Featured Scene: Grime/Dubstep

Grime and Dubstep are truly massive genres at this point, ballooning out of the UK circa 2000 and teeming with thousands of up-and-coming artists, from hungry street MCs to digital sound virtuosos. While the genres are far bigger than I can comprehensively cover, they remain somewhat impenetrable to most listeners. Coming from a broad cross-section of music and occasionally dabbling in Grime or Dubstep when the "next big thing" comes along is difficult, as the music has its own context and influences that often share little with other genres.

Distilled down to their basic elements and influences, Grime and Dubstep pay homage to video-game music, love rapid Dancehall beats (a characteristic they share with Reggaeton), heavily rely on synths for their melody, enjoy dissonance and murky production sounds and more recently, use dangerous amounts of bass. The genres can definitely switch between soft and tender or loud and angry, and can easily ride an instrumental breakbeat or an actual MC or sung hook. I've compiled below a short chronological entry tracklist into Grime and Dubstep, selecting songs that either were break-out, crossover hits or have since been recognized as the classics/standards of the genre.

Dizzee Rascal was the first break-out phenom from Grime. This young London MC burst onto the scene in 2003 with his album Boy In Da Corner, winning the prestigious Mercury Prize as the UK's album of the year. Highlight track "I Luv U" stands to this day as Grime's biggest success. It sounded like nothing hip hop had even attempted to date, sporting rapid-fire vocals over a bed of squelches and beeps that were somehow addictively aggressive. Closest reference point? Perhaps some of El-P's sonic boom beats on the now-defunct Def Jux label.

Dizzee Rascal - I Luv U

Skream was one of Dubstep's earliest innovators, and "Midnight Request Line" popularized a nuanced, restrained production style that has been echoed (and occasionally parroted) through four years of music since its 2006 release.

Skream - Midnight Request Line

Kode9 is another of Grime/Dubstep's forefathers, having been in the game since the scene was formed. He currently is the owner and manager of Hyperdub Records, home to numerous UK acts as well as hot US newcomer Flying Lotus. "Portal" is an excellent example of his measured, eerie production style, from a 2006 collaboration with The Space Ape.

Kode9 and The Space Ape - Portal

Burial has provided the genres' highest profile figure since Dizzee, releasing a pair of critically lauded albums. On "Archangel", from 2006's Untrue, he artfully built distant r&b vocals over crackling-vinyl sonics, creating a heartbroken, yearning ambiance.

Burial - Archangel

The Bug, another UK dubstep veteran, launched 2008 with London Zoo, the fullest realization of his sound yet. Huge, grimy dancehall beats echo apocalyptically as a series of emcees tear through his tracks. "Poison Dart" lets Warrior Queen spit her vicious brand of feminism across a wobbling bassline and overstuffed blasts of sound.

The Bug - Poison Dart (f/Warrior Queen)

La Roux was in the process of breaking on to the UK pop charts in her own right (far from the Grime/Dubstep genres) when one of her singles unexpectedly took off. It turned out that the B-side remix of "In For The Kill", put together by none other than Grime/Dubstep legend Skream, took off as a mega-hit, reaching "gold" record status on the legs of its production flourishes and slow building power.

La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream Remix)

Joker is my favorite Grime/Dubstep artist to date, jumping on to the scene as a teenager and fearlessly building his signature "purple" sound (he reports hearing his music as purple, leading to speculation that he has Synesthesia) on foundation-rocking amounts of bass. Classic drum machines and synth melody round out his sound. I highlighted "Psychedelic Runway" as my #12 song of 2009 (here), but it's a toss-up which you'll like best between it or the two epic bangers below. All three are worth a thorough listen, as Joker is one of the most exciting talents making music today, and hopefully he will follow up his string of earth-moving singles with a full album soon.

Joker and Ginz - Purple City
Joker - Stuck In The System