Grime is a popular genre of electronic dance music that emerged in London in the early 2000s. It draws influence from dance-hall and hip-hop.
But artists are claiming it is difficult for emerging acts to get venues in which to perform. Grime artist Shaodow told City investigates how a venue cancelled on him “on the day” of the gig.
He claims this is because they realised he made hip-hop and grime.
“I’ve been out promoting my music in Oxford,” he said, “and I had the police come up to me and handcuffed me because somebody told them I was selling illegal DVDs.”
Police form required audience “ethnicity”
Shaodow is not the only one facing these hurdles. Makeda Bennett-Amparbeng, a music researcher with music marketing company British Underground, tried hosting a grime event in Croydon.
“I basically started out by going to a local venue. I said to them, can I put on open Mike Nights here? He said to me, for some reason urban music just doesn’t work inside this borough, you have to fill out a form 696.”
Form 696 was an assessment form introduced by the Met Police in 2005. It required venue owners and licencees to provide contact details, private addresses of DJs and artists, as well as the ethnicity of groups likely to attend the event.
“I took that information to British underground”, added Ms Bennett-Amparbeng. “From there, a task force was put together. Eventually we managed to scrap form 696.”
Shunning grime
Mykaell Riley, Director for the Black Music Research Unit at the University of Westminster, led the 2017 ‘State of Play: Grime Report‘.
“Why is grime not positioned differently in the media?” he asked. “Why is it not positioned differently in the charts?
“I’m asking all these questions and the response was ‘well, it’s not a legitimate genre.'”
After much resistance, Mr Riley struck the right note to get the instruments needed for the report. The report showed that grime streams on Spotify more than doubled in a year, from 89 million in 2016, to 206 million in 2017. Stormzy was the most streamed grime artist.
A British Phonography Industry report showed album sales for grime in the same period grew faster than the total UK music market. Physical album sales increased by 109 per cent, while the total UK Market saw an 8 per cent decline. Digital Album sales for grime increased by 51 per cent, while the total UK market decreased by 27 per cent.
Mr Riley noted that “the interesting thing about the grime story is that they had to become successful outside of the industry because they will not let him through the front door.”
‘Black music synonymous with crime’
100 Club owner Jeff Horton looks at photos in the historic venue. Credit: City News
Grime’s struggle for acceptance is not unique. Jeff Horton, from The 100 club, remembers how “black music, like reggae music, was considered not right and proper in the West End” in the 1970s.
“There were a lot of people that were very unhappy about the fact that we would bring in reggae into mainstream London.”
Mr Riley added that “when we look at Reggae in the ’70s, Reggae was associated with drugs. You jump forward to the ’90s and it was [associated] with jungle and ‘drum and bass’. Black music is synonymous with crime – that’s the association they’re making.”
Are grime events prone to violence?
Shaodow believes other music events are just as prone to violence.
“Let’s talk about the violence of metal events,”, he said. “Are we going to assume that just because people start fighting in the mosh pit, every metal event should be shut down because there’s violence?
“Are we going to assume that every Arianna Grande event is going to result in a terrorist attack? There are violent incidences at grime events, yes, but not every grime event.”
The City of London and Met Police were both approached for comments, but both declined.
Lord Tim Clement-Jones MP, was instrumental in the passage of the live music act 2012: “You shouldn’t suddenly start descending on a venue because they happen to have a band playing grind music or the venue shouldn’t be fearful that their license is going to be taken away. This is a home grown genre grime and we should be supporting it.”
A Live Music report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports committee in March noted that police, licensing authorities and some club owners are stifling one of the UK’s most exciting creative exports. It argued that policymakers and local authorities can and should support the sector.
Shaodow suggests that we “start with getting the key policy makers down to these events and seeing what it is about, rather than just assuming.”
Submitted Article
Headline
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Standfirst
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HeadlineCity Investigates: A crime to be grime
Short HeadlineDiscrimination is stifling grime, claim artists
StandfirstArtists call for policymakers to support London's 'exciting export'
Grime is a popular genre of electronic dance music that emerged in London in the early 2000s. It draws influence from dance-hall and hip-hop.
But artists are claiming it is difficult for emerging acts to get venues in which to perform. Grime artist Shaodow told City investigates how a venue cancelled on him “on the day” of the gig.
He claims this is because they realised he made hip-hop and grime.
“I’ve been out promoting my music in Oxford,” he said, “and I had the police come up to me and handcuffed me because somebody told them I was selling illegal DVDs.”
Police form required audience “ethnicity”
Shaodow is not the only one facing these hurdles. Makeda Bennett-Amparbeng, a music researcher with music marketing company British Underground, tried hosting a grime event in Croydon.
“I basically started out by going to a local venue. I said to them, can I put on open Mike Nights here? He said to me, for some reason urban music just doesn’t work inside this borough, you have to fill out a form 696.”
Form 696 was an assessment form introduced by the Met Police in 2005. It required venue owners and licencees to provide contact details, private addresses of DJs and artists, as well as the ethnicity of groups likely to attend the event.
“I took that information to British underground”, added Ms Bennett-Amparbeng. “From there, a task force was put together. Eventually we managed to scrap form 696.”
Shunning grime
Mykaell Riley, Director for the Black Music Research Unit at the University of Westminster, led the 2017 ‘State of Play: Grime Report‘.
“Why is grime not positioned differently in the media?” he asked. “Why is it not positioned differently in the charts?
“I’m asking all these questions and the response was ‘well, it’s not a legitimate genre.'”
After much resistance, Mr Riley struck the right note to get the instruments needed for the report. The report showed that grime streams on Spotify more than doubled in a year, from 89 million in 2016, to 206 million in 2017. Stormzy was the most streamed grime artist.
A British Phonography Industry report showed album sales for grime in the same period grew faster than the total UK music market. Physical album sales increased by 109 per cent, while the total UK Market saw an 8 per cent decline. Digital Album sales for grime increased by 51 per cent, while the total UK market decreased by 27 per cent.
Mr Riley noted that “the interesting thing about the grime story is that they had to become successful outside of the industry because they will not let him through the front door.”
‘Black music synonymous with crime’
100 Club owner Jeff Horton looks at photos in the historic venue. Credit: City News
Grime’s struggle for acceptance is not unique. Jeff Horton, from The 100 club, remembers how “black music, like reggae music, was considered not right and proper in the West End” in the 1970s.
“There were a lot of people that were very unhappy about the fact that we would bring in reggae into mainstream London.”
Mr Riley added that “when we look at Reggae in the ’70s, Reggae was associated with drugs. You jump forward to the ’90s and it was [associated] with jungle and ‘drum and bass’. Black music is synonymous with crime – that’s the association they’re making.”
Are grime events prone to violence?
Shaodow believes other music events are just as prone to violence.
“Let’s talk about the violence of metal events,”, he said. “Are we going to assume that just because people start fighting in the mosh pit, every metal event should be shut down because there’s violence?
“Are we going to assume that every Arianna Grande event is going to result in a terrorist attack? There are violent incidences at grime events, yes, but not every grime event.”
The City of London and Met Police were both approached for comments, but both declined.
Lord Tim Clement-Jones MP, was instrumental in the passage of the live music act 2012: “You shouldn’t suddenly start descending on a venue because they happen to have a band playing grind music or the venue shouldn’t be fearful that their license is going to be taken away. This is a home grown genre grime and we should be supporting it.”
A Live Music report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports committee in March noted that police, licensing authorities and some club owners are stifling one of the UK’s most exciting creative exports. It argued that policymakers and local authorities can and should support the sector.
Shaodow suggests that we “start with getting the key policy makers down to these events and seeing what it is about, rather than just assuming.”
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