Coming of Age

Grime Music is an acquired taste (as is every music genre) you can either love it for it's rawness, patriotic representation and multliple collaborations or you could hate it for it's lack of varied content, budget/repetitive videos and crowded industry. Either way it's a mainstay because of it's attention to the street (a council estate of mind if you will) and the coverage it receives on Channel U and pirate radios. There's an array of talented grime MCs from Ghetto to Kano to Scorcher to Bashy; yet grime still hasnt been fully recognised on a greater national scale. UK Labels arent willing to market a genre where mixtapes hardly sell and fans download on a daily basis. Although it would be fair in saying labels arent giving MCs a chance to shine and showcase their talent, it would equally be fair in saying there isnt enough overall artistry in grime as a whole. The music industry nowadays unfortunately is more than just music, its all about marketing a product; the product being the artist.

The wider perspective suggests that the industry is powered by 4 P's. The artist behind the music is a product who must have presence and personality in order to progress. If labels do not see these 4 p's as a combination in an MC, then there is no chance they will succeed and more importantly neither will the grime genre. We have seen this happen to a few talents, most notably Kano. So what do you do? You either change up your style of music to suit labels (e.g Wiley, Skepta, Dizzee & Lethal B) whilst still gaining credibility from "ends" or you use your experiences and knowledge to distribute music via an independent label and produce great music AND great videos. Its difficult and rare for grime artists to make great videos with a low budget however every once in a while you get the odd videos that spark a chord in your eye socket and you respond with a nod of the head. With all this said, let me forward you to an artist by the name of Chipmunk. He has all that it takes to bring grime music onto a bigger level - the talent, the personality and the artistry. Although only 17 and far from the best in the game I believe he will be able to open avenues for other grime greats and we may see them prosper in UK charts. Only time will tell. Judging by this video the future's looking very bright.