Tracks P Money ft AJ Tracey – Them Guys (prod. By Swifta Beater & Sir Spyro) Money Over Everyone 4 didn’t grab me. The lyrics felt dull in places, and the rap and drum & bass sections weren’t my favourite. However, ‘Them Guys’ did grab me, and it’s down a few elements. Let’s address the big one: AJ Tracey. Yeah. He’s back on grime, and the return doesn’t disappoint. He’s lucid, sharp and clear, delivering each syllable like he never left the late-night radio slot. P Money’s on form, too. He elongates his verse ever so slightly and gives us a breather, delivers a tongue-lashing to the ..read more

Welcome back to The Art of Grime.  It’s been nearly six months since I’ve written or published anything grime related. Vocal grime hadn’t been moving me the way it normally does, and I also got a new job towards the end of 2022. Going from part-time work to a full-blown, 9-5 job is a bit of a steep curve. So, I put my energy into that and took a bit of a break.  I don’t expect anyone to really care about this, and future posts won’t feature this kind of update, but I thought it was worth mentioning for context. Hopefully, these monthly posts will be a regular thing.  Still with ..read more

The wheels continued to turn for grime in 2022. Blay Vision’s ‘Cammy Riddim’, perhaps the biggest tune of the year, gave fans and emcees something to get hyped over. This genre keeps going no matter what, but it’s been a while since something outside of an album or song had people talking. I wrote in-depth about ‘Cammy Riddim’ and version excursions here, but it’s worth reiterating how the distribution model was crucial to the tune taking off. Anyone could buy it from Bandcamp and upload it to streaming services, with Blay asking only for a 50% producer credit on PRS. It’s hard enough to make ..read more

JME & friends brought the heat to London’s Outernet this past weekend. The occasion in question was Grime MC FM, which initially started as a form of guerrilla marketing for his 2019 album Grime MC. Early incarnations of the event featured JME and others pull up on random spots across the capital, armed only with decks, mics, speakers and their bars. The sets were live-streamed to Twitch, a modern take on the traditional grime format. I remember watching intently n Madrid, nursing a hangover in one of the worst Airbnbs I’ve ever stayed in.  Eventually, the on-street sets moved to ..read more

Jammz has put in his ten thousand hours. An emcee since his preteens, live slots at the Old Blue Last, merch collaborations with O.G grime blog Once Upon A Grime and the release of his 2010 EP I Am Grime were his early breaks in the scene. However, things really took flight in 2015. Jammz, alongside AJ Tracey, Big Zuu, Novelist and more, were part of grime’s radio boom. Fuelled by camaraderie and the will to be heard, they found their voices across the many internet radio stations. Grime had a mainstream glamour at the time; they provided the underground grit.   Scene foreb ..read more

Mez – MezTape Vol.1 “MezTape Vol.1” is grime at its most vibrant. On tracks like ‘Grinding’ and ‘Woiya’, Mez transports the brain to the low ceilings of a basement club space, where the capacity is in the mid-hundreds and the lights are low. He contorts words into abstract shapes, and when combined with seismic bass, relentless percussion, bouncy lead lines and mangled samples, the grime flow state is activated. Peak time at the dance, where the sounds keep coming, the body moving accordingly to the maverick symphony. It’s intense, and that continues on ‘Africa Continent’, where Mez’s spiky f ..read more

Featured image credit: Lucas Bumer COMO VOCÊ is a brand new documentary by writer, DJ, author and filmmaker Jesse Bernard. Translating to ‘like you’, the film chronicles the origins of Brazil’s grime scene, which sprung into the wider consciousness thanks to independent, homegrown platforms like ‘Brasil Grime Show’ and releases from emcees and producers. Here, grime’s sonics combine with the rhythms of baile funk, a genre with its own unique history and specific set of challenges from the authorities. The result is a sound inspired by the rich history of Black British underground music wi ..read more

Cammy Riddim Watch Cammy Riddim’s flame continues to burn. My picks from July are Renz, Griz-O, Chowerman, Eklipse, Vader, Chiedu Oraka, Dubz D and Koj. Jammz and Duppy also released versions, each remixing the beat and putting a fresh spin on proceedings. Duppy’s track is a highlight, a near four-minute fireball of intense flows, breathless lyricism and a switch-up a minute and thirty into the tune, where he finds another gear and sends the energy into the stratosphere. Elsewhere, Blay dropped the devil mix of the original beat, so between the remixes and devil mix, it’s clear there’s still ..read more

Snoopa x Adam R – Shut Your Grill EP On “Shut Your Grill”, Snoopa uses lyrics to bring his experiences to life. Family, addiction and mental health are the subject matter for ‘Pass The Blame’, while steadfastness is the topic on ‘Up & Down’. Elsewhere, ‘Show Me The Way’ and ‘Better Than Ever’ are lessons in flowing. Adam R’s production is sleek, the basslines crisp and drum lines heavy, while Snoopa’s melodic hooks tie everything together. When taken in as a whole, “Shut Your Grill” is well-rounded and distinct. Grandmixxer – Free Gaza July sees Grandmixxer release “Free Gaza”. The instr ..read more

Low End Activist – Hostile Utopia “Hostile Utopia” is a dynamic album. Across its fifteen tracks, heavy bass and a few emcees come together, creating an album that is both danceable and texturally interesting. Emz, Mez, Killa P and Cadence Weapon impart style, technique, stories, and swagger over LEA’s beats, while ‘Sprint’, ‘Afflicted’, and the title track ‘Hostile Utopia’ get the body moving. The album draws from the rich strands of U.K underground music, proving that fresh energy can be found through a hybrid approach. A.G – GML Released on the young but ever excellent AP Life, “GML” comp ..read more