Grimey Guardian

Too fast, too furious

Grime is one of the most exciting sounds since punk in the 1970s: it should not be silenced

Natalie Hanman

Tuesday December 27, 2005

The Guardian It has been the year of live music - 2005 has seen gig-going, guitars and live recordings firmly back in fashion. But the most exciting genre of music's youthful rebellion, grime, ain't getting a look in. And many suspect it is because the bands are black.

An offshoot of garage, hip-hop and electronica, grime burst out of London's East End in 2002. With the success of its most charming star, Dizzee Rascal, and the acclaimed Run the Road compilation, grime was poised to leap from pirate stations into the mainstream. But last October a gig by Kano, the genre's rising star, at the Scala in King's Cross was cancelled after the local council and police were said to have deemed it a safety risk.

What was a burgeoning live grime scene has since skidded to a halt, and sales of new releases have slowed From the UK rapper Sway being banned from the Jazz Cafe, in north London, after a fight which it is claimed had nothing to do with the artist, to the police advising promoters to remove "dangerous" acts from line-ups, it is not looking good for grime.

"There'll be a riot," the police told Vice magazine about a planned November gig that had three of grime's biggest names - Kano, Lethal Bizzle and Roll Deep - playing alongside famous white faces of indie rock. According to Vice's editor, Andy Capper, the police said: "That Lethal B has fights at his gigs and the police shut down Kano's Scala gig because of gang violence." It's odd, then, that those familiar with grime say there have been no such fights.

Full article here