It's 8am and my eyes hurt. I'm knackered, just like I was the night before... before I'd even been out.
I had one of those moments last night, when really it could have gone either way. 11:30pm, standing in your own warm, dry house thinking: "I've been tired for about 15 hours. I've only been home for about two since someone pulled the alarm on the tube in the carriage I was in and everyone cleared out for fear of having their limbs blown off by a suspect rucksack. Clearly the sane thing to do is to walk the four steps to bed and pass the fuck out."
But somehow compulsive insanity prevails and I find myself jumping in the car, slipping in the Slimzee's Rinse Sessions CD ft. Riko Dan and Gift and slicing through dark, damp streets in the car, heading away from sleep and painless eyes, not towards them.
Then I'm on the dancefloor at FWD>>. The Bug smiles his usual smile, Fiddy's getting lairy, Kode's looking standardly chilled, Mala DMZ's meditating deeply, Target passes through, Skepta's shocking out and the German film crew who've been ringing all week have finally showed up.
Tubby is on the decks, Newham Generals are on the mic - and they're busting up the dance.
Tubby rolls with a 10" record box. You'd have to snap a 12" to fit it in there, which says it all really. He draws for a lush selection of grime, straddling that subtle yet crucial feeling/impact divide. Tunes with mad oboes or pitchbent melodies grab the ears; lyrics and b-lines grab the gut.
"Like birds in the sky..." spits D Double. It's going off. Not in a usual FWD>> 'stand around, muted respect for that immense bass weight' kinda going off, but a 'bumbaclaart, lighters in the air, hands in the just don’t care, screaming, shouting blup blup blup draw for that riddim rightnow blud' kinda way.
Tubby's rolling through.
Jammer needs restraining. Sedating even. A straight jacket at the very least, because that way he won't be able to reload 'Request Line' for the sixth time. Yes, no lie, it got licked back five times in Tubby's set and the tune's flippin' 12 months old. "You're trying to start a riot Tubby blud," jokes Footsie as his DJ abandons trying to mix out of it for the fifth time and simply has to put a brand new riddim on before Jammer breaks the needle in half.
So, all in all, fuck sleep. Myman told me it was the cousin of death anyway... spiritual death.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Five things you didn’t know about D1
1. He lives in West London. (Dubstep is historically a south London sound).
2. He’s an only child who learnt piano at 7, is grade 8 music theory and can play tenor sax too. His favourite key is either A minor or C minor right now.
3. His dad used to make jungle, techno and made a tune with the late Stevie Hyper D.
4. It was almost two years between when he first started giving Youngsta beats (on tape!) and Youngsta cutting them. That’s graft!
5. When Olive’s ‘You’re Not Alone’ – which D1’s done a dubstep mix of – first came out, he was 9 years old. He’s 18 now.
2. He’s an only child who learnt piano at 7, is grade 8 music theory and can play tenor sax too. His favourite key is either A minor or C minor right now.
3. His dad used to make jungle, techno and made a tune with the late Stevie Hyper D.
4. It was almost two years between when he first started giving Youngsta beats (on tape!) and Youngsta cutting them. That’s graft!
5. When Olive’s ‘You’re Not Alone’ – which D1’s done a dubstep mix of – first came out, he was 9 years old. He’s 18 now.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Draw for the DVD
Muckryfuckryonproducries! Woebot's worked on Practice Hours 2 man! And before you can say disolving class barriers, he's blogged about it. And guess who arranged his Rinse visit... ;-)
FWD>> line up for December
·December 1st: Tubby (aka Newham Generals), Plasticman and Wonder
·December 15th: Youngsta, Geeneus and Skream
Is the 1st the first dubstep-free FWD>> line up? Interesting...
·December 15th: Youngsta, Geeneus and Skream
Is the 1st the first dubstep-free FWD>> line up? Interesting...
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Buzz hunting
It’s important as a producer or blogger, not to just consume music from the scene you’re into. To buzz hunt far and wide as well as deep and narrow.
Recently I bought the Shy FX LP (a one-track CD wonder) and the Calibre album (kinda nice … growing on me but I still think his Signature 12”s are better), but they haven’t really changed my life. I’ve been checking Robbo Ranx (dancehall), Bobby Friction and Nihal’s (desi) BBC shows too. I bought the top five albums off this best of bhangra thread Woebot recommended me. Why? One because I know virtually nothing about bhangra yet as someone who loves Asian influenced dubstep it interests me. And also the bhangra boys, they sell their entire albums for £8, less than most grime 12”s.
So as I was saying, it’s important not to just consume music from the scene you’re into. You need new ideas and places to draw reference and inspiration from. Distance was reinforcing this point to me recently, though in fairness I’ve heard it from lots of other producers over the years and it’s true. There were times this year when I seemed to exist on Roll Deep and Youngsta shows alone, and that is not healthy.
Drum & bass’s influx of new producers have been definitely guilty of sonic cannibalism, where their first and only reference points are Bad Company circa 'Planet Dust' and nothing else.
But this also presents a dilemma for dubstep producers. The sound exists in some ways with sonically such close proximity to other underground sounds like d&b, breaks, broken beat, techno and electronica that it’s fundamental that producers find new sonic definers. It’s not good enough to sample the same old funk breaks (cos like black music stopped in the '60s did it?), to go a bit tepid ‘liquid funk’ or draw for the Reece stabs ie to rinse d&b’s tired clichés. It’s fundamental for the sound that it finds it own unique styles and this is done by new ideas not rehashing of old ones.
You can’t mistake a musical buzz. It’s like being in love, you either completely, indivisibly are in love, or you’re not. The buzz is the same. I either think ‘fuck me I have to tell someone about this tune,’ or not.
Seems like Kode 9 had one of those moments on his show this month. Jason H drops a tune by himself called ‘Forever’ and well, the “faaaacking ‘ell” says it all.
I had one of those moments Thursday. Listening to Cameo on 1Xtra, he suddenly drew for this Wiley vocal produced by Skandalous Unlimited. Cameo’s been losing his mind about Scandalous recently. Two years ago I nearly lost my life with Scandalous, driving to Sidewinder. Stanza they’re called roundabouts because you, like, go round them, preferably braking before haha.
Anyway this Wiley vocal is from the True Tiger mixtape, out in the next few weeks, and is called ‘WD25’ (a Watford postcode reference?). It’s next level grime minimalism, just a few synthy tones and the odd crunchy effect. Drumz? Who fucking needs drums! Rags. This is Skandalous out-Devil Mixing the Devil-Mixmaster. Stanza says there’s versions by Aftershock, Virus Syndicate, K Dot and Ghetto, but Wiley certainly drops some of his best bars:
Everything seems cloudy
I’ve never been robbed in the game, I’m rowdy
Carry on, I’ll take a hammer to your Audi
I’m like a soldier from Saudi
You’re not bad round me
Wanna CD? Try hound me
It’s next week you still ain’t me found me
Phone starts ringing when I drive through Boundary
Where’s Lethal? He ain’t in Boundary
I distribute through Pastels
Just like Rowntree
Now see, why I can handle life in the Deep End
They can’t drown me
Blud I’m a cold kid
Don’t come around me
I’m a city kid
I’m not a towny
Badboy like Mike Laury
I don’t don’t wanna be king
So don’t try crown me
I’m alright just being Wiley, I’m rowdy
Plus I eat lamb curry and roti
I’m a war MC, they can all quote me
And I might punch you in the boti
When you get up, everything seems floaty
I guess you wanna find me, but I move low key
Come into your house with no key
Climb through the window
You know me, my name’s Wiley yeah I’m that brer with the goatee
I’ve got Iceberg suits and Hurrache boots
Not once will you see me in no shiny suit
I’m a rudeboy, still by goods from the loot
Drums layered up with a bass and a flute
I score goals even when the angle’s acute
If I gotta go somewhere take the quick route
Forget the long route
Searching for that number one route, house-in-the-sun route
Dilly dally through badboy valley, I ain’t one to try and act pally
Will start going on aggi if I have to, start getting dark if I have to
Switch if I have to
I only do black-on-black crime if I have to
I know it ain’t good, I hope I don’t have to…
Derived of their intonation, transcriptions doesn’t do them justice but I could still write all month about Wiley lyrics. Check the passion in his flow. Sometimes you can hear Wiley single-handedly willing the entire grime scene forward, and not by the ‘long route’ either. Wiley’s flows are always full of glorious contradictions. He’s a rudeboy, he’ll punch you, he knows black-on-black crime isn’t good but he might have to resort to it. Yet despite being road he’s still looking for the “house-in-the-sun route.”
Also keeping the buzz going round here is the prospect of four very exciting dubstep mixes/compilations due in ’06 … that sadly I can’t elaborate on right now. Yes, I know it’s frustrating and certain other bloggers might blab the details straight away, but trust me, if I was to go on like that, then I’d quickly never have excluses to tell. So you’ll have to trust me when I say big tings a gwann in the dubstep mix/compilation field right now, though it’s all very, very early days.
The week before last I got a completely-out-of-the-blue email from Burial, someone I’d never spoken to. No one had, bar Kode 9. In fact one bigboy drum & bass producer went so far as to suggest Burial didn’t even exist. But he does … and after the heavy Hyperdub 12”, he’s back.
Appearing in my inbox were two brand new Burial tracks, “Distant Lights” and “Shutter.” And how can I put this delicately? THEY’RE F***ING LUSH.
No, it’s no great stylistic departure from the Hyperdub 12”, but when you’ve built yourself a sonic trademark, why bother? If you’ve heard that 12” you’ll know these trademarks. Crunchy, semi-swung intricate beats. Like Horsepower circa 2002 but with the ‘going on differently’ setting at 11. They’re so-wrong-they’re-right. Not forgetting the crackles and pops that suggest Pole … and the entire history of black music left to rot on decaying vinyl.
The other characteristic, which I’m a sucker for, it’s that powerful hint of wistful sorrow. Burial says Foul Play are a massive inspiration. I can see that (a curious coincidence since Steve Gurley’s 98-99 garage output was a massive influence on dubstep godfather El-B). Both tunes make me want to jump in the car and cruise the margins of LDN by night. Burial says he’s been working on lots of new material, in several different directions. Come with it bro.
Talking of lush wistful sorrow, the next Hyperdub 10” is gonna be Kode 9 “9 Samurai” with Spaceape vocal tune “Backward”. Can’t wait.
I’ve also been wondering about two Asian-flavoured tunes Hatcha’s been playing over the last few months. This is a link to the two unknown Hatcha dubs. The first 40 seconds is the tune that sounds a bit like Hatcha v Benny Ill ‘Highland Spring.’ The other is like some Bollywood remix. Lush. Can anyone ID them?
Speaking of Asian dubstep, on Monday I did my dubstep soulja duty and went into Radio 1. Soulja duty comes round now and then. Over the years I’ve sent Kode 9 instrumentals into Kano’s manager (before we knew he wanted to follow the ‘mersh path not the ‘…Lately’ route), been told by Shoreditch dancehall promoters they want a dubstep second room (um, turns out they didn’t really), started the Bleep/Road page, left for dubstep nights in places two hours away by nightbus at 11pm on a Sunday night, written for mags with no hope of ever getting paid or tried to hook up impossibly amazing DJ dates - like the time a friend said they needed some DJs to play at the launch party for Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith in Singapore. These longshots almost never come off, or work out great, but it’s important to soldier on, because just sometimes things come of them.
Anyway through a journalism contact (hold tight Rahul Verma) Nihal from “…& Bobby Friction” got in touch about Asian-influenced dubstep. So I found myself in a Radio 1 listening room checking out Distance’s ‘Fallen’ and ‘Temptation,’ Kode 9 & Spaceape’s ‘Fukkaz,’ Skream and Loefah’s ‘Indian’ and ‘Monsoon’ remixes, L Wiz’ Habibi and Skream’s ‘Cheeky…’ over some phat speakers. It was interesting to see Bobby Friction and Nihal’s responses to how dubby, spacey and instrumental most of those tunes are. To dubstep fans these seem normal qualities of our sound, but it’s easy to forget how others respond.
Bobby Friction and Nihal suggested dubsteppers work with more MCs, a fairly standard response from people in the industry who want to appeal to a wider audience. Sure, vocal tunes can evoke a broader emotional range, but there’s far more to it that that. The entire industry is set up to work vocal tunes and market ‘artists’. The most powerful way to market sound is in fact by sight: music TV, magazines and newspapers break the big acts.
There are lots of people in the industry (predominantly called A&Rs) - though probably less than there were even comparatively recently - who spend their time cherry picking the best of the underground and transporting them to the mainstream, with a few changes on route of course. And so following on from Nihal’s point, people could perhaps theoretically argue that since dubstep is suddenly attracting some heat, it should think about undergoing a transformation.
But why? Sure a dubstep artist could get a PR, spend £10,000 on a video (like anyone in dubstep even has this kind of budget), buy in remixes (probably from an indie band these days lmfao) and enlist a token frontwoman blahdeblah etc. Lots of d&b artists have tried this (Shy *cough* FX … MC *cough*Tali, DJ *cough* SS), but mostly they flop and frankly… I don’t see the point. This really isn’t what dubstep is about. It’s underground music.
If I recall correctly, Simon Reynolds once remarked how much UK hip hop’s ‘undergroundist’ attitude was self-fulfilling. Since its ‘no sell out’ attitude views commercial success as failure, it is stunting its own growth, dooming itself to underachievement and permanent financial pressures. Since Simon lives in New York now, he’s probably acutely well positioned to compare this to the US ‘can-do’ attitude which has made the States’ music industry such a global success.
But even if dubstep adopted a ‘can-do’ attitude and made a bid for the mainstream, I’m willing to argue that it’s now harder to do this than ever before. Long gone are the times when LFO’s ‘LFO’ made the charts. Even the times circa 2000 where underground garage hits like ‘Body Groove’ could become mainstream hits seems distant. Not to say the charts are completely inaccessible (d&b’s Ram Record can break the top 40 with vinyl sales alone), but the gap between underground and mainstream is definitely widening, not least because the ‘charts’ are increasingly marginalised as a measure of success compared to other forms of media ie tabloid coverage. I mean, 2005’s ‘Body Groove’ is surely Bear Man’s ‘Drinking Bear’ or Jammer’s ‘Murkel Man’ – and no one’s touched these two with a barge pole. (And was ‘Pow/The Forward Riddim?’ a fluke or one off? Bobby Friction and Nihal say when they play it in places like Newcastle they get very funny looks).
This suggestion that the gap is confirmed by a major label A&R I corresponded with this week, (someone to whom I will always owe a debt re my early breaks in the music industry five years ago). As one of the perhaps 10-30 people in this country who actually decides what gets signed to a major label in this country he should know what’s currently possible. And his analysis seems to confirm my hunch. Why? Because older consumers now seem to want safer and safer acts (hello Dido! Greeting Jamie Cullum! Howdy James Blunt! …arrrgh!) and younger consumers are actually paying for less music, probably because they download it, share it via IM or just watch it on TV and mobiles. So even if an underground scene like dubstep wanted to sell itself … it couldn’t.
The response to this gap, I’m convinced, it to not watch it. Scenes should build their own media (blogs, fan sites, forums, email lists), start their own labels, run their own download shops and clubs. Which to be fair to dubstep, it already is, which is all fine-and-dandy, except of course no one can make a living. But separating money and music, well, if you look at it in certain criterion (ie aesthetically), that’s no bad thing.
Buzz hunting 10
· DJ Distance “My Demons/Temptation”
· Wiley and Scandalous ‘WD25’
· Jason H ‘Forever’
· Digital Mystikz ‘Intergalatic Dub’/‘Anti War Dub’/’Mighty Zulu Nation remix’ (sadly only heard this once at FWD).
· Kode 9 ‘9 Samurai’/‘Backward ft Spaceape’
· Burial ‘Shutter’/‘Distant Lights’
· Those unknown Hatcha dubs.
· Oris Jay ‘Mighty Wan’
· Appleblim’s ‘Cheat I’
· L Wiz ‘Habibi’
PS Roll Deep have revived Danny Weed and Cage's 'Creeper' inna 'Sidewinder' style. Trim opens it up straight. "Yo I'm oh-gutter/come through stinking of coco butter/the local nutter/Original mad-m-mad Nutta...". Are you stupid?
Recently I bought the Shy FX LP (a one-track CD wonder) and the Calibre album (kinda nice … growing on me but I still think his Signature 12”s are better), but they haven’t really changed my life. I’ve been checking Robbo Ranx (dancehall), Bobby Friction and Nihal’s (desi) BBC shows too. I bought the top five albums off this best of bhangra thread Woebot recommended me. Why? One because I know virtually nothing about bhangra yet as someone who loves Asian influenced dubstep it interests me. And also the bhangra boys, they sell their entire albums for £8, less than most grime 12”s.
So as I was saying, it’s important not to just consume music from the scene you’re into. You need new ideas and places to draw reference and inspiration from. Distance was reinforcing this point to me recently, though in fairness I’ve heard it from lots of other producers over the years and it’s true. There were times this year when I seemed to exist on Roll Deep and Youngsta shows alone, and that is not healthy.
Drum & bass’s influx of new producers have been definitely guilty of sonic cannibalism, where their first and only reference points are Bad Company circa 'Planet Dust' and nothing else.
But this also presents a dilemma for dubstep producers. The sound exists in some ways with sonically such close proximity to other underground sounds like d&b, breaks, broken beat, techno and electronica that it’s fundamental that producers find new sonic definers. It’s not good enough to sample the same old funk breaks (cos like black music stopped in the '60s did it?), to go a bit tepid ‘liquid funk’ or draw for the Reece stabs ie to rinse d&b’s tired clichés. It’s fundamental for the sound that it finds it own unique styles and this is done by new ideas not rehashing of old ones.
You can’t mistake a musical buzz. It’s like being in love, you either completely, indivisibly are in love, or you’re not. The buzz is the same. I either think ‘fuck me I have to tell someone about this tune,’ or not.
Seems like Kode 9 had one of those moments on his show this month. Jason H drops a tune by himself called ‘Forever’ and well, the “faaaacking ‘ell” says it all.
I had one of those moments Thursday. Listening to Cameo on 1Xtra, he suddenly drew for this Wiley vocal produced by Skandalous Unlimited. Cameo’s been losing his mind about Scandalous recently. Two years ago I nearly lost my life with Scandalous, driving to Sidewinder. Stanza they’re called roundabouts because you, like, go round them, preferably braking before haha.
Anyway this Wiley vocal is from the True Tiger mixtape, out in the next few weeks, and is called ‘WD25’ (a Watford postcode reference?). It’s next level grime minimalism, just a few synthy tones and the odd crunchy effect. Drumz? Who fucking needs drums! Rags. This is Skandalous out-Devil Mixing the Devil-Mixmaster. Stanza says there’s versions by Aftershock, Virus Syndicate, K Dot and Ghetto, but Wiley certainly drops some of his best bars:
Everything seems cloudy
I’ve never been robbed in the game, I’m rowdy
Carry on, I’ll take a hammer to your Audi
I’m like a soldier from Saudi
You’re not bad round me
Wanna CD? Try hound me
It’s next week you still ain’t me found me
Phone starts ringing when I drive through Boundary
Where’s Lethal? He ain’t in Boundary
I distribute through Pastels
Just like Rowntree
Now see, why I can handle life in the Deep End
They can’t drown me
Blud I’m a cold kid
Don’t come around me
I’m a city kid
I’m not a towny
Badboy like Mike Laury
I don’t don’t wanna be king
So don’t try crown me
I’m alright just being Wiley, I’m rowdy
Plus I eat lamb curry and roti
I’m a war MC, they can all quote me
And I might punch you in the boti
When you get up, everything seems floaty
I guess you wanna find me, but I move low key
Come into your house with no key
Climb through the window
You know me, my name’s Wiley yeah I’m that brer with the goatee
I’ve got Iceberg suits and Hurrache boots
Not once will you see me in no shiny suit
I’m a rudeboy, still by goods from the loot
Drums layered up with a bass and a flute
I score goals even when the angle’s acute
If I gotta go somewhere take the quick route
Forget the long route
Searching for that number one route, house-in-the-sun route
Dilly dally through badboy valley, I ain’t one to try and act pally
Will start going on aggi if I have to, start getting dark if I have to
Switch if I have to
I only do black-on-black crime if I have to
I know it ain’t good, I hope I don’t have to…
Derived of their intonation, transcriptions doesn’t do them justice but I could still write all month about Wiley lyrics. Check the passion in his flow. Sometimes you can hear Wiley single-handedly willing the entire grime scene forward, and not by the ‘long route’ either. Wiley’s flows are always full of glorious contradictions. He’s a rudeboy, he’ll punch you, he knows black-on-black crime isn’t good but he might have to resort to it. Yet despite being road he’s still looking for the “house-in-the-sun route.”
Also keeping the buzz going round here is the prospect of four very exciting dubstep mixes/compilations due in ’06 … that sadly I can’t elaborate on right now. Yes, I know it’s frustrating and certain other bloggers might blab the details straight away, but trust me, if I was to go on like that, then I’d quickly never have excluses to tell. So you’ll have to trust me when I say big tings a gwann in the dubstep mix/compilation field right now, though it’s all very, very early days.
The week before last I got a completely-out-of-the-blue email from Burial, someone I’d never spoken to. No one had, bar Kode 9. In fact one bigboy drum & bass producer went so far as to suggest Burial didn’t even exist. But he does … and after the heavy Hyperdub 12”, he’s back.
Appearing in my inbox were two brand new Burial tracks, “Distant Lights” and “Shutter.” And how can I put this delicately? THEY’RE F***ING LUSH.
No, it’s no great stylistic departure from the Hyperdub 12”, but when you’ve built yourself a sonic trademark, why bother? If you’ve heard that 12” you’ll know these trademarks. Crunchy, semi-swung intricate beats. Like Horsepower circa 2002 but with the ‘going on differently’ setting at 11. They’re so-wrong-they’re-right. Not forgetting the crackles and pops that suggest Pole … and the entire history of black music left to rot on decaying vinyl.
The other characteristic, which I’m a sucker for, it’s that powerful hint of wistful sorrow. Burial says Foul Play are a massive inspiration. I can see that (a curious coincidence since Steve Gurley’s 98-99 garage output was a massive influence on dubstep godfather El-B). Both tunes make me want to jump in the car and cruise the margins of LDN by night. Burial says he’s been working on lots of new material, in several different directions. Come with it bro.
Talking of lush wistful sorrow, the next Hyperdub 10” is gonna be Kode 9 “9 Samurai” with Spaceape vocal tune “Backward”. Can’t wait.
I’ve also been wondering about two Asian-flavoured tunes Hatcha’s been playing over the last few months. This is a link to the two unknown Hatcha dubs. The first 40 seconds is the tune that sounds a bit like Hatcha v Benny Ill ‘Highland Spring.’ The other is like some Bollywood remix. Lush. Can anyone ID them?
Speaking of Asian dubstep, on Monday I did my dubstep soulja duty and went into Radio 1. Soulja duty comes round now and then. Over the years I’ve sent Kode 9 instrumentals into Kano’s manager (before we knew he wanted to follow the ‘mersh path not the ‘…Lately’ route), been told by Shoreditch dancehall promoters they want a dubstep second room (um, turns out they didn’t really), started the Bleep/Road page, left for dubstep nights in places two hours away by nightbus at 11pm on a Sunday night, written for mags with no hope of ever getting paid or tried to hook up impossibly amazing DJ dates - like the time a friend said they needed some DJs to play at the launch party for Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith in Singapore. These longshots almost never come off, or work out great, but it’s important to soldier on, because just sometimes things come of them.
Anyway through a journalism contact (hold tight Rahul Verma) Nihal from “…& Bobby Friction” got in touch about Asian-influenced dubstep. So I found myself in a Radio 1 listening room checking out Distance’s ‘Fallen’ and ‘Temptation,’ Kode 9 & Spaceape’s ‘Fukkaz,’ Skream and Loefah’s ‘Indian’ and ‘Monsoon’ remixes, L Wiz’ Habibi and Skream’s ‘Cheeky…’ over some phat speakers. It was interesting to see Bobby Friction and Nihal’s responses to how dubby, spacey and instrumental most of those tunes are. To dubstep fans these seem normal qualities of our sound, but it’s easy to forget how others respond.
Bobby Friction and Nihal suggested dubsteppers work with more MCs, a fairly standard response from people in the industry who want to appeal to a wider audience. Sure, vocal tunes can evoke a broader emotional range, but there’s far more to it that that. The entire industry is set up to work vocal tunes and market ‘artists’. The most powerful way to market sound is in fact by sight: music TV, magazines and newspapers break the big acts.
There are lots of people in the industry (predominantly called A&Rs) - though probably less than there were even comparatively recently - who spend their time cherry picking the best of the underground and transporting them to the mainstream, with a few changes on route of course. And so following on from Nihal’s point, people could perhaps theoretically argue that since dubstep is suddenly attracting some heat, it should think about undergoing a transformation.
But why? Sure a dubstep artist could get a PR, spend £10,000 on a video (like anyone in dubstep even has this kind of budget), buy in remixes (probably from an indie band these days lmfao) and enlist a token frontwoman blahdeblah etc. Lots of d&b artists have tried this (Shy *cough* FX … MC *cough*Tali, DJ *cough* SS), but mostly they flop and frankly… I don’t see the point. This really isn’t what dubstep is about. It’s underground music.
If I recall correctly, Simon Reynolds once remarked how much UK hip hop’s ‘undergroundist’ attitude was self-fulfilling. Since its ‘no sell out’ attitude views commercial success as failure, it is stunting its own growth, dooming itself to underachievement and permanent financial pressures. Since Simon lives in New York now, he’s probably acutely well positioned to compare this to the US ‘can-do’ attitude which has made the States’ music industry such a global success.
But even if dubstep adopted a ‘can-do’ attitude and made a bid for the mainstream, I’m willing to argue that it’s now harder to do this than ever before. Long gone are the times when LFO’s ‘LFO’ made the charts. Even the times circa 2000 where underground garage hits like ‘Body Groove’ could become mainstream hits seems distant. Not to say the charts are completely inaccessible (d&b’s Ram Record can break the top 40 with vinyl sales alone), but the gap between underground and mainstream is definitely widening, not least because the ‘charts’ are increasingly marginalised as a measure of success compared to other forms of media ie tabloid coverage. I mean, 2005’s ‘Body Groove’ is surely Bear Man’s ‘Drinking Bear’ or Jammer’s ‘Murkel Man’ – and no one’s touched these two with a barge pole. (And was ‘Pow/The Forward Riddim?’ a fluke or one off? Bobby Friction and Nihal say when they play it in places like Newcastle they get very funny looks).
This suggestion that the gap is confirmed by a major label A&R I corresponded with this week, (someone to whom I will always owe a debt re my early breaks in the music industry five years ago). As one of the perhaps 10-30 people in this country who actually decides what gets signed to a major label in this country he should know what’s currently possible. And his analysis seems to confirm my hunch. Why? Because older consumers now seem to want safer and safer acts (hello Dido! Greeting Jamie Cullum! Howdy James Blunt! …arrrgh!) and younger consumers are actually paying for less music, probably because they download it, share it via IM or just watch it on TV and mobiles. So even if an underground scene like dubstep wanted to sell itself … it couldn’t.
The response to this gap, I’m convinced, it to not watch it. Scenes should build their own media (blogs, fan sites, forums, email lists), start their own labels, run their own download shops and clubs. Which to be fair to dubstep, it already is, which is all fine-and-dandy, except of course no one can make a living. But separating money and music, well, if you look at it in certain criterion (ie aesthetically), that’s no bad thing.
Buzz hunting 10
· DJ Distance “My Demons/Temptation”
· Wiley and Scandalous ‘WD25’
· Jason H ‘Forever’
· Digital Mystikz ‘Intergalatic Dub’/‘Anti War Dub’/’Mighty Zulu Nation remix’ (sadly only heard this once at FWD).
· Kode 9 ‘9 Samurai’/‘Backward ft Spaceape’
· Burial ‘Shutter’/‘Distant Lights’
· Those unknown Hatcha dubs.
· Oris Jay ‘Mighty Wan’
· Appleblim’s ‘Cheat I’
· L Wiz ‘Habibi’
PS Roll Deep have revived Danny Weed and Cage's 'Creeper' inna 'Sidewinder' style. Trim opens it up straight. "Yo I'm oh-gutter/come through stinking of coco butter/the local nutter/Original mad-m-mad Nutta...". Are you stupid?
Friday, November 25, 2005
Screwed but not flopped
Curious about the origins of the hip hop phenomenon 'Screwed and chopped?'
Read a tribute to DJ Screw over at Houston So Real or download the Damage Control radio tribute to him.
Read a tribute to DJ Screw over at Houston So Real or download the Damage Control radio tribute to him.
Mixdown class with Mr Distance
DJ Distance has been very helpful recently helping me learn about the complex black art of mixdowns. And as we all know, its all about sharing the knowledge. So sit down, open your books and hush - mixdown class for beginners is in session.
Distance says: I'm running Cubase VST 5/32 and using Fostex PM1 Monitors, but most of the below will apply to any software-setup.
1. Get yourself a pair of decent monitors. Tannoy Reveals, Alessis MkII, or Fostex PM1's ( if you have a tight budget). If not then take a look at Dynaudio or Genelec.
I recommend getting monitors a soon as you know you want to take producing seriously, it's very hard to adapt after using Stereo speakers for a long time.
2. Mixdown at a low volume: I used to have it pumpin but this didn't do me any favours.
3. Eq-ing is the key! Give every element its own space.
4. Read up on frequencies, this makes a very big difference & obviously goes hand in hand with EQing.
5. Compress your drums and subbass only if you need to.
6. Before using compressors get some info on them, make sure your actually effecting the sound and not just raising the volume.
Check out the Sound on Sound tutorial.
7. It does make a difference in what order you apply your compression, EQ, delay etc. I usually compress first then EQ.
8. Try getting your head around grouping & bussing.
9. Panning certain sounds can open up the whole mix.
10. Listen to your finished mix in as many different places at you can, it might sound good on £300 pound monitors but if it sound heavy on 5 watt stereo system then you know it aint a bad mix.
Check this good book for all round mixing advice.
know your studio shit? got any more tips about mixdowns? add them in the comments sections...
Distance says: I'm running Cubase VST 5/32 and using Fostex PM1 Monitors, but most of the below will apply to any software-setup.
1. Get yourself a pair of decent monitors. Tannoy Reveals, Alessis MkII, or Fostex PM1's ( if you have a tight budget). If not then take a look at Dynaudio or Genelec.
I recommend getting monitors a soon as you know you want to take producing seriously, it's very hard to adapt after using Stereo speakers for a long time.
2. Mixdown at a low volume: I used to have it pumpin but this didn't do me any favours.
3. Eq-ing is the key! Give every element its own space.
4. Read up on frequencies, this makes a very big difference & obviously goes hand in hand with EQing.
5. Compress your drums and subbass only if you need to.
6. Before using compressors get some info on them, make sure your actually effecting the sound and not just raising the volume.
Check out the Sound on Sound tutorial.
7. It does make a difference in what order you apply your compression, EQ, delay etc. I usually compress first then EQ.
8. Try getting your head around grouping & bussing.
9. Panning certain sounds can open up the whole mix.
10. Listen to your finished mix in as many different places at you can, it might sound good on £300 pound monitors but if it sound heavy on 5 watt stereo system then you know it aint a bad mix.
Check this good book for all round mixing advice.
know your studio shit? got any more tips about mixdowns? add them in the comments sections...
Saturday, November 19, 2005
doubleK(ick)
Kid Kameleon drops an epic post about the recent Plasticman, Vex'd, Al Haca and Joe Nice gigs. He goes deep into his take on the scenes v outsiders issue, continuing the dialog we began during an amazing weekend spent in San Fran this summer. He even draws for wave/particle duality. Is deferring to quantum mechanics actually an answer? Just joshing Matt.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Pitchfork time again
Pitchfork time again with thoughts about the next steps for dubstep and an exlusive interview with Rinse FM management.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Big up Benny
Whoah, out of the blue comes an email from Benny Ill aka the mastermind behind Horsepower Production and responsible for a very large part of dubstep as we know it.
Why is that remarkable? Well one, for the four years I've known Ben he's never had a mobile let alone internet access. And two he's escaped Purley to live in NYC.
Seems like he's linked old dubstep friend Dinesh (aka Goldspot - who remembers the lush Vehicle records release? The first ever US dubstep 12") and become a studio engineer.
Now seeing as most of the amazing Horsepower back catalog was made on an antiquated set up - proof it's ears & skill not plug-ins and money you need - I can't imagine what Ben could sound like with some serious kit at his disposal.
I hope Ben doesn't mind me quoting his email. NYC, if you want to get some of the best ears in the business on your production side, read on...
"I am living here in Manhattan now and working as a studio engineer / producer. Why not check out my new studio in NYC, Pictures are on our site: www.sweetsoundsnyc.com If you know anyone who might be looking for studio time out here please get in contact special rates are available for dubsteppers! Our equipment is top of the line Protools 24 bit / fully air conditioned / full lounge w/ cable tv/
refreshments / roof garden available. You can contact me at ben@sweetsoundsnyc.com
respect
Benny ill aka Kid Deli aka Broke Legendz aka aka aka..."
BENNY ILL UPDATE:
"We just updated the studio here and we are now running Pro tools HD 3 (sick!) 192 hz 132 channels. We also got a lot of mad plug-ins for that shit, so expect to here some dope shit coming your way soon!
Anyone that might be interested about the studio, we are able to do remixes / production / mixdowns / editing / post-production and all that shit, so u.k. peeps can even send their shit out here, to be worked on and get that fat sound on their tracks !!! If you send me your tracks, ( seperate audio parts ) we can do a hot mixdown for your shit, make it sound dope, for the folks back home.
Respect
Benny ill"
Why is that remarkable? Well one, for the four years I've known Ben he's never had a mobile let alone internet access. And two he's escaped Purley to live in NYC.
Seems like he's linked old dubstep friend Dinesh (aka Goldspot - who remembers the lush Vehicle records release? The first ever US dubstep 12") and become a studio engineer.
Now seeing as most of the amazing Horsepower back catalog was made on an antiquated set up - proof it's ears & skill not plug-ins and money you need - I can't imagine what Ben could sound like with some serious kit at his disposal.
I hope Ben doesn't mind me quoting his email. NYC, if you want to get some of the best ears in the business on your production side, read on...
"I am living here in Manhattan now and working as a studio engineer / producer. Why not check out my new studio in NYC, Pictures are on our site: www.sweetsoundsnyc.com If you know anyone who might be looking for studio time out here please get in contact special rates are available for dubsteppers! Our equipment is top of the line Protools 24 bit / fully air conditioned / full lounge w/ cable tv/
refreshments / roof garden available. You can contact me at ben@sweetsoundsnyc.com
respect
Benny ill aka Kid Deli aka Broke Legendz aka aka aka..."
BENNY ILL UPDATE:
"We just updated the studio here and we are now running Pro tools HD 3 (sick!) 192 hz 132 channels. We also got a lot of mad plug-ins for that shit, so expect to here some dope shit coming your way soon!
Anyone that might be interested about the studio, we are able to do remixes / production / mixdowns / editing / post-production and all that shit, so u.k. peeps can even send their shit out here, to be worked on and get that fat sound on their tracks !!! If you send me your tracks, ( seperate audio parts ) we can do a hot mixdown for your shit, make it sound dope, for the folks back home.
Respect
Benny ill"
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
lockdown
KANO LONDON GIG – CANCELLED
Following tip offs London’s Scala has had to comply with the request of the Metropolitan Police to shut down the venue on Thursday 27th October and therefore cancel Kano’s sold out show.
METROPOLIS MUSIC STATEMENT
We have been instructed by the police that we cannot go ahead with the Kano concert at the Scala on Thursday 27th October.
The police have acquired intelligence that unsavoury characters intended to cause trouble at the concert. This intelligence was received from Operation Trident.
The police have stated that this is no reflection on Kano and have had no problems at previous events that he has performed at in London
There are no plans to reschedule the show at this time and customers are advised to obtain a refund at point of purchase.
Metropolis Music
Statement from Kano:
“I have performed in London practically my whole career and there have never been any problems. It’s where I started out and for me there’s no better place to perform. It’s a shame that on my first ever UK tour I am unable to play to my home town. I am sorry for my fans that the show couldn’t happen this time round. I’ll be back.”
I've written about this before, with most profile in the NME, but it's the case that ever since the shooting outside the Romeo Birthday Bash at Astoria in 2001 there's been a rumour that the Metropolitan Police have a garage blacklist, used to pre-emptively shut down garage events in Westminster, depriving grime MCs of a vital revenue stream.
In fact this is probably a factor why proto-grime was forced out of clubs and onto radio, and why - freed from the dancefloor - it was able to evolve so experimentally.
But pre-emptive club closing in an entire borough? Surely that's descrimination not just against a major-backed MOBO winner but a whole social group.
Following tip offs London’s Scala has had to comply with the request of the Metropolitan Police to shut down the venue on Thursday 27th October and therefore cancel Kano’s sold out show.
METROPOLIS MUSIC STATEMENT
We have been instructed by the police that we cannot go ahead with the Kano concert at the Scala on Thursday 27th October.
The police have acquired intelligence that unsavoury characters intended to cause trouble at the concert. This intelligence was received from Operation Trident.
The police have stated that this is no reflection on Kano and have had no problems at previous events that he has performed at in London
There are no plans to reschedule the show at this time and customers are advised to obtain a refund at point of purchase.
Metropolis Music
Statement from Kano:
“I have performed in London practically my whole career and there have never been any problems. It’s where I started out and for me there’s no better place to perform. It’s a shame that on my first ever UK tour I am unable to play to my home town. I am sorry for my fans that the show couldn’t happen this time round. I’ll be back.”
I've written about this before, with most profile in the NME, but it's the case that ever since the shooting outside the Romeo Birthday Bash at Astoria in 2001 there's been a rumour that the Metropolitan Police have a garage blacklist, used to pre-emptively shut down garage events in Westminster, depriving grime MCs of a vital revenue stream.
In fact this is probably a factor why proto-grime was forced out of clubs and onto radio, and why - freed from the dancefloor - it was able to evolve so experimentally.
But pre-emptive club closing in an entire borough? Surely that's descrimination not just against a major-backed MOBO winner but a whole social group.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
word is born
There's something odd in the garage air, i can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's just personal over-saturation, but it feels like we might be in a mini lull.
i'm not the only one who feels this. quite independently, i've heard the same from three other of the dubstep headz. but, to use a maths analogy, if you're at the bottom of the curve, the rate of change is the greatest.
grime's not sitting 100% right - but that a whole nother post. dubstep, after a massive renaissance this year, feels like it's paused for a second, though i'm tipping Oris Jay's 'Mighty Wan' as a potential breakthrough record.
Perhaps this lull is no bad thing. Man can not live on Youngsta and Roll Deep Rinse sets alone, - believe me I've tried.
speaking from strictly personal experience, enthusiasm can never nor should never be faked. to this end i've been trying to actively expand my daily music consumption boundaries.
a lot of the usual dance suspects - d&b, broken beat, breaks, techno, house etc - leave me cold. or cross. or feeling like i'm going backwards.
I've been checking Silverstar and Robbo Ranks' shows on 1Xtra to up my dancehall knowledge, though only Sizzla and Vibes Cartel consistently do it for me. if anyone else knows any incredible dancehall shows, lemme know.
i've also made an effort to learn about bhangra, a genre with vast history i know virtually nothing about.
Lata Mangeshkar and Pannal al Ghosh are two classical asian artists I've been checking recently. And I've long since loved the Asian influence in dubstep. Skream's Indian remix. Horsepower's 'Sholay'. Kode 9's 'Fukkaz/Subkon'. All stone cold classics. So bhangra made sense.
To find out about a scene you know nothing about - when your asian mates don’t answer their persys - you need an entry point. The BBC Asian Network provided that for me, particularly the hilariously entitled Markie Mark.
Within a few weeks he recommended 'Word is Born' by Specialist 'n' Tru-Skool as a classic LP, even though it was only one year old.
Contained inside this £8 CD (stuff your £9 1-sided grime 12"s, now that's value!), are some hooks so deadly i nearly crashed the car on the way to Forward>> this week - and that was 30 feet from my house.
The last CD that did that to me was the first Logan Sama free mix CD last year. How i took that right-angle corner on a dark country road at 70 mph and keep the right side of a tree i don't know.
'Word is Born' slams in with some heavy riddims, laden with the energy and hype so missing from garage sometimes. 'Sanehvaal Chounk' should be a number one record.
'Nashia Tho Dhoor' takes the same riff as the recent Nas hit 'Get Down' and freestyles in some mad asian dialect over it. It's infectious in any language.
Littered throughout the album are patches of melodic genius intermingled with, to these ears at least, glorious dissonance, just like Kano and Wonder's 'Lately' but more severely bi-polar.
But the album's backbone is built from hip hop and bhangra, asian and afro-american vibes. How sad then, in the very week i discover this CD, where the cultures blend so seemlessly, things should turn so ugly in the real world between the british black and asian communities.
i'm not the only one who feels this. quite independently, i've heard the same from three other of the dubstep headz. but, to use a maths analogy, if you're at the bottom of the curve, the rate of change is the greatest.
grime's not sitting 100% right - but that a whole nother post. dubstep, after a massive renaissance this year, feels like it's paused for a second, though i'm tipping Oris Jay's 'Mighty Wan' as a potential breakthrough record.
Perhaps this lull is no bad thing. Man can not live on Youngsta and Roll Deep Rinse sets alone, - believe me I've tried.
speaking from strictly personal experience, enthusiasm can never nor should never be faked. to this end i've been trying to actively expand my daily music consumption boundaries.
a lot of the usual dance suspects - d&b, broken beat, breaks, techno, house etc - leave me cold. or cross. or feeling like i'm going backwards.
I've been checking Silverstar and Robbo Ranks' shows on 1Xtra to up my dancehall knowledge, though only Sizzla and Vibes Cartel consistently do it for me. if anyone else knows any incredible dancehall shows, lemme know.
i've also made an effort to learn about bhangra, a genre with vast history i know virtually nothing about.
Lata Mangeshkar and Pannal al Ghosh are two classical asian artists I've been checking recently. And I've long since loved the Asian influence in dubstep. Skream's Indian remix. Horsepower's 'Sholay'. Kode 9's 'Fukkaz/Subkon'. All stone cold classics. So bhangra made sense.
To find out about a scene you know nothing about - when your asian mates don’t answer their persys - you need an entry point. The BBC Asian Network provided that for me, particularly the hilariously entitled Markie Mark.
Within a few weeks he recommended 'Word is Born' by Specialist 'n' Tru-Skool as a classic LP, even though it was only one year old.
Contained inside this £8 CD (stuff your £9 1-sided grime 12"s, now that's value!), are some hooks so deadly i nearly crashed the car on the way to Forward>> this week - and that was 30 feet from my house.
The last CD that did that to me was the first Logan Sama free mix CD last year. How i took that right-angle corner on a dark country road at 70 mph and keep the right side of a tree i don't know.
'Word is Born' slams in with some heavy riddims, laden with the energy and hype so missing from garage sometimes. 'Sanehvaal Chounk' should be a number one record.
'Nashia Tho Dhoor' takes the same riff as the recent Nas hit 'Get Down' and freestyles in some mad asian dialect over it. It's infectious in any language.
Littered throughout the album are patches of melodic genius intermingled with, to these ears at least, glorious dissonance, just like Kano and Wonder's 'Lately' but more severely bi-polar.
But the album's backbone is built from hip hop and bhangra, asian and afro-american vibes. How sad then, in the very week i discover this CD, where the cultures blend so seemlessly, things should turn so ugly in the real world between the british black and asian communities.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
BAM007?
random voicemail on me persy this week. "bonjour Mr Clark..." It could only be from the infamous Skream then. the message reports that finally, and out of the blue, Big Apple 007, Skream's lost 12" has been pressed and is available in Mixing Records (Big Apple Records the shop, as was). No sign of it on the website so we'll have to take Skream's word for it. Not his best 12" but one of his most sought after (hold tight Deep Thought. your time).
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Friday, September 23, 2005
Thursday, September 22, 2005
inside LDN
“… passively coexisting ethnic and religious communities”
Interesting to see The Commission for Racial Equality’s head Trevor Phillips speaking out against the threat of ghettos. Is it me, or is Phillips the only person in the UK capable of making such warning with such impact? Because when Wiley says the same on pirate radio, no one with the power to affect change listens.
London’s a frustrating and mesmerising city, perhaps the only truly multicultural city in the UK. Thousands of different subcultures co-exist, piled on top, around, through, over and in-between each other. For many years architects and town planners have attempted to mix not segregate, hence why there are council estates just off wealthy areas like Upper Street or the heart of Dulwich.
Yet despite the geographical proximity and intense population density (over 7 million people in 50 square miles), in many ways total cultural isolation is a reality. It’s an endlessly confounding phenomenon. How can one group walk past another incalculable numbers of times a year, and gather no sense of the other’s values?
Canary Wharf and the City are east London’s wealthy business districts, two of the financial centres of the world and places where on a daily basis, sums of money are created, destroyed, flow in and flow out in mind numbing proportions. Commuters in their droves match that flow, washing in from Kent, Surrey, west London, north London, Hertfordshire and beyond.
Canary Wharf, one of only two real ‘sky scraper’ style developments in London, towers over some of the poorest parts of London. You can see it on the cover of Target’s Aim High 2 DVD, just minutes from Roll Deep’s ‘Whilehouse’ base. You can see it from Langden Park school playing fields in Bow, where as a pupil, Dizzee Rascal learnt Cubase while excluded from most other lessons. But just because Canary Wharf is visible from Bow, doesn’t mean Bow is visible from Canary Wharf.
If you asked any of the commuters coming in on those trains each morning about urban culture, you’d get blank looks. Physical proximity means nothing. Values, aspirations, opportunities, slang – there’s no exchange between these two groups. Two groups who essentially live on top of each other, yet are utterly oblivious to each other. Communities - upbringing and background based not location based - are in fact vast webs of reinforcing values, each physically overlaid on each other, yet seemingly seldom touching.
Lots of people grew up to, and still listen to, indie. If you go to those gigs, ignoring the obvious issues with musical formulism and tediously safe rituals, even in this city they are tediously monocultural. A thin slice of people of the same class and race, each reinforcing their overwhelming similarities.
Personally I think this is why I love urban music so much. Through it, a dialog between different cultures is at least possible, because it provides a shared language to bridge the divide. It creates some dialog and awareness, no matter how small.
No one 'on road' uses the word ‘politics’ in the Westminster sense. In grime if you want to hear ‘the news,’ you listen to Roll Deep on Rinse, surely grime’s Today Program. Trevor Phillips hasn’t made it to Rinse yet, instead he was on the other Today Program again this morning. His best point seemed to be that people need to focus on similarities not differences. I’d agree, though in this city, people need to focus on understanding those who are different to them a bit more than those who are similar too.
Interesting to see The Commission for Racial Equality’s head Trevor Phillips speaking out against the threat of ghettos. Is it me, or is Phillips the only person in the UK capable of making such warning with such impact? Because when Wiley says the same on pirate radio, no one with the power to affect change listens.
London’s a frustrating and mesmerising city, perhaps the only truly multicultural city in the UK. Thousands of different subcultures co-exist, piled on top, around, through, over and in-between each other. For many years architects and town planners have attempted to mix not segregate, hence why there are council estates just off wealthy areas like Upper Street or the heart of Dulwich.
Yet despite the geographical proximity and intense population density (over 7 million people in 50 square miles), in many ways total cultural isolation is a reality. It’s an endlessly confounding phenomenon. How can one group walk past another incalculable numbers of times a year, and gather no sense of the other’s values?
Canary Wharf and the City are east London’s wealthy business districts, two of the financial centres of the world and places where on a daily basis, sums of money are created, destroyed, flow in and flow out in mind numbing proportions. Commuters in their droves match that flow, washing in from Kent, Surrey, west London, north London, Hertfordshire and beyond.
Canary Wharf, one of only two real ‘sky scraper’ style developments in London, towers over some of the poorest parts of London. You can see it on the cover of Target’s Aim High 2 DVD, just minutes from Roll Deep’s ‘Whilehouse’ base. You can see it from Langden Park school playing fields in Bow, where as a pupil, Dizzee Rascal learnt Cubase while excluded from most other lessons. But just because Canary Wharf is visible from Bow, doesn’t mean Bow is visible from Canary Wharf.
If you asked any of the commuters coming in on those trains each morning about urban culture, you’d get blank looks. Physical proximity means nothing. Values, aspirations, opportunities, slang – there’s no exchange between these two groups. Two groups who essentially live on top of each other, yet are utterly oblivious to each other. Communities - upbringing and background based not location based - are in fact vast webs of reinforcing values, each physically overlaid on each other, yet seemingly seldom touching.
Lots of people grew up to, and still listen to, indie. If you go to those gigs, ignoring the obvious issues with musical formulism and tediously safe rituals, even in this city they are tediously monocultural. A thin slice of people of the same class and race, each reinforcing their overwhelming similarities.
Personally I think this is why I love urban music so much. Through it, a dialog between different cultures is at least possible, because it provides a shared language to bridge the divide. It creates some dialog and awareness, no matter how small.
No one 'on road' uses the word ‘politics’ in the Westminster sense. In grime if you want to hear ‘the news,’ you listen to Roll Deep on Rinse, surely grime’s Today Program. Trevor Phillips hasn’t made it to Rinse yet, instead he was on the other Today Program again this morning. His best point seemed to be that people need to focus on similarities not differences. I’d agree, though in this city, people need to focus on understanding those who are different to them a bit more than those who are similar too.
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