A friend said he didn’t like Grime very much. It’s understandable. I think it’s one of those glutty genres where you start scratching the surface of the scene and you discover that there’s just a massive amount of material coming out, and it’s all really micro-divided by geography and slight-seeming alterations of style, and that can be hard to get into. It seems to me that this is because it’s such a young thing, and it’s moving unpredictably and creatively, like a lava flow, whereas older genres are so established that things change more tectonically.

In case you haven’t looked into this stuff much, here’s some background:

Grime’s been around for I don’t know how long, but was introduced to the world at large in like 2003, by Dizzee Rascal. He was a part of a small, thriving scene, with dudes like Wiley and Kano, and they were rapping over a totally different kind of beat than western hip-hop is usually set to. This was great, because a lot of European hip-hop is plain and boring American aping. Grime (or Eski, which Wiley has always called it, because it can be so cold and icy and desolate, like some Eskimo / Igloo rap shit) had its roots in the British 2-Step / Garage sound, which has a slower, more jungly beat structure. Not all Grime has vocals, and a lot of guys are making and releasing straight Grimey beats, some of which get rapped over and some that fall to the side. Wiley put out “Ice Rink” and like 100 dudes spit over it. It’s a crazy example of a riddim that is pure propulsion, with no drops and a pretty much limitless vocal platform. The stuff that is more focused on the beats themselves, usually with no vocals at all, is Dubstep. That shit is amazing, and is on some New Scientist tip, with DJs crafting these crazy cadences and bass feedbacks to build out some incredibly looming and dark clouds of music. Worth its own post for sure, and I probably listen to more Dubstep than Grime these days anyway.

So there’s a lot of good stuff out there and a lot of middling stuff. I’m no great authority here; I listen to what gets talked about, and follow the crews I liked during my early exploration. Occasionally I’ll download some random shit that has a heavy-sounding name. Here we go:

Skepta, Scratch, Jet Le, Flowdan – Celebrate (produced by Danny Weed)

The Roll Deep crew is what sold me on Grime, and that is some real shit. Rules and Regulations has 0 bad tracks. It’s an outstanding, free-standing primer to the modern Grime scene. This track was made by my favorite producer out there, Danny Weed. Non-stop gash.
Download audio file (Skepta - Scratch - Jet Le - Flowdan - celebrate (prod. by Danny Weed))

All in One – Ice Rink (prod. by Wiley)

Mentioned this above. Not my favorite of the Ice Rink works, but All in One is solid so he gets a pass. Just check out the beat and pull what you can out of the muddled vocals.
Download audio file (All in One - Ice Rink (Produced By Wiley))

Terror Danjah – Cock Back v1.2 (ft Hyper, Bruza, D Double E)

The first real banger that hit me, way back in 2004, off the Run the Road comp. The fucking beat is built from a gun cock! This track is so massive!
Download audio file (Terror Danjah - Cock Back v1.2 (ft Hyper Bruza D Double E))

Durrty Goodz – License to Skill (prod. by JJ)

A big theme in the last two years of the Grime scene has been the predatory practices of the big labels in London. When Grime blew up in 2003, they started courting the young stars and signing them to exclusive contracts. Guys thought they had it made. But then their albums got locked up in development for seriously like 4 years or more, and the artists came to realize that they’d been squatted on by their label. Executives were more interested in preventing other labels from cornering this new market than in actually helping and promoting these artists. Lots more self-released stuff coming out now, and reactionary songs like this one. Also, Durrty Goodz dominates.
Download audio file (Durrty Goodz - License to Skill (prod. by JJ))

Jammer – Lick Off Your Face (ft G. Man, prod. by Crayzee Bandit)

Crazyee Bandit turns in an example of the weird epic-triumph vein that flows through a lot of Grime. There’s this element that pops up a lot, where a track is like a non-stop movie climax, with MCs yelling like gladiators and it’s all pretty life-or-death. Jammer’s delivery is unorthodox, which is something I prize.
Download audio file (Jammer - Lick Off Your Face (ft G Man prod by Crayzee Bandit))

Wretch 32 – Combo Chain (ft Caps P. Nero Calibar Y. Wizz)

As far as I can tell, Wretch 32 is a less active / popular MC from North London. Not much press on this guy, and this track is a few years old, but I’ve always enjoyed it. It sort of switches itself up in the middle, and I appreciate that kind of free-wheeling.
Download audio file (Wretch 32 - Combo Chain (ft Caps P. Nero Calibar Y. Wizz))

And two more, mostly instrumental tracks, because they’re great and if you don’t care for the delivery of the MCs in the stuff above, maybe you’ll enjoy the beats standing alone.

Danny Weed – Cloud 9

I don’t know what it is about this beat. There is such trememdous room inside it. It’s like some long-legged juggernaut, rolling and echoing through a drainage pipe. Been playing this one for anyone who’ll listen over the past three years or so.
Download audio file (Danny Weed - Cloud 9)

Skepta – Tingles

It happens a fair bit that you’ll get a female vocal dropped in as an instrument for the beat, rather than as a primary voice. Skepta’s received a lot of accolades lately, for his production and his mic work. Dude deserves it.
Download audio file (Skepta - Tingles)

That’s that. For a bit more, you might check out this post I made back in 2005, while living in Argentina. It’s got a couple of older tracks that are still great.