Grime first blew up at a time when Britain’s youth were left disenfranchised and alienated

Grime first blew up at a time when Britain’s youth were left disenfranchised and alienated by New Labour. The mood of the time was captured perfectly by with Dizzee Rascal declaring himself “a problem for Anthony Blair” on “Hold Ya Mouf”. The genre was an outlet and medium of expression for underprivileged black youths from working class backgrounds, so it’s no surprise that grime has experienced a new surge of popularity over the past couple of years in a Tory-led Britain, rife with youth unemployment, student debt and benefit cuts. Last year saw the first waves of a resurgence which went on to become a fully-fledged tsunami in 2015. With the scene thriving, grime has gone from strength to strength, and now seems as good a time as any for us to look back at some of the unforgettable, iconic moments from the last twelve months in grime…Footsie released “Scars”After keeping fans waiting for almost a decade, MC and producer Footsie of Newham Generals kicked off the year by releasing cult classic “Scars” on vinyl in January. The track featured vocals from D Double E, Monkstar and Wiley, and was accompanied by a brilliant lyric video later in the year. “Scars” was released with independent label Butterz who have also had an amazing year having cut themselves out as one of the most exciting imprints around.Novelist’s 18th BirthdayThis February, prince of grime Novelist turned 18, and to celebrate the milestone the Lewisham youngster teamed up with Red Bull to throw the mother of all birthday parties in the form of a secret warehouse rave, featuring a line-up including Stormzy, Sir Spyro, The Square and of course London’s Rudeboy himself. Novelist worked with Red Bull once again this summer to put on his first headline show, entitled The Sound, consisting of a series of exclusive parties spanning across three dates.Kanye West at the BritsFor his performance of the recently-released “All Day” at this year’s Brit Awards, Kanye West drafted in some of the UK’s biggest grime names to join him onstage, resulting in something which could have easily made up an all star Eskimo Dance line up. The spectacle featured the likes of Fekky, Stormzy, Jammer, Krept & Konan, Frisco, Novelist, Shorty and Skepta all donning black tracksuits, accessorised with flamethrowers on prime time television. The performance sparked a dialogue about the genre with many taking to social media to voice their opinions (one complaint of OFCOM was even sampled on Skepta’s “Shutdown"). Hate it or love it, the performance was unforgettable and with Yeezy being considered one of the greatest taste makers of our generation, the feat meant that grime had been received the hypebeast seal of approval.#UKGRIMECYPHER on TwitterTwitter account @UKGrime was responsible for one of this year’s most entertaining trends when they started the #UKGrimeCypher hashtag, leading to people sharing clips of themselves spitting bars over old school classic grime instrumentals. Many of the clips went viral, from the hilarious have-a-go MCs to the talented up-and-comers, with even seasoned stars like Shystie joining in.Skepta’s “Shutdown”partyTo celebrate the release of the now-omnipresent banger “Shutdown”, Skepta threw a party in an East London car park after a announcement on social media which came only four hours before the party itself. Despite the last minute nature of the event, the turnout was overwhelming with hundreds of fans showing up and the carpark was soon transformed into a mosh pit as revellers spilled onto the surrounding streets and stopped traffic. The irony certainly wasn’t lost on anyone when the party was quite literally shut down by police.Idris Elba remixes “Shutdown”As “Shutdown” went on to become one of the hottest tracks of the summer, star of Luther and The Wire Idris Elba posted his remix of Skepta’s hit on Soundcloud. The actor’s move into the music world may have come as a surprise to some, however Elba started out as a UK Hip Hop and Garage DJ at the young age of 14. He showed off his musical talent again later in the year featuring as “Driis" on Nigerian Afrobeat artist D’Banj’s single “Confidential” alongside Shadow Boxxer.D Double E’s wedding setGrime heavyweight D Double E turned one couple’s nuptial ceremony into a rave when he performed a set at a London wedding this summer. Clips of Double spitting over the classic Rebound X instrumental “Rhythm and Gash” and Wiley’s “Eskimo” at the celebration swiftly went viral on Twitter, gaining thousands of retweets and likes.Stormzy storms the chartsIn May, Stormzy first took the charts by storm with “WickedSkengman4” which made chart history as the first ever freestyle to hit the UK Top 20, peaking at number 18 and beating previous record holder JME’s “96 Fuckries” (which was just ten copies short of number 40). To celebrate the success of “WSM4″, Stormzy threw a party in a Nando’s and drove around London handing out free pairs of Adidas trainers to fans who bought the single. But that wasn’t the only chart success of the year for the Skengman, whose Twitter-led campaign to get his single “Shut Up” to Christmas Number 1 recently came to an end. The top spot went to the NHS Choir’s charity single “A Bridge Over You” (possibly thanks to an assist from Justin Bieber), however “Shut Up” sat in the Top Ten for two weeks and outsold recent X Factor winner Louisa Young’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young”. -- source link

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