grime in 2016

i haven't quite been sold on novelist as the Saviour of Grime to date but "street politician" is prob the best thing from him yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtqF9bRoU6A

ILM's Rolling Grime Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist
^ will be updating in early February

novelist heavily channeling oshea jackson there

novelist's alright but a bit precocious to me. not quite chipmunk, but close.

who produced that? its amazing.

he's trying p hard not to be like chipmunk!

feel like he veered a bit too close to dizzee imitation last year and i still think mumdance's production on "1 sec" was annoyingly deliberately awkward but "endz" and this are good

I think he did it himself?
https://soundcloud.com/novelist/novelist-david-cameron-riddim

the version of 1 sec on the fabric mix was the best thing he and mumdance have done i think. but im not a huge fan. he sounds too young to me. i know im meant to say its good that a grime mc is writing something politicised etc etc, but idk, it sort of lacks gravitas for me. if that brings me closer to cameron than the lewisham mandem, then so be it!

novelist is weird though.... at first i thought he was in that jme vein, but now he seems to be trying pretty hard to make sure no one thinks hes clean cut, or too 'smart' or whatever, and that he can go as hard (ie violent) as any other mc. which is all fine, but um, idk, he is called novelist, im still expecting some lupe fiasco/kendrick kind of album from him.

He strikes me as a bit witless and not terribly exciting as an MC, like there are dozens of better guys out there. Suspect most of the buzz is down to his having collaborated with the 'right' people, plus being a stable enough character for labels to get behind. And yeah, calling yourself Novelist is a neat shortcut to having people immediately bestowing Importance upon you.

Like he sounds alright on that Mumdance Fabric mix but Riko completely destroys him on the following track. Speaking of which, Riko seems to have found a lucrative enough sideline as ongoing realness totem for DJ Martian-friendly arrivistes but, I dunno, has it really come to this?

it has.

also see: flowdan, who had some total howlers on the last bug album. flowdan seems to be the person you now go to when you need a wisened, rootsy, fount-of-street-wisdom box ticked. im all for mcs getting a second shot, but its a bit weird cos that was never what was good about him iirc.

"he's trying p hard not to be like chipmunk!"

its just that similar vibe of precocious cutesiness and then also trying to sound humble at the same time, which doesnt totally convince. i find his persona a little inconsistent tbh.

dark track with a twisting menacing bass line

Darq E Freaker - Spin A Man
https://soundcloud.com/darqefreaker/spin-a-man

via FADER: http://www.thefader.com/2016/01/06/darq-e-freaker-d-double-e-spin-a-man

FACT - 11 grime producers to watch in 2016
http://www.factmag.com/2016/01/12/grime-producers-to-watch-rocks-tarquin/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gnTbj6WFps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nir9Z4x1i1Q

Only 45 seconds on youtube :(

Actually 'Street Politician' is A LOT better than anything else I've heard from Novelist. Feel a bit more fondly towards him now I know he was Deputy Young Mayor of Lewisham as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79ZP946eNVQ

Bangerrr

This is so feelgood:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GtVUkyzvhU

Levelz crew from Manchester do things beyond grime but the focus on MCs makes it qualify I think. Mixtape is free here: https://levelzmcr.bandcamp.com/album/lvl-11

Found them after caning the Sam Binga album last year, which featured some of the same MCs. Mortified that there's already been a FACTmag feature on them from a year ago: http://www.factmag.com/2015/02/06/wu-tang-meets-the-happy-mondays-the-levelz-crew-raise-it-up-for-manchester/

(Nothing like the Happy Mondays thankfully)

love that elf kid single

the new skepta single with someone from the bottom of the asap barrel is really bad :(

Playlist live and updated:

ILM's Rolling Grime 2016 Spotify Playlist

I've been going through this mix series and it's uniformly great:
https://soundcloud.com/truants/sets/functions-of-the-now

this will be on the Rinse FM playlist and could well make the ilm top 77 tracks at the end of the year:

Last Japan ft. AJ Tracey - Ascend
https://soundcloud.com/platform/last-japan-ascend-feat-aj-tracey-boiler-room-debuts

reminds me of German Whip, fast vocal flow and art-grime.

due mid-May on Coyote Records

Last Japan x AJ Tracey Hit Hard On 'Ascend'
http://www.clashmusic.com/news/last-japan-x-aj-tracey-hit-hard-on-ascend
Last Japan sits on the 1s and 2s while AJ Tracey steps into the booth on 'Ascend'. It's a fantastic return, packed with blistering energy, wit, and a no-holds-barred attitude.

"1s and 2s" really doesn't mean anything now does it?

Like the flows, the production is decent but a bit triite -- those scales, arpeggios, whatever you call them, kind of push it over the top. Still, much better than the production on that 3 Wheel Ups track upthread which is mediocre at best.

@ sam jax sax jam: Any of those mixes you'd particularly recommend? It seems like the kind of thing that's a good concept, and I know Truants has solid values for curation, but in reality it would probably frustrate me to listen to all of it cause I'm too picky. Currently checking out the MESH mix tho, so far so good.

the new skepta single with someone from the bottom of the asap barrel is really bad :(

I revised my expectations for the album several notches downwards after hearing that.

new no lay is probably her most focused track since the "unorthadox daughter" days

https://soundcloud.com/officialnolay/nolay-x-kid-d-gotta-love-it-explicit

New Skepta video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOhxPhqzMwg&feature=youtu.be

"new no lay is probably her most focused track since the "unorthadox daughter" days"

She nearly died in a car accident last week but judging by her Twitter feed she's getting through it.

New Stormzy video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7xA8Hzuyac

skepta leaked

chase & status's ridiculous lurching d&b single is the best thing novelist's ever been on don't @ me

Chase and Status made a few decent grime tunes back in the day if I remember right

And that Stormzy track is wicked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz7md3fyO9g

Double S & JME - Style and Flows. Liking this one a lot.

Kinda feel like Boy Better Know headlining Wireless was yet another tipping point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFUw1jrPbcA

Would love to hear Terror Danjah make some more tracks like this

Flava D's barnstorming Fabriclive mix has Stush doing Dollar Sign over Juicy Patty and it's a proper highlight.

these are great -

http://www.factmag.com/2016/07/30/10-accidental-grime-tracks-wolverine-proto-grime/

i love that flava d mix.

xpost - yeah, i think terror maybe needs to leave the hyperdub crowd alone for a bit.

Dylan Beale's Tri-fusion is so incredible. its like he invented mr slash, odds n eastwood and musical mobb 20 years before they even came out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jfn-U6EGzU

I didn't notice b/c I usually find him pretty annoying but the last couple from Ghetts have been really great. This is from January:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWH_w9SrMk8

First time I link her, Nandos sweet
£9.95, I swipe, then eat
I one-two rap, she don't give hat
Thiago Silva, man block, then skeet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oba9M3DaL68

↑↑↑ love that

Playlist is updated here though there's not a lot to choose from (at least as far as spotify is concerned in the states)... more suggestions from the current year?

ILM's Rolling Grime Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist

This might be my 2016 favourite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnhaKnkjzJU

Actually no wait it might be this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bexGVCzl1TM

Sonic BOOM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFWXzJApXpk

Though 10/10 was poor, but the above two are great! Looking forward to the album now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa1glDxNvfk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksnw9hB-cCc

Was watching top of the pops with my parents when this was on. They thought Skepta was rubbish :(

playlist is finalized for the year.

ILM's Rolling Grime Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist