Genre Analysis: UK Grime

History of the Genre Originated in the estates of East London in the shadow of Canary Wharf in the early 2000’s. Wiley was the first main grime artist, he created grime from rapping to different beats and

about more relatable things. It evolved from the 90’s London garage scene where MC’s would rap over beats.

As Wiley continued producing, other London artists started copying that style of rap and clashes began. This brought the genre to the masses and gave it the name, Grime.

Young boys who grew up with a negative attitude, had nothing better to do and couldn’t relate to any music out at the time latched onto grime.

Clashes such as Lord of The Mics would attract thousands of people to go see the new genre. As the internet grew bigger, so did grime. With artists being able to release tracks and produce

videos to give to specific channels to promote their songs. And today the UK grime culture is bigger than ever and on the rise, with Artists such as Skepta,

Stormzy and JME all breaking into the UK charts with grime songs.

Video Examples

Skepta – Shut Down - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQOG5BkY2Bc

Stormzy – Shut Up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqQGUJK7Na4

JME – Man Don’t Care - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rivFCwwvoh8

Conventions of Grime Videos Very likely to be shot in the

streets, or a location with a meaning to the artist. As the genre progresses some videos are being shot in studios.

Main artist is always in the video. They are normally in the middle, friends/crew behind him.

Very chauvinistic and egoistically shot. The track will be normally about the artist talking about himself or insulting someone else.

Costume – Normally low end streetwear or tracksuits. We are now however seeing artists such as “Skepta” wearing high end fashion labels in videos. This high end aesthetic now being heavily associated with the grime culture.

No real narrative, normally a simple message from the artist towards the viewer.

Occasionally voyeuristic elements in certain videos.

Conventions of Grime Videos