle of a radio wave may appear to register different half-way-to-death on a running machine.

Jammer's attempt at handling a Grime heavyweight should have been plain sailing given his track record: 'Destruction', 'Murkle Man', 'Birds In Da Sky' and as the list continues for a while, you question: was 'Big Man (Duppy)' a great idea? In the way Skepta featured "Da Godfather" Creed in his eternally classic 'Doin' It Again', Jammer drafts in MC Viper on the hook where he laces the infamous "Suuuuuleeeectahhhh" bar - previously referenced to by Jammer himself on 'Back To The 90s' - a vibe you don't get at all from this track.

Jam also touches up his "big man but I'm not thirty" lyric, a highlight in fairness, as are the verses by veterans Scratchy and Flowdan, both of whom relentless and (yes, that term again) old school in their approach. It's not all a showcase of foundation Grime emcee - JME and B-Live another two which feature - recent limelight stealer's Sox and Lay-Z also contribute. You get the idea their features are nothing more than filler however, perhaps shown up by their elder spitter or just not up for the occasion.

Maybe I'll wait for some remixes, or a far better quality version to emerge; I wouldn't want this to be seen as a slating simply due to what I mentioned at the start. Whilst this won't be one for the travel, one for the phone at the back of a bus or one for the gym heads, it will most certainly be one for the raving crew. I'll update on my findings then, for now, digest.

Jammer - Big Man (Duppy) Featuring. Viper, JME, B-Live, Scratchy, Lay-Z, Sox and Flowdan

The explanation of me, in records.

2012-04-30T00:31:00.000+01:00

6 records and what they mean to me. Somewhat of a rare sentimental post yet one which I've been itching to dispatch from the jumble-sale-style drafts section for a long time. Perhaps before you read on you may want to ponder on these questions: how does a record define someone? Is there something we relate to within the lyrics, in full comprehension, or sub-consciously? Does that sheer sound of one production evoke memories, or situations that symbolize critical moments of our lives? Our first raves? The first records we bought?

We could even ask if our record/tune collection is a true representation of ourselves, or is it a sign of who/what/where we want to be? Who knows the answers to these questions other than ourselves? It's a delicate subject within a scene such as Grime; lately I've thought - Grime is just one big question. I just wanted to document these particular six tunes and their resemblance to various time zones and aspects of my life....if not then just why I find them so appealing.

Pay As You Go Kartel - Know We - 12" Solid City Records
Jammer Featuring D Double E - Birds In Da Sky - 12" Jahmektheworld
N.A.S.T.Y Crew - Take You Out - 12" White Label
DJ Mex - Dub Plate Mex - 12" White Label
DJ Wonder - What - 12" Dumpvalve Records
Big $hot - Stomp My Pussy - 12" Southside Allstars

We start with the invincible 'Know We' by Wiley, Major Ace, Maxwell D and God's Gift. I'd heard this tune first only instrumentally on a Sunday evening, on a station I'd find impossible to remember, that was the only version I heard for a few weeks. No shit sherlock detectives would attack me with the fact that yes - when this song originally came into circulation amongst pirate waves and shops - I was ten years old, shock horror.

The first thing that struck me was the rolling pattern in the hook section, it was somewhat darker to the tone of rhythms I'd been listening to around that time, and of course that was reflected even more so in the vocal. Major Ace's flow is one that compelled me at the time as despite the harsh lyrics, it was still very easy to go along with in a singalong fashion and it was the first time I'd heard of either him or Maxwell D. Wiley and Gift both sounded very like the typical East London emcee: up-front with a London tone very prominent in their verses.

"If you step into my circle better beware/I'ma live to the end out here don't care/Wiley number one at the top of the stairs"

Despite being from South East London immersed in a time where So Solid had become the trend to follow, and myself a dedicated listener to both Delight and Freeze FM, crews from East sounded almost edgier and more up-for-it on the mic, and therefore I declare it there where my Grime experience began. My affinity with crews from East continued for several years and to the very day, my favourite of the lot and in my very honest view, the best of the lot, continues to be N.A.S.T.Y.

'Take U Out' as it's scribbled on the lining is one of the greatest Grime records to be pressed. The introduction has to be one of the most instantly recognisable of that era, and Hyper's domineering shouts of the title combined with various other members trademark sounds (D Double E's "Ourghh Ourghh") is a devastating combination that, once entwined with the lethal delivery of each members verse, becomes a relentless Grime classic.

Sharky Major's hunger was reminiscent of Ace's on 'Know We' and the way D Double E - who I'll talk on in a short while - rides the tune so effortlessly was very much like Wiley on the aforementioned tune. Hitman Hyper brings the venomous old-school flow which at times made you wheel the tune with the sillyest of all "screwface" facial expressions and a young Kano delivers a verse the quality of an emcee with an unquantifiable amount of further experience more than himself: dream-worthy Grime listening.

"'Cos lyrics/lyrics them hit ya chest/your gonna have to rely on the NHS/think emceeing's a game of chess/how ya gonna play chess with no chest?"

The very first instrumental release I ever bought was a simply amazing one sided release from DJ Mex, entitled 'Dub Plate Mex', and it remains one of the rarest Grime vinyl going. This had been battered on Delight FM for a very long time and So Solid recorded over a VIP version later. The beat in itself was masterfully simple, switching every 16 bars, and was catchy enough for me to make the short trip to Independence records to buy. Over my course of buying vinyl I have typically amassed a considerable amount more in vocal tunes than I have in instrumentals, or those released by producers themselves, such as Big $hot's 'Stomp My Pussy'.

Grime's forever continued link with bootleg tunes and refixing goes back right to the starting pistol; on this massively impressive record, $hot took his biggest beat (in fact, one of the genre's biggest and most defining) and plastered it with Khia's notorious 'Lick My Pussy', a massive R&B joint that was causing a stir of it's own for it's explicit nature. On the flip side, he touched up Jay-Z and Pharrel's 'Frontin', creating a 2-step orientated monster fitting for it's Summer release. I remember having 2 sets of records: a pile which would remain under the bed for a while and a set that would lie about the bedroom; this record was most definitely a mainstay in the latter set.

Having many of the Dumpvalve records which hold so much prestige within the scene, it was hard to choose which one I really admire above the rest, but upon strenuous thought, DJ Wonder's 'What' comes up trumps. It's one of the most compelling beats out there in all honesty, it's bassline causing shivers on spines when immersed with the pirate crackle of Rinse FM as it so often was, almost atmospheric if you like: the various spaces in rhythm allowed emcees to tear it apart. I once described Ruff Sqwad rhythms as being those you would listen to and think of odd things, such as the moon or the stars, but it's actually this rhythm that defines that.

Dizzee Rascal used it on the Showtime album ('Respect Me') and it was very much a prominent fixture in some of Grime's historical radio sets. 'Asia' is also on the record, it's much lighter than 'What' and very much a funfair style Grime-tune. Increasing in tempo throughout and chopping through various rushes of skippy delightfulness, this was probably the first "euphoric" Grime tune - perhaps it's popularity victimised by how rare it is.

I saved 'Birds In Da Sky' until last for a reason. It's indeed my most treasured vinyl, despite it's now ruined condition, and I no longer play it. I've put it in a frame and soon it's going on my wall. That's very much taking a level of fandom to an astonishing level, but it's only an indictment of how much I admire this record. For me, D Double E is the ultimate emcee. How does someone approach a record with such a connection with the rhythm? That's special in itself and it's extraordinary how one man can transpose such an energy through a microphone onto the most special of beats: 'Birds In Da Sky' is the ultimate Grime track for so many reasons.

It's a verbal onslaught; a rush of evil, unforgiving lyrics that are released like rounds from an AK47 with such a blistering level of conviction and skill, even the simple simile title lyric one of the catchiest features. The technique with which bars are delivered is staggering, D Double emits lyrics in the style of someone who has been around Jungle and Garage yet stirs the flow with the Grimey-est of effects, Jammer's production slowly grinding away after the talk is done leaving the listener with a chance to take in what they've heard with pure aghast. It's Grime's magnus opus. Not hype but firm. Not dancey but rhythmic - a masterpiece.

The greatest record of Grime history.

Sparks & Kie vs Elijah & Skilliam

2012-04-18T19:40:00.000+01:00

Fantastic idea from the PRESSDAT crew. Old school Garage master emcees Sparks and Kie - infamous for their vocal anthem 'Fly Bi' - jump on set with Elijah and Skilliam, the heads behind a brand which needs no introduction on this blog: Butterz. Garage royalty Jaimeson is also live on the night, no one could ever the deny the force behind tracks such as 'True', 'Urban Hero', 'This One' and a host of others under various alias'. Happening THIS Friday! Get down there!

Liminal Sounds #4

2012-04-08T17:20:00.000+01:00

Rhythm Factory is the destination, a night to remember is the objective: a thousand strands of Grime under one roof. Slimzee brings the limitless exploration of underground dance, Youngstar brings the bass, Slackk brings the vibsers and MIK brings the razor sharp flows. Tickets.

Swerve For The South Of The River

2012-04-06T21:34:00.000+01:00

DJ Swerve is back once again, with another banger sure to set raves and festivals across Europe alight. After previous headbangers with D Double E on 'Streetfighter IV' and P Money on a collaborative effort with Marco Del Horno entitled 'Ho Riddim', Swerve continues his journey with Grime emcees via 'Comeback Riddim'.

This is Swerve's debut release on Mistajam's 'Speakerbox' label and his choice to use one of Grime's last remaining "big" crews - OGz - shows how influential the South London outfit really have become over the past six years. P Money and Blacks have both previously worked with the Kiss FM DJ and Producer and Little Dee has of late been more immersed in the rap scene as opposed to lighting up the Grime waves; they all make valid efforts here though over a full-throttle rhythm that stinks of Dubsteppy, bass-in-your-face vibes.

With the exception of Trim, there isn't really any emcee in Grime at the moment who can take to different rhythms the way P Money can. Emerging from the war with Ghetts an honest winner (based not only on dubs, but G's reluctance to a live clash and their later contributions to the scene), P has gone on to advance his lyricism from teenage-grime to that of an advanced experimentalist, further developing his flows and rhyme schemes to adapt to his situation: radio, on stage and recording. Blacks and Little Dee have both done the same, the latter having spent a while on much slower, Hip Hop influenced beats, allowing him to tweak his original Grime approach whilst Blacks has much emulated the mentality of P but adding his own, angry style of spitting.

Swerve himself has proved his worth as a producer, creating monsters with the aforementioned, moulding rhythms that allow the emcees to shine and the ravers to, erm, rave. He's made Hip Hop as well, inevitable after his love for the genre, in this interview he explains his love for Grime and his affection is shown furthermore in this mini mix he's released in anticipation for the single, released on the 16th of March. The mix features modern bits from Preditah and Faze Miyake as well as classics such as 'Rhythm & Gash' amongst other Bass anthems, demonstrating the knowledge of a man who's been on Kiss FM for twelve years.

Refix Me This, Refix Me That.

2012-04-05T23:48:00.001+01:00

We had volume one on 12": it was a beast. Number two followed the hype, causing an earthquake amongst grime production. Now, Spooky delivers 'A Bag Of Myths Volume 3', a fifteen-track-strong compilation of amazing refixes and individual takes on historical Grime monsters.

It's not just the veteran selector and producer who showcases his ability to mould tracks differently, a bunch of newer, hungry-for-it hype-mongerers prove that they too are up for the occasion; Reload Beatz, wud, K1 and others make a heavyweight contribution. Meshack Nasty kicks proceedings off and sets the bar at an incredible height when he takes Spyro's 'Wow' and ups the tempo, switching up the pace throughout leaving for little space between blistering patterns.

Preditah's name remains one of the most talked about and easiest to spot in 2012 and his beats are touched-up twice in this volume. Birmingham producer K1(his 'Apocalypse' EP is also out on Ghost House here) offers a rough, screwfacing take on 'Solitaire', with repeating drum rolls and the vilest of snares whilst Reloadz Beatz twists 'Gargoyle' into a gun-finger-inducing salute to original Grime patterns.

The original Grime feel is scattered throughout with nods to how raves used to sound away from Shoreditch and how radio would sound away from anyone with a mouse, Spooky's version of Rude Kid's 'Raindrops' really is a cutting-edge display on how remixes should be done and later on he snatches the infamous 'Talking The Hardest' and aptly names it 'R.I.P', giving anyone who listens no chance of ever maintaining the original rhythm.

Ipswich producer Neon Beats turned many heads last year when he combined Teddy's 'Afghan' and Darq E Freaker's 'Cherryade', creating a smash that was all over the radio. He returns here with two offerings, the first entitled 'Pulse Blood Roses', which - from the title you can gather - pairs off the legendary 'Pulse X' with Canadian producer Starkey's 'Blood Roses'. The result is pulsating, switching between each tune whilst subtly blending a part of the other underneath it makes for exciting listening, much like his effort on the main man's 'Spartan'.

This EP doesn't stop delivering the goods at any point, as it slithers from implausible quantities of attitude and bass to irresistible amounts of pure, unforgiving relentlessness. Download from SpookyBizzle.com

Nasty.FM - Global #1

2012-04-03T21:51:00.000+01:00

Nasty.FM bring you the first dance from their new monthly series, kicking off down in Southend's Sun Rooms. It's a fiver for the night, you can't go wrong with the line-up they've got prepared. Bass goodness from Barely Legal with the legendary Grime combo Spyro and Mak 10 is an absolute must. Word of warning: don't go drinking in Leigh-on-sea's beachfront pubs beforehand. It will get messy. Lil Narst and Hyper on hosting duties, have your "yay-ers" ready.

"Out to the crew bumping this inside their ride"

2012-03-05T19:59:00.001Z

[Blog title to be read in pirate radio style voice-over].

I love Grime.

I love Dance music.

Well Grime is Dance music. A dark strand off of Dance music's ever-blooming tree, I could spill into a paragraph of how Grime evolved from Garage and 2 step and how Butterz and their circle have helped restore the essence of rave-a-bility into the genre - boring - I've done that a lot this year. A feat the Butterz crew are most definitely proud of but are probably keen to just move on with now, Elijah once told me: "we've (Butterz) been instrumental in producers getting deals elsewhere", and around that time Terror Danjah had released for Planet Mu, Swindle gained a platform with Rwina and Royal-T had put out his first EP with No Hats No Hoods.

'1-Up' was somewhat of a beast.

8-Bit inspired and a mainstay in sets across Europe, it was the Southampton based producer's first big step within the scene and from there on in, his fusion of Breakbeat, 2 step and traditional Grime patterns snowballed into his latest monstrous record: The Number One EP, on Rinse FMs imprint.

Twice I've mentioned 2-step in this post so far (thrice now), but it's not the only flavour locked within this EP with track one (Inside The Ride) opening with broad Ibiza-piana style stabs, before a D Double E sample leads the tune into a swinging blizzard of stabs that isn't far from - well - who knows? This EP follows a simple Grime blueprint yet along the way zooms consciously around Trancy/Rave openings, 4x4 segments, hardcore stabs and (inevitably) deep Garage elements.

Rinse Presents: Royal-T 12-inch Number One - Royal-T on Boomkat.com ©

The second and final track is ironically named 'Cool Down' as it extinguishes some of the heat left ablaze from the opener, but it takes nothing away from the EPs integrity, this time a slower and perhaps more thought through joint that actually utilises it's classy chopped-up samples as opposed to them just being there, sounding nostalgic. Laden with minimal hints of East Coast House, this track is the highlight and proves again how Grime's lines are constantly blurry, another hint of magic from Royal-T who's set to release a full album on Rinse before Summer.

Buy the EP on vinyl here.

Kings Of Grime.

2012-02-27T20:02:00.000Z

Part one: 50,000 times played. Downloaded over 20,000 times across the globe.

"I just let the artists who feature know what my aim is with these promo mixes: it's all about providing another platform for artists to promote their music. The feedback from Kings Of Grime 1 was crazy, I mean 20,000 downloads worldwide! That was not the number I expected, I hope it helped to boost record sales of the artist involved."

A maverick in the ever-appalling field of Grime promotions, DJ Complex is back from his last mission alongside Apparel Clothing with a brand new mix showcasing the best of the latest Grime releases. It features music from emcees and producers all across the scene, starting with one of 2011's most noted names: Merky ACE, dabbles midway with productions from Teeza and Splurt before culminating with the established sound of Rage and Lexman, this mouth watering mix is packed to the brim with several highlights.

Merky ACE - Everytime (Family Tree)
A seminal record for the emcee who grabbed last year by the bollocks and made himself a permanent fixture in the genre, this joint was the perfect response to the increasingly asked question: "How will he (Merky) follow up 'Blue Battlefield'?". Included on the (mind blowing) audio CD that came with Lord Of The Mics 3, this track was also one of the leads from the 'Catch Up' EP, the catchy lyrical hook becoming a standard part of ACE's sets throughout the year. The Flava D production a bouncy, vibrant example of how Grime's dance floor renaissance also incorporates smidgens of 2002-ness, this tune is becoming somewhat of an instant classic.

Rival - Talk That
Rivals best product as an emcee so far, 'Talk That' is a tightly-sealed summary of Grime in its finest hour: an exemplary combination of ruthless spitting and venomous production. A tune which harboured the idea of Grime being a lifestyle, a culture and not just a fixed style of music, this tune first crept out amidst a tidal wave of snapback celebrations and raves packed out with the Shoreditch gangs. His evolution from AxeFM DJ to standard name on a Grime flyer is an impressive one, and his carefree attitude towards those who doubt him is pleasing to hear - this year should work out well.

Spooky - Rusty Bell
After the tsunami caused by that monstrosity 'Spartan', it was amazing to see Spooky match it with something just as momentous with the almighty 'Rusty Bell'. Surging like a powerhouse and bullish from the off, this instrumental shakes rooms and rattles windows; 8-bar glory with a flavourful synths.

The mix contains more personal favourites such as Kwam's socially aware 'March 2011', Ego's forthcoming Dubstep fuelled single entitled 'Nuttum Like Back Then' (check out a podcast from Sian Anderson's RinseFM show for a preview) and three outstanding instrumentals from West London beast Teeza, the trio of scorchers forthcoming on Triangulum Recordings (link). Download Complex's out-of-this-world-ensemble-of-bangin'-grime-goodness from this link (right click -> save as, out to Grime Digital) and check out my classic interview with him here.

Raving. Better then wanking, to be fair.

2012-01-16T21:56:00.000Z

Well you ain't gonna watch Dancing On fucking Ice are ya? Two raves at the end of the month you NEED to catch.

Royal-T: the guy everyone's going to be focusing on this year to bring the vibes. Not only him, obviously, but after a stunning effort last year (checkout his '2011 Yearbook mix here) the Southampton producer-slowly-turning-DJ will look to make a long lasting stamp on the Grime scene. As we're on the topic of vibes, catching Last Japan ANYWHERE is a MUST. The man who's music refuses to be confined to any one name, simply a connoisseur of all bass music, his sets are quite incredible and full of anthemic (made up word) bliss. Send a massive birthday out to Uncle Albert on his birthday!

The BNTL team are going in with style as their resident DJs team up with none other then Grime royalty/legend/badman DJ Slimzee, recently at Eskimo Dance, for a night of proper underground authenticity: Josey Rebele and John Rust join the action to keep the raves going from 10 'til 4. Make sure you keep up to date with BNTL.CO.UK, I rarely endorse other sites, but it's a goodun', believe me!

http://unclealbertsays.blogspot.com/ http://www.bntl.co.uk

A view from the stairs.

2011-12-11T02:07:00.000Z

Grime raves: are they dead? Judging by last night's exhibition of chest shattering bass via the Pitch Controller collective, the easy answer is no. I say easy with confidence despite my lack of ease in pinpointing one thing in particular that's led to my conclusion; several factors accumulate during a live grime experience, through our memories of the night the morning afterwards and in bizarre circumstances sometimes our anticipations before a rave could define the night ahead.

Walking hurriedly up from Vauxhall train station having been deserted by my witless cab driver, a man unable to even follow the typical cabbie conversation protocol - "been busy tonight" etc - I get to the Albert Embankment, a mile long stretch of road that looms over the Thames and finishes at Westminster. Along the way is an array of raves and parties in Cafes and lively pubs, surrounded by very bright lights; London is lit-up well, the smallest of such detail almost subliminally informing you that tonight will indeed be a good one.

I approach the railway arches where club "Hidden" lies on Tinworth street and a sense of slow euphoria builds, as back-flashes of previous dances under similar locations rush back to me: Raindance one New Year's Eve in Bermondsey's now-closed SE1 Club, an acid house all-nighter I found myself a part of in an anonymous East London location and perhaps most naturally, as I'm being touched up by a man treble my size - for security purposes, obviously - I'm floating back to the night Butterz threw in Cable earlier this year.

As soon as you enter the venue the bass is sweeping along the walls, leaving you desperate to smash into the relevant rooms and start busting whichever combination of jumping gun-finger skanks you're used to; I've reached the room Pitch Controllers and friends have taken over for the night and DJ Motive is keeping things lively. As forever the case with Grime related raves the build-up is sluggish but Motive's selection - as seemingly always where he's concerned - is a great warm-up: a gap-free blend of Grime, Hip-Hop and Dubstep and whilst the night's funky flavours dominated other rooms, Rinse FM's Funk Butcher stepped up to decks.

Butcher's exploration of tempos and varying sounds had the now rapidly increasing crowd moving brilliantly and with the exception of Redlight's "Source 16" I wouldn't be able to name you any of his set, but it was a fantastic exploration for me personally: dancing alongside friends on a stairwell within the room that looks down onto the DJ's booth and peers over the dancefloor.

This is where I stayed for the most of the night, allowing me to interact with absolutely anyone including the DJs and emcees - yet I'm shamefully lacking any interview content - more interestingly standing/dancing there allowed me to observed the reactions and characters of people sucked into the alternate reality that is Grime.

DJ Vectra is now on the decks and he starts of with a mixture of old school and new school vocals: a mid-twenties looking woman went berserk to the sound of SLK's "Hype Hype" whilst the teenage white boys - and myself - violently felt the vibe of Discarda and M.I.K's "Lord Of The Hypes". Several tunes later and the most discussed crew of 2011 are inside the club and ready to prove why there isn't anybody in Grime right now matching them crew-wise. Family Tree stand no further than three foot in front of me on the staircase, alongside Kozzie, and proceed to send the crowd into a state of complete joy.

No one is standing still and the older members of the crowd interact more with the rhythms as opposed to the live bars but the majority feed off of the hype, many especially enjoying Kozzie's lyrics for Lord Of The Mics 3 opponent Sox. A highlight came in the form of Merky ACE spitting his verse from the LOTM single and the whole place reacting in unison to the amusing "BEEEEEP!" lyric, and reloads for everyone spitting ensured that FT had indeed continued their streak of unrivalled performances in Grime raves.

Sir Spyro was next in the booth and his relentless mixing and amazing selection of dubplates was an absolute audio pleasure. Joints thrown in were heavyweight cuts from Skepta, Ruff Sqwad and more including a certain legendary freestyle from Esco Big Bars, "this is the shit we grew up on" declared Kozzie as the rave - now completely packed - continued to enjoy every moment. Roughly three quarters of the way through his set and Spyro drops the official single from the aforementioned Lord Of The Mics 3: cue Merky ACE and Kozzie sprinting down the stairs to not only attend to their own parts of the stunning 8-bar anthem, but to emcee along to the majority of everyone else's contribution, including verses from Desperado, Lay-Z and Diesle amongst others.

The crowd's reaction to the single was an enthralling experience to be a part of let alone watch; Jammer's opening eight bar an absolute "Grime moment" if you will - in years to come it's the stuff they (the crowd) will hopefully be writing alongside #grimememories on Twitter. Spyro finished what was a simply world class set to make way for JJ, who's crazy variety of genre selection was perfectly executed as the white boys in vans and chequered shirts "shocked" to the earthquaking Dubstep rhythms and the female representation, some in 90's leggings and more in tight skirts, moved silkily to the Funky instrumentals. P Money and Blacks joint the set later on and tore the place to shreds, and shortly before the set ran its course I left, more than satisfied with the night's success; I detect almost every raver inside the place felt the same, as looking with a view from the stairs, it allows you too see things differently.

Normally I'm at the front line of the crowd, or somewhere in the core buzzing from the aggressive hype surrounding me, but there was something even more pleasing seeing everyone else, albeit people I didn't know or even likely to ever know feeling similar emotions. Not one complaint can be made about the music for the night: every DJ and emcee stuck to the script and made it an unforgettable night, the way every Grime events should be, so thanks to Redux and the Pitch Controllers - it's up to Eskimo Dance now.

Check my earlier profile on the Pitch Controllers here and get all the updates for them here.

On the 18th of April I was 23.

2011-12-04T02:40:00.000Z

Well, I wasn't. Trim was though, except not this year he wasn't, it was 2008. "Inside Looking Out" is one of my favourite tracks from one of 2011's best emcees, hands down; when Logan first played this I remember him clearly saying: "this is brand new from Trim, this is something a little bit different, let's go..". So, let's go.

"I support Man U/but I'm from E14".

Part of Trim's appeal as an emcee, not just within Grime but inside the music scene as a whole, is his refusal to be bound by rules: collaborations this year with producers such as Last Japan and Mark Pritchard are prime examples; dare I say he goes against the typical blueprint of what's expected from a Grime emcee within a year by releasing an abundance of mixtapes and other projects, as some struggle to stretch towards a single or EP.

I wasn't just looking for an excuse to post up this tune, Trim has been a defining aspect of Grime this year, showing up for radio here and there, releasing listen-able music and even getting caught up in the war: an annual occurrence it would seem.

"I don't hate no one I just dislike certain people/but I'm a grown up/the only problem I've had in this scene is a jumpy needle/mum no dad a 12 year old sister and me/and I'm sho/and I'm willing to stand on my own and face the scene/run my mouth until the cows come home and make tea"

He's squabbled lyrically with the Bloodline collective this year and in the midst of doing so shown little care or effort into actually pursuing a response from any of them; with lines such as "suck your mum through a scaffolding pole", Trim's desire to be original is sensational, perhaps a factor in Butterz picking him up for one of their seldom vocal releases, itself a shining example of how Grime is still oozing creativity.

"Look I'm not you/it's my party I'll cry if I want too/I showed my mum the picture and she's like/that's your yout'/I'm confused"

Blackdown touched on this in his column for Pitchfork and fuck it - it'll look contradictory - maybe I was just looking for a reason to post this tune but how often do you catch emotion like this within Grime? After all, during my writing career (despite how short it's been), I've presented myself as someone massive on the notion of Grime as a culture rather than one fixed sound, and whilst musically Grime does support our own desires to succumb to an aggressive state, tunes such as "Inside Looking Out" are actually what Grime is, or from a cultural viewpoint, stems from.

Review: Lord Rivz (EP)

2011-11-20T23:39:00.000Z

Jesus. What with the interview and rave info making up my last couple of posts, this place is starting to look a little like a shrine to Rival. But that's simply testament to the quality of the young emcee who, alongside a select few others, is setting the Grime scene alight.

For this review it would have been easy for me to log on and give it the old "Rival's great 'cos he's like, like, an old school emcee, but he's on this new wave vibe" - that's simply bollocks though. Rival IS old school. He personifies it in a way that the newer emcees who bring similar vibes don't quite; the guy used to DJ on Axe FM for the Highly Rated crew, and it's the second verse on "They Said" that unmasks his Garage culture roots, with the So Solid references hand-in-hand to Flava D's reminiscent of sounds from a similar era.

The moral of that tune was based around the accusation of Rival illustrating violence through his lyrics all too often, and whilst at points on the EP he DOES brilliantly mitigate the content of his tunes to "up middle finger" at those critics, "Talk That" really is a stand-out. It's almost a representative if you like, for those original Grime fans who exist amongst the current generation of listeners; it's almost more of a trend these days to show how much you disaproove of "swagger" based music and if you fit that cluster than "Talk That" is an anthem.

The tune is a bold statement and (fucking marvellously) it doesn't hide away from the idea of Grime as a culture as opposed to a fixed sound as many emcees wouldn't ideally attempt to do.

"Plan A" is one of the tunes that falls into the slightly eased-down category aforementioned - the tune maintains a sinister edge with less of a confrontational feel and the rally with guest Lioness throughout makes for an interesting listen, above the concept of pure hype; the balance between the two different approaches is intriguing and (alongside the productions) is what makes the EP tick smoothly.

Productions have been picked wisely with nods to intellectual rhythms via Rapsz Katai, intense rushes of relentless screwface inducing beats from Skeamz and G Tank, glossed by the faultless modern take on old school vibes from Flava D. Just as stated before, Rival's flows suit every production extremely well; Dot Rotten's hook on "Just A Dream" works in a fashion which forces the listener to mentally applaud and even on a track as simply crafted as the intro, Rival takes to the beat with near perfection.

It was perhaps only when I wrote the review for "Blue Battlefield" that I've published such positive words for a Grime release to emerge from this year (in fairness, mental reviews for "Streets Of Rage 2" were also fairly upbeat), this EP is ten tracks long and marks a progression from simple hype rallies to tunes with thought and a purpose. An absolute must buy for fans of what can only be described as Grime at it's finest execution.

Buy - www.majormusicentertaiment.com - iTunes or Amazon alternatively.

Lord Rivz: Launch Party.

2011-11-19T21:42:00.001Z

Last week I interviewed Rival, upon release of his video for "They Said" (anthem-like banger), taken from his forthcoming EP "Lord Rivz". The EP is out on Sharky Major's imprint "Major Music Entertainment", on which Sharky's own CD is imminent, and to mark the occasion Grime is hitting East Village on November 30th (a Wednesday) with a massive line up of emcees and DJs.

On the night you can catch Rival himself alongside Manga who's free download "Obzokey Warnings" is available now (here); Big Narstie and D Power who's single "Go Nuts" is out January 9th (video below); rave scene regulars Discarda and Kozzie; Roachee (catch Roach Material Vol.1 here) as well as Sharky Major and Lioness - herself a feature on the arriving EP - catch the video for "Plan A" below.

DJs on the night include the ever present Logan Sama (recent winner of 3 awards and the genius behind this); Rinse FM Pitch Controllers Vectra and Spyro; Dexplicit; P Jam; SK Vibemaker and more on top. Address details and all on the flyer below, be there, East Village is a wicked venue!

Catch my review of the EP quite soon.

How We Got Here: Kwam.

2011-11-09T21:26:00.000Z

Del Boy one asked his younger brother to leave "This Is Your Life" to Michael Aspel. But in my new set of mini question-and-answer formats, I'm attempting to delve into the memories of Grime related folk (emcees, DJs, producers, photographers - anyone) in an attempt to create a series of interviews, which don't appear to be riddled with an unjustifiable quantity of redundant questions, and a relentless barrage of bullshit answers.

In the first of these minute conversations I speak to Kwam, a man who you would probably describe as an "old school East Londoner", for want of a less patronising description, but that's testament to not only his tone of voice but his overall mentality within the music world, in particular, Grime.

His relaxed approach doesn't paint the full picture in regards to his sluggish rise through dingy pirate stations in Grime's suggested home of the East End, before the release of two intriguing projects: "Truth Hurts" and "The Surgery EP". A search on this blog will reveal our full interview, done a few months back, but for now I merely asked him for three examples of music that paved his way into the scene we know as Grime.

His choices make for a somewhat interesting read - brief, yes, but interesting - they are a Busta Rhymes classic, a forgotten Jungle emcee, and the start of something that would define a generation....enjoy.

Frankie: Ok, first off, Busta Rhymes. E.L.E is (in my opinion) one of the 90's best examples of Hip Hop; do you wanna take us through your own experience of it?

Kwam: I got it for Christmas '98, I think, along with "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill". It's kind of funny when I think back because it's like: how did I know to ask for two albums that would end up being classics at such a young age? When I didn't even care about music that much at that point?

I got those two albums, hugged my parents, posed for the posterity pics and that, then I barricaded myself in my room for the next month with the two discs. By then I was a third of the way through Year 8, and the reception of these two albums may well have been the catalyst for my balls dropping you know [laughing].

F: Busta had previously spoke of the album being influenced - rather bizarrely yet impressively - by disaster movies that were around before the album's production. How far would you take creative subjectivity into your music?

K: I never knew that you know. Listening back to it now I fully see the influence; that's actually quite brilliant. As far as doing something similar goes then absolutely, yes. Not only would I going forward, I already have (in my opinion) on tracks in the past, at the end of the day it's artistic creativity and I don't think it can be sniffed at when it's done well.

F: I think though that there's a point beyond just putting opinions in your music, as we all know no matter how false or boast-worthy an opinion is - in grime - there's just a thousand more. I mean for instance, could you ever see yourself doing a "Grand Don't Come For Free" style of album?

K: If I wake up one day and want to do something like that I will, I don't let myself get governed by what other people think or say for the most part because if I did I would just go back to uni, get a degree and get some sort of graduate job. Really calmly. Me, I can take my life in any direction I want to and you know what Frank, I don't care how that reads to other people, I'm proper past caring at this point in time.

F: What's It Gonna Be was the most successful single from the album, a favourite of yours also?

K: My personal favourite was always "Everybody Rise": at the time it was the beat and the flow that I couldn't believe. Listening back today you can go ahead and add content to those two and all. Then again there were "The Song of Salvation", "Tear Da Roof Off", the link-up with Mystikal and a couple other tracks [thinking] that album was ridiculous.

F: I asked for examples of music, but you've chose to include an entire birth, or an evolution, of music technology among your influences: The dawn of MP3s on mobile phones....

K: Think about that moment Frankie. From that moment it didn't take recording your own tapes or borrowing your pal's tapes to get your Grime-fix, I remember pure people starting to emcee when them Nokia "teardrop" phones started to come about, it was sick because certain Grime clips started flying about and I remember just wanting to be involved so badly, but it was a question of starting, stopping, then working myself up to starting back again.

F: I certainly remember the Nokia 7600s, the 6230is and the really poor Motorollas. Obviously around that time also the whole Limewire thing kicked in and I know for a fact, certain DJs have certain "gems" if you like - it's amazing to see how the mp3 changed music after all.

K: The levels of accessibility changed overnight. Literally overnight. That's how emcees started getting heard all over the city, as opposed to either just on ends or on a certain side of London; the whole thing of emcees quickly getting recognition was exacerbated by that technological advance.

F: I'm glad we done this little bit on MP3s: as a vinyl fan it's very easy for me to criticise them and their availability easily. In terms of physical music, do you own much?

K: [Luaghing] let's have it right, emceeing on sets where the DJ was spinning vinyl were easily better than today's equivalent for my money: mixing vinyl's an art isn't it? Physically speaking, nah, the problem's twofold; money and storage space, both of which are at a premium in my life just at the minute. Add to that the fact that most of the music about nowadays is so shit it's not worth wasting cash on [carefully thinking], the last album I bought was Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Stadium Arcadium". [Laughing].

F: Your final choice was listening to Nicky Forcer on Raw Mission, how did that particular listening experience influence you, lyrically and mentally?

K: The evening on which I heard Nicky Forcer on Raw Mish was something of a back-breaking straw, if you will. I don't remember the evening with HD clarity, but anyone reading who remembers what Forcer was saying emcee-wise probably knows where I'm going with this.

I just remember listening and suddenly thinking "Mate, you can blatantly write better bars, and flow better than this, and he's on the radio for god's sake" [laughing, again]. Eventually I proved myself right.

F: And seeing as you mentioned it, to end: tape-swapping. A game of yours?

K: Course! All day long! At the start of the Millenium, I had a sick collection but my Mum dashed them away when I moved out of the family home; it's a shame 'cos some of them were really precious to me but hey, men don't cry over spilt milk after all.

F: Tapes from which stations and/or artists? I guess it's easy to assume from your previous answers and the like that there was obviously a concious level of listening to other genres - before Grime.

K: The lions' share of my tapes were probably recorded off Rinse FM's "Super Sunday" sets they used to have; before that it was so random I couldn't tell you mate. I used to get these tapes through "The Daily Bread", a tape subscription, I've never heard what was on any of those tapes because I'd record any and every bit of Grime I heard on the FM dial over the top of 'em.

It was exciting stuff for me because it was all new and it was all over the gaff, I couldn't get enough, so more time any station from back in the day you can name, I've recorded a set off there.

Kwam is on Twitter, follow @KWAMMC. Follow my new account @FrankieMoonbeam for news on follow up interviews and what drugs I'm taking. Yeah.

Rival.

2011-11-07T16:40:00.001Z

Rival, from Newham, East London. An emcee I've interviewed three times before, he remains one of the best Grime suppliers to have yet gained as much as attention as he really should have, and it's not through any lack of effort on his part. During claims his approach to Grime is too one dimensional, he drops one of 2011's most exciting vocals: "They Said".

An exhilarating Flava D production ridden with an assuring confidence and an attitude that suggests his "one dimensional" attitude merely a product of his old school Grime journey, it tops a list of tunes that are already causing carnage on radio and rave sets from the East Londoner. As he drops the video for this tune, I catch up with him to discuss his year thus far, his progression as an emcee and how he plans to see 2011 out.

The very first thing I'd like to talk about is "Talk That". Arguably one of the year's biggest tunes, with an intense message, tell us a bit about the tune from your perspective..

The track "Talk That" was written because I felt people needed to hear my opinion on why I speak a certain way, and also to try and make those who are unaware of certain things understand how life is from a different background, to their's. I was watching films and feeling like they [the public] never get shown the full reasons behind certain things; Skeamz came to me with this track and I put down every single answer from my perspective as to why things may be why they are.

Before that tune there was "Lock Off The Rave" and the ensuing remix package, firstly would you describe the period in which that tune was circulating as one of your highlights and how much impact do you think the remix had on curving the way emcees worked together this year?

"Lock Off The Rave" was my first single, I had done loads of freestyles and songs but that was my first proper single, so I wanted to make sure I dropped something people could remember. The track was a big achievement for me because it was a lot more than people expected from a single but when Darq E Freaker's remix came out loads of people were saying the instrumental was nuts: there needs to be a remix. So I thought about it and the people who put it out - Pitch Controllers - came and said do an "8 bar" version. From there I just made as many calls as I could to make something that everyone could enjoy but also be shocked at when they saw all them emcees, all on one track.

I reckon its impact was very effective because if I can get so many emcees together and make a powerful tune, hopefully it sets an example for others to think outside the box a little bit when doing collabs.

I was really impressed with the second verse on "They Said" because it seemed as if you were taking on this response of, Rival's too violent, and turning it into something people can sort of relate with I.e the garage references - is that a subject you've particularly tried hard to work on this year?

I've been working on it for as much of time as I've been doing music. As people we judge a lot in general, and as an emcee I always try and out do my last piece of work. It was just time to make music that was new to listeners but also to show people that I can make music with a meaning. I think "Lord Rivz" (the project "They Said" is taken from) does that well.

Then on the third verse you just cut off half way through, as if too emphasise everything you'd said over the rhythm, what was the underlying message of this tune do you think?

The message behind "They Said" was just to laugh at anybody who thought I wasn't good at making music. As an emcee I receive criticism and it's expected with progression - that's normal - this track was me saying "remember what you lot thought? look at me now".

The instrumental produced by Flava D had an old school garage vibe, the energy and certain ideas from some of the lyrics came off of just hearing the instrumental. I cut off the bar on the third verse because it was too powerful to carry on rhyming: I wanted people to enjoy it as much as I did.

A pleasing moment to see not only for the Grime scene but for yourself was the recent Wiley tour, when you was up on the stage with several of the other breakthrough emcees of the last few years, can you describe what that was like?

The wiley tour was one of best things I've done and one of the many situations I am so blessed to be able to say I've been apart of. For wiley being who he is, to recognise me as a new emcee to the scene and invite me to perform was an honour.

Doing the tour and being able to travel places I never thought I would even be doing music was an amazing feeling. Meeting fans in these places was even more shocking because I never knew how far music could travel so I'm very appreciative that I was on that tour and able to see things from a different side.

A lot of people have placed you into the new wave category, but you featured on "Groundwork", one of this year's most outstanding tunes, how was it to be a part of something which celebrated an almost veteran status within the scene?

I enjoyed doing "Groundwork" because it took me away from the "New Wave" title and placed me with emcees you may not have seen me on a track with - ever. It was important to get away from what people are used to expecting and showing them something new, plus Dimples had a powerful tune and I enjoyed being apart of it.

A situation I feel needs to be addressed is the one with Marger, which since your - now vanished - Mike Lowrey freestyle has died down a little. Will there come a time when you'll be back to making music? A CD featuring the pair of you would be amazing.

Throughout life you grow up, make friends, lose friends etc. I think as much as we made great music and a CD would of been great to have it's time we move past that. Not everything can be resolved so I'm past it and I hope everyone else can see we are two different emcees on two different paths.

Since that time I've made a lot of music, the question is would I have made all this music and ventured off to do other things if we was still working together? I don't think I would of and I think people need to see that more.

You've had a really busy year, with plenty of collaborations, a single, a biscuit themed EP, raves, live sessions and more - what does the rest of the year hold for you?

I'm not one for resting so I plan to just keep making music. Lord Rivz is my next release out November 21 which is my best work so far. I'm also on lord of the mics 3 and working on a few more projects aswel so expect more and more from me.

Lord Rivz, the 10-track EP, will be released November 21st via Sharky Major's "Major Music Entertainment" label and iTunes. Sharky features on the EP alongside Ghetts, Lioness and more - both Skeamz and Flava 5 feature heavily on the buttons so expect a real touch of intense Grime. Catch my review upon release.

Images courtesy of Verena Stefanie Grotto (www.kidsofgrime.com)

I know some goons that will.

2011-10-06T20:31:00.000+01:00

Marger has to be one of the promising emcees to emerge in a long time. His free EP "Sneaky" which dropped some time back was exceptional - "Alright" was one of the standout tunes of not only that release but its actually been one of this year's best. This is his latest single "Goons", masterfully crafted by his regular collaborator Sibling and another two artists with exceptional flows: No Lay and Scrufizzer.

"out here you could be a victim of crime/a victim of grime/thought it was thoughts in my head when I write/man show respect when I talk on the mic"

His energy and movement with beats is authoritative and he spits lyrics with a confident degree of conviction, the hook on this one is worked perfectly and the production compliments this brilliantly. This applies to both Fizzer and No Lay also - the former using the blistering speed of his witty delivery to full effect whilst No Lay's rhyme patterns and aggression finishes everything off to a very satisfying effect.

The video, directed by Carly Cussen (Pow 2011), goes hand-in-hand with the tune as the three - dressed up in Army gear - provide more than what we come to expect normally from Grime videos.

Out October 23rd on iTunes.

DJ Lungi Lee.

2011-10-04T19:10:00.002+01:00

I came across DJ Lungi Lee sometime ago when she dropped a huge mix for the Grime Podcast. Her mental selection combined with her often opinionated tweets led me to instant interest in her as not only a DJ but a character, so it was an easy shout to get her in for an interview.

Her sentiments about being in the wrong era echo mine in a lot of ways and she also emulates my own desire to push Grime into places it hasn't reached yet, the difference being mine via writing and her mission being conducted via the monthly raves she plans to hold - the first of which approaching at the end of this month.

This interview was also a little bit like my previous with DJ Complex in that she was born and raised on Reggae flavours and later became emerged in the Garage hype, only to now be one of Grime's biggest consumers. Enjoy reading the interview as much as I did conducting it - it's all insightful stuff. Proper.

First and foremost I'd like to get the most obvious thing out there: you're a female Grime DJ. Start by telling us how you got into DJing..

I've always had an intense love for music, whether I'm listening to it on my iPod (I'm never without it, ever), listening to the radio or watching live performances, I'm obsessed. When I was 16 I decided to start taking DJ lessons but I couldn't afford what the guy who was teaching me was charging every week, so I had to stop. But me being me, I can never quit when I want something, so I bought a shit pair of belt drive turntables and taught myself how to mix my parents classic Reggae vinyl. From then I was hooked. I practised everyday up to now because I love it, not because I have to. I don't care if no one ever sees my face, but I will die happy if they can all hear me mix some music.

Reggae has always been linked with Grime despite the modern productions not really drawing much from it, can you think of any of the records you learned with back then?

Oh gosh, loads. A hell of a lot of Robbo Ranx, UB40, Bob Marley (obviously), Buju Banton, Shaggy [pausing], literally all the legends from the Reggae/Dancehall sound back then, you name them and I've played them. I think Reggae has to be credited for the major changes in music that its the influence for. Every single genre of "urban" music we listen to today has had a deep influence from reggae: that can't be ignored. The origins of our music should never be forgotten.

What decks do you play with now?

Technics SL1210MK2 turntables and Pioneer ddj-t1 controller. I'm saving up to purchase the Pioneer CDJ 350's and a mixer - they will change my life and help me increase my creativity majorly.

If I read correctly then you're 18 years old? When did you start listening to Grime?

Well, Ive just turned 19, but I remember listening to grime from when I was about 12. I got into listening to it because of my brother, his music collection is the stuff of legend and the second I heard grime I was hooked. He had every mixtape from BBK to The Movement and every DVD from all the Risky Roads to The Movement Documentary and when we started watching people freestyle on these gritty, deep, skippy beats, I was immediately obsessed, I found the sound I wanted to hear for life.

I also have an intense love for bars and I always have done, if you ask anyone who knows me or has met me I can quote a million and one bars from so many emcees - new or old - I'm a major fan of intelligent bars and metaphors that make you go "oh shit".

I think people are too quick to judge Grime at its surface and focus on what they call the "negative subject matter" without noticing that yeah someone can be talking about shanking, but listen to how intelligently he just constructed that entire story, our emcees deserve A*'s in pure genius. Plus I love to bus' a gun finger skank so you know, Grime is the way forward for that.

So we're talking around 2004 really, around this time is when the "mixtape" really came to the forefront. Producers such as Target and Davinche were staking their claims as the best producers and Ruff Sqwad and SLK! were the crews to take note off. Which MCs and Producers immediately stood out for you?

Ghetts, Skepta and JME. They were kings for me, they are still my top 3 now because I credit them with giving me my love for grime with their sicker than sick bars. I first watched Ghetts on a freestyle, I think it was on Risky Roads 2 (maybe, can't remember) and instantly his flow killed me; the bars were on a next planet. The same goes for JME and Skepta, every one of their bars has a thought behind it, it's not just about rhyming, just because something rhymes doesn't mean it makes sense.

JME is up there with being one of the most intelligent human beings I have ever heard, he just thinks on a next level [thinking], he reminds me of Kanye (West) in that he does stuff people fail to understand until way, way in the future. Skepta is also the king of freestyling, he could easily take the crown for freestyle king any day of the year, that is 'winning' for me.

At the time back then, I didn't really have much of a concept of "who" was behind these beats, I just knew I loved them and wanted to hear more. Now, I am obsessed with knowing who produced what beat and the identification of certain beats from the producers special signature. Looking back though, Rebound X is a producer I have to pay homage to for giving us "Rhythm and Gash", that entire beat defines what I loved about grime and of course the Targets, Davinches, JMEs and Teddy/Silencers who made a heavy contribution.

I think the Ghetto freestyle you're referring to is the one over a very fu***d Nocturnal beat, which - sadly - brings me onto my next point: commercialism within the scene, as we now know about Ghetts and Dot Rotten's tune with Cher Llyod. Where do you stand on that?

I can't support it, but I wont hate on it. Any progression is good progression in my opinion but as a loyal fan of Ghetts the GRIME artist I'm more than disappointed. As one of my favourite Grime emcees ever and without fail one of the best in the scene, it disappoints me that this is what it's come to; you have to ask yourself though [pausing] was there any other way?

Ghetts has been in the scene since it was emerging from the ashes and it's easy for us to forget that, 1 - he has to eat and two - he can only live off a roadman/headshot vibe for so long before people start labelling you as just that guy. I know Ghetts talks about more than that, I'm not ignorant to that fact he talks about SO much more than that, but the mainstream only want to cover the negatives of what he's spoken about so what do we want him to do? Stay Grime 'cos we say so? He has a life and dreams like the rest of us and he's watched man around him blowing up so why not him? We need to let him live if you ask me and to be honest I don't blame him at all for this move, I blame the mainstream for being so narrow minded to the idea of Grime, that one of our greatest had to move on.

Your obsessive nature with lyrics must to some degree stem from some form of pirate radio?

Yes pirate radio has always been something I've loved because it always felt so exclusive, like the scene is secret, if that makes sense. Radio in general is a major part of what I love about music, hearing new tunes on the radio and watching people's Twitter reactions. Radio stations such as Rinse, Deja Vu, Kiss and 1Xtra have done so much for grime, I love that. They will always be the top ones for me. Logan's had some legendary sets on his show,there are too many favourites for me to name them all.

The way you describe the emcees lyricism brings me pictures of Dizzee, Sharky Major, very early Ghetts and Kano, and in a whole different light, D Double E. Is originality something lost on newer fans of Grime do you think?

100% I think, because of how the music scene is, with people's hype meaning more than their content, people hear, but forget to listen. Fans nowadays can be really fickle in every music scene from Hip Hop to Grime and there's so much originality that new emcees such as Merky ACE, Ego and Kozzie are bringing that people don't even comprehend because they're too gassed off this "new wave" energy, rather than just witnessing them moving Grime forward.

I think the emcees of Grime today are definitely pulling out originality with their own flows, in a way that's so sick to watch because they look like artists, not just people who have a couple bars and one mega tune. Now they have to be original on a whole album because people want a body of work, with completely new bars. Not just one song and a hood video. I think the newer fans are cursed with being of a newer age of music where everything and everyone is dispensable and hardly anything has the time to become legendary anymore.

I have to agree in terms of the "new wave" buzz. I think when people gave them that (in my humble opinion) ridiculous moniker it opened the gates for people to make generalisations and focus on what they were doing as a cluster of emcees on sets, in contrast to their individual content. Like Ego and Merky ACE are two prime examples where two quality packages of music have been produced however the fans haven't really taken the time to let the music sink in because they're already dying to know what the emcees are doing next, as the "new wave" it's as if they're expected to move at lightning speed with stuff; it's a pressure they didn't need......

Music today is dispensable, artists today are dispensable and as I've said a million times over, there's no time for anything to become legendary any more. Let's put it this way: it will take a lot for a Grime artist in 2011 to have a tune that they can live off for a couple years like longer running emcees have had in the past. Music times have changed a HELL of a lot. Every thing's quick, so fans want it quicker.

As a fan of Grime would you describe yourself as a fan of sets, or recorded music?

Both, but nothing gets me more hyped than a set, it's the stuff of genius. Listening to Logan's show every Monday night is like hearing Grime history being made; nothing beats the electricity of a live set.

I'm also a major fan of instrumentals, I could easily vibes to an instrumental all day long and not notice an absence of words. I rate producers to such a high level, they have constant gold at their finger tips.

As a fan of instrumentals you must be loving the Butterz camp right now?

Butterz are winning in every way and have been for a while. They are doing some mega things for Grime, Garage and beyond. They are on a next level as a label and as a brand and their work is inspiring Grime artists to try new things and spit on beats that are more than just your standard sounding grime beat. Trim's "I Am" is such a good example of how their work has drawn emcees into something incredibly creative - a mature sound. Like I said, winning.

Do you think Grime sounds better on the template which Butterz pioneer, i.e the up-tempo, genre blurred stuff, closer to original grime; or the more re-arranged hip hop at 140 BPM type stuff?

I like Grime to feel and sound like Grime so for me it has to be the up-tempo sound which reigns supreme for me, but to be honest nowadays every grime tune that comes out (bar a few), are 140BPM anyway. I'm a fan of really gritty sounding beats with bass that's so heavy it's actually RUDE. I love that.

I'm not a fan of Grime sounding like Hip Hop, they are both two separate genres and I'd like them to stay that way if people don't mind. I don't mind when Grime and Dubstep lines blur or Grime and Garage; UK and UK is good by me but let's just leave Funky out of this, way out. Funky's not invited.

How do you plan to get your foot in the door of what is essentially a front-to-back male dominated genre, with few exceptions?

With a fight. I've worked hard to even get to the point I am now where people in the scene are starting to see me and hear about what I'm doing (blogging, journalism, DJ'ing etc..), but I never want to be one of those bait faces at events that everyone sees, but no one knows what the hell they do. I practice my craft everyday so I can play at the biggest raves in the biggest clubs one day, and no matter what the crowd, train their ears to be a fan of Grime. I'm also never gonna try to focus on me being a Female as a negative; being a female in this scene is empowering and I aim to be just as sick a DJ as the men in the scene that I rate, not just good for a female. It's easy to get caught up in this "female grime DJ" hype but really I'm just a DJ who loves grime to its core and will do everything I can to support the scene and help keep it healthy.

That's why I'm starting my night, I'm creating my opportunity to show people what I can do, whilst giving Grime another platform which it is severely lacking in the clubs. WASP, the club brand I'm creating, is gonna develop into more than a night: that's the plan.

Let's get some background on your record/CD/MP3 collection; first, of those three formats, which do you favour and why?

Vinyl. It was made to play music in its highest quality and I love that. Like, the difference between HD and black and white telly [pausing], our ears weren't trained to love digital sound, so analogue always wins. Unfortunately for me I was born in the wrong era, the digital age, but I was born to be a vinyl girl. I have a lot of vinyl, but you can never have enough. I have more CDs and digital tunes though because I was born into the digital generation and I can't change that, so I have to embrace it.

Nothing beats DJing with vinyl though, that takes mega skill which is why old school selectors get optimum respect, because they had to learn to walk before they could run; my generation (with the exception of those of us, like me, who chose the hard route) can run around screaming "I'm a DJ" when really a lot of people are just jukeboxes - I cant respect that - I love everything old and matured.

For practicality though, CDs and even more so MP3s make much more sense and with programs like serato, it's much easier (physically) to have your music collection at you fingertips.

I'm so glad you said Vinyl. How big is your collection roughly?

Around 150 vinyl of my own ranging from Grime to Garage to 90's Hip Hop. Including the Reggae that I stole from my parents: well over 200!

Which was the very first Grime record you bought yourself, where from, and what attracted you too it?

Wiley - "Wot U Call It". It was from Rhythm Division and I just went in telling the guy all about what I loved and he pulled out that and a couple other Grime and Garage classics. I told him I wanted a legendary tune which will one day be in the "grime hall of fame", he didn't even hesitate before he picked that one from the bunch.

You know in a way, I'm really glad you said Wot Do U Call It. Sometimes I ask that question as a sort of inadvertent test and people stumble; they expose themselves as people who aren't really fans of Grime at all. That little "grime hall of of fame" scenario you mentioned there - which other records would you enter?

Oh my god [thinking hard]. THIS QUESTION! There's SO many. Where do I start? So f*cking many.

(See bottom of post for the list).

The mix you done for the Grime Podcast had quite a few anthems in there, i.e P's & Q's and Hype Hype, as a DJ would you say you focus on technical know-how or instant reaction?

Honestly, both. As an up and coming DJ, ensuring my technical ability is at its peak is optimal for me. There's no excuse for bad mixing, so I have to work at it, and I do. However, when I was first doing sets I would make a mental list of about 200 songs I was going to play, in the order I was going to play them etc etc and to be honest that was no fun and made me limit myself in where I wanted to take my sets.

A set shouldn't be a strict plan, it should be a fluid motion of the genres you're mixing together in the most inventive way. So now, I have a rough idea of what and how I'm going to play but honestly I just play how I feel at the time and most importantly, what the ravers feel. You can feel the energy when you have the crowd at a point where they love what you're doing, at the point where they trust you and once you have that trust, they will be waiting to see what YOU can give THEM. Instant reaction is key, as a DJ I've had to learn to relax and trust that I know what the hell I'm doing and that I'm damn good at what I do.

Would you say that sometimes Grime DJs tend to neglect the crucial elements of mixing? Speaking from my own listening experience, like, all of the original components of what made a sick DJ seem to be missing sometimes...

I hear you and hear where you coming from and I feel that on occasions too. My favourite DJs are the ones I see with passion in their eyes and a hype for the crowd because they are mixing up madness. I would love more than anything to see some grime DJs be more creative and not be afraid to do something that hasn't been tried or tested yet. It's easy to just play a tune into a tune really quickly just because they are both 140BPM, but there needs to be a thought process behind it, there's a big difference between spontaneity in a set and just playing a tune 'because'. Having said that though, it needs to be appreciated that to an extent a lot of grime fans just want to hear their favourite tunes played with the drops played at the right moment. That leaves very little room for DJs to experiment, I hope to change that though and all of my favourite DJs like the Logans, Spookys, Grand Mixer Dans etc are doing it already and have been for a while.

To be a sick DJ is to make your crowd feel the same way they felt when they heard their favourite song for the first time, every tune you play, so it's about creating the right amount of anticipation and atmosphere, whilst getting people to skank their hearts out: that takes more skill than the average mortal could even comprehend.

Just going back quickly, it's interesting you mention being born within the digital era; what instantly strikes me about you is you seem way before your time, in a positive way, would you agree with that?

Yes, I'm 19 going on 30. Every single person who meets me thinks im 5 years older than what I am because I'm very mature for my age and more career driven than anyone I've ever come across at my age. I have huge ambitions and wont stop 'til they move from being dreams to becoming my reality. I'm also convinced I was accidentally born in '92 because I love everything about the eras before me and wished I'd experienced them. Like for example, I never got a chance to attend any of the original Sidewinders and that is more than a shame, that's a sin.

Actually I feel the exact same way about being born in 1991, and that extends way beyond Grime for me as a fan of music that's even twenty-odd years older than me; apart from Grime and it's obvious surrounding sounds is there any music that you make an effort to explore?

I'm a huge 90's Hip Hop lover, I could never turn my back on Hip Hop because I really do love it, if it's done right. I grew up listening to Biggie, Pac, Mobb Deep - Ja Rule when Murder inc were THE clique. I have every Jay-z, Nas, Common Talib Kweli, Naughty By Nature and NWA album but the greatest musical disc I have ever owned is College Dropout by Kanye West: beyond legendary. That album changed my life. Music like that is eternal and I love that. I also have MAJOR love for Dubstep and Garage but that doesn't need to be explained, they are sounds which once you love there's really no turning back.

How would you say the Grime scene has changed from when your first started listening to the situation its in now?

I feel like in 2011, there's a hell of a lot more pressure on a Grime artist to be consistent, be purely Grime and to try and obtain success and be the most popular kid in "grime school" whilst steering away from the pop-bandwagon. Now, you have to be a Grime emcee and a popular artist all in one because people fall of your buzz way too quickly and you find yourself having to recreate your own hype every other week.

In a world where technology is so strong, it's done the opposite for music in that everything is too accessible so nothing is as exciting as it was when stores like HMV and Rhythm Division were at their peak. Back then, in the days when Channel U was THE one, an artist could release a tune like "Gash By The Hour" and live off that hype for a good couple years. Nowadays people want to know what's next, so artists are having to constantly be seen as well as heard.

If you listen to the content that's being given to us by Grime's artists now, its stronger than ever and I'm a fan from an era when hearing Grime on Radio 1 was a myth. Look at the scene now. Grime has progressed to be more than a fad and despite the mass negative mainstream media attention, the scene is "winning". I feel like our sound is eternal and the path has been paved for Grime now by its veterans like the Wileys and Skeptas and D Double E's who've worked hard to get us here.

If you listen, I mean actually listen to the content of grime now, it's so musical, its actual music not an experimental sound, it is GRIME. Producers are now at the forefront of the scene, emcees are now performing at more raves than ever and Grime is now played on more stations and parties than ever before. We are healthy and getting healthier. This is what I want to see keep happening, as after that brief period when many of our scenes finest were jumping on the "funky house wave", it looked like the buzz was slowing down. But it's never gone and that, is a beautiful thing.

Let's talk about WASP then, the night you're planning to start. Give us a little bit more insight into what this will entail.

I feel like and have felt like for a while that while there may be a couple of rare Grime nights thrown about here and there, no matter how big they are when they arrive, we need more. So that's where WASP comes in, it will be a monthly night which will play Grime - new and old school - whilst incorporating Garage and Dubstep in there too. It's going to be mega for the scene because I'm going to get everyone involved, with emcees performing every month and Grime's top DJs gracing the WASP decks too. Many future surprises will happen too like mixtapes with exclusive bars from the scenes best emcees on some crazy beats and strictly vinyl nights with the resident DJs showing some mad skills. It's going to be a brand and my aim is too bring back the vibes that were once felt in raves like Sidewinder etc whilst giving Grime a club home - a platform. Eventually I want it to go nationwide but for now we just plan to take over East, from then I'm gonna push hard to get heard and aim to make the night legendary. If every one of my favourite emcees and DJs have played at our night by next year, I'm gonna be damn happy for sure. But believe clubs are the beginning, we eventually want to play on stages, so you know watch this space and all that.

I'm glad you spoke about moving Grime to stages, one thing everyone seems keen on right now is the whole concept of "stadium" Grime, where the sound can be played out to huge numbers of fans in massive places. Could you try and describe your ultimate Grime event for us?

My ultimate event for me would be to have a stage with WASP at a major festival with sets from all my favourite DJs doing some major back to backs, and all the scenes greatest emcees spraying sick bars, preferably all in a massive tent where everyone can do Grime mosh-pits. Alternatively the same stage show but somewhere like the Roundhouse or a huge indoor venue where Grime fans can skank like never before. Eventually I want to rent out a car park as a venue so people can die from a grime overdose [carefully thinking - it will happen, trust.

I guess before we end I'd like to focus just a bit on you briefly - where was you born and raised?

Most people are more shocked by this more than anything especially when they hear me speak [laughing]: I was born in London, but grew up my entire life from the age of three in Hornchurch, Essex. I am Essex through and through and I love my home town. I currently live in the Midlands as my parents moved to the countryside last year, but luckily I will be moving back to London at the end of this year.

Which DJs away from Grime inspire you?

Ooooh my goodness, so so many; Mistajam, Plastician, Chase and Status, Marcus Nasty, Funk Butcher and of course the biggest House DJs in the world, Swedish House Mafia, who are the most down to earth men in person and are so dedicated to their craft it's an illness for them. I love that.

You're not only a DJ but you've started your own blog as well, which sounds a little flat when you say it like that, even though it's actually quite insightful. Why did you decide to do that?

I've always loved writing about music, it's never been a chore for me. I was writing for online magazines at the age of 14 about everything from music to street style. I can never stop writing so what better way to channel that energy than on my own blog Dreamers Row. Plus, Dreamers Row is a place I feel we all belong as everyone of us dreams about something, it's all about supporting people with a hunger for more. Also, for those who read my blog, people will notice I rarely post more than once a week and I only talk about music I actually like: a bad review really isn't worth a dime in this day and age, an opinion is worth so much more. There's a difference between writing and reporting and there's a major difference between supporting and over saturating just for the sake of a couple blog views. Blogs are everywhere, people need to make a concious effort to think "why is MINE different?". If you can't answer that with a valid answer then what is the point.

Follow Lungi Lee on Twitter here and check out Dreamer's Row here. The "WASP" launch night will be held on the 29th of October at the Visions Video Bar in Dalston, East London and will feature Family Tree alongside a host of popular Grime DJs. More info on the Facebook.

Lungi's Grime Hall Of Fame (in no order).

D Double E - Wooo Riddim, Streetfighter IV & Gunman Riddim
Skepta & Grime All Stars - Duppy
Boy Better Know & Slew Dem Crew - Bumbaclart Badman
Tempa T - Next Hype
Wiley - Bad 'Em Up
Lethal B - The Best, POW! and Forward Riddim 2
More Fire Crew - Oi!
Dizzee Rascal - Stop Dat, I Luv You & Jezebel
Jammer - Merkle Man
JME - AWOH
Bearman - Drinking Bear
Kano - Boys Love Girls
Ghetto - Back In A Big Way
The Movement - Can't Go On
DJ Mondie - Pull Up Dat
Plus any of the legendary Pum Pum Ridims and a huge selection of instrumentals.

Talk That.

2011-10-01T12:33:00.000+01:00

You know that statement I made a couple of weeks back, when I posted the 'Otis' video by rappers Kept and Konan, the one about "road rap" now being the sound of kids in London? I'll try to justify that now.

It isn't just Grime. In anything, when your core audience changes, the content had to have taken some sort of different direction. Grime emcees went from an era spitting about the harsh realities of life - on the streets if you will - to a phase in which the reload lyrics became about swagger and how much money an emcee has, or how famous they are.

To kids in inner city London most of whom short of jobs and resources, thus a lack of money and arguably therefore a non-decent quality of life, hearing about the Guccis and the Rolex' is an alienation. Half of these kids will never be famous so to hear about the highs of how well an emcee is doing, both socially and financially, is a kick in the teeth for fans which were at one-point in touch with the emcees, albeit their message not the world's most positive.

I'm not suggesting everything has to be about violence; back in the day, anti-gun Grime tunes certainly got the backing because there was a common message between artists and listeners.

The Movement also changed the Grime scene a little bit in a lyrical sense, bars certainly became more "intelligent" so to speak, but all the while, they still maintained a Grimy audience. Grime fans now are most certainly not what they were in 2003, the idea of "the Shoreditch lot" moving in has become a reality and the main audience Grime emcees have now are the Snapback addicts who list Blogging as an occupation.

Ever heard that tune "Being A Dickhead's Cool"? Logan Sama played it once at a Grime rave, in Shoreditch and as I looked around, the irony set in. Grime is still fantastic, alive and most definitely kicking. But now it's easy to see why so many of its older fans are no longer content with it.