The Significance of Grime in Black British Culture

Tejeda 1 Camille Tejeda The Significance of Grime in Black British Culture In today’s global society, cities and urban metropolitan areas are hubs of diversity. People from entirely different backgrounds and nationalities living in these areas all grow to adopt similar traits and habits, creating cities that are as unified in culture as they are vastly different. Busy streets and herd mentalities are responsible for forming shared personalities among inhabitants that are unique to each city. Looming grey clouds and stressful workdays, for instance, influence the dismissive personality indicative of a typical Londoner. When the workday comes to a close, pubs in London are seen overflowing with patrons enjoying and sharing drinks with their friends. Bars and clubs late at night can be heard pumping the rhythms of electronic, hip hop, and grime music into the veins of London’s population; the heartbeat of the young British city. Though diverse in individual heritage, London remains unified in culture—particularly, the engagement in and consumption of Black British music and street culture. As Black British hip hop and grime music, along with the culture associated with it, has begun to infiltrate the mainstream, the historical value of the art form has been diminished into pure entertainment by several consumers. However, it remains increasingly important to understand the significance of Black British music as a tactic in ensuring cultural survival. More than simply an outlet for art and entertainment, the cultural form has roots in the dense, complex history of the African diaspora in both Britain and the United States. Thus, there is value in analyzing the creation and expansion of hip hop and grime music, coupled with the emerging Tejeda 2 lifestyle and customs associated with it, as a way of keeping Black British history alive. This essay will accordingly aim to explore the historical value of Black British music as a platform for remembrance and unification among Black British migrant communities. In order to properly analyze the value of modern Black British music, one must first attempt to understand the role played by migration in the creation of a single Black British culture. For years, Britain actively participated in the African slave trade, dispersing many millions of Africans throughout British-owned plantations in the West Indies (National Archives). The inhumane nature of these plantations forced a tangible divide between African slaves and their British commanders, splitting the community into “black” and “white” from its very conception. The black slaves working in the sweltering Caribbean heat quickly formed their own communities as a means of survival, and the cultural norms varied from island to island. Differing Caribbean identities thus emerged during this time and strictly African identities among the community members were quickly stifled. While this is a vast diminution of the intricacies of black culture in the West Indies during slavery, an explanation, however brief, of slavery in the West Indies is a crucial piece in understanding how a Black British communal sentiment came to be. Following the end of slavery, a mass Afro-Caribbean migration hit the streets of London. Migrants from different slave communities scattered throughout the Caribbean quickly found community among each other. Despite cultural differences, a single overwhelming similarity was impossible to avoid: their evident “blackness.” As often observed among migrant communities, Afro-Caribbean migrants were faced with the challenge of finding their place among the established British culture in London. In her book Nomadic Identities: The Performance of Citizenship, May Joseph asserts that the identities Tejeda 3 assumed by nomadic communities stem from the inherent desire for newcomers to feel a sense of belonging and citizenship in foreign scenarios. She defines citizenship to be larger than its legal definition, often referring to citizenship as “cultural citizenship” in order to enforce the idea that “notions of citizenship are infused with public images,… informal customary practice,… accrued historical memory and material culture,… and lessons learned from past rejections" (Joseph 5). Among diasporic communities particularly, the performance of citizenship relies heavily on learned and created cultural practices. Current perceptions of Black British cultural citizenship are deeply influenced by music and the culture of nightlife associated with it, but are not limited to these specific examples. Through solely focusing on the art forms that have emerged from Black British communities, however, one may be able to speculate on the extent to which these art forms serve to create a protective barrier around these marginalized populations. As Joseph explains, “in many postcolonial states, alternative art movements have privileged a retro-nationalist move toward indigenization in the search for native roots in disrupted pre-colonial cultural forms” (142). Perhaps, following this line of thought, the emergence of Black British music as its own form is way for Black British people to reclaim their African identity and connect to their native roots. The creation of a music and culture unique to only Black British communities is a reflection of the suffering endured by the African diaspora for centuries. The erasure of personal identity imposed onto African slave communities has influenced “the need to recover and validate black culture and [reincarnate] the sense of being and belonging which had been erased from it by slavery" (Gilroy 297). Following years of being perceived as a bestial species and being treated and regarded as hardly human, a desire to be seen as human has led to the creation Tejeda 4 of a black identity reliant on both assimilation to a previously established culture and the exploration of a uniquely black experience. This applies in large to both Black British and African American communities. Though vastly different, both are united through a commonly shared history and thus work harmoniously in the creation and expansion of black culture. This is seen in many instances, though the particular focus here is on the music that emerged as a product of this need to “recover and validate black culture.” In relation to black music, particularly, the link between African American and Black British people is undeniable among different genres of black music, most recently exhibited in the form of hip hop. This black art form originating in the United States has achieved global recognition and begun several movements in music across the world. Near the time of its creation, hip hop music was claimed and altered by black British artists interested in expressing themselves in a way that they saw as both exclusively black and exclusively British. As Andy Wood argues in his essay “‘Original London Style’: London Posse and the Birth of British Hip Hop,” the British take on American hip hop has succeeded in creating a sound that is uniquely British while maintaining links to American hip hop style, connecting the African diaspora across continents in a powerful way. Reinforcing beliefs priorly addressed, he stresses the importance of hip hop as “a key resource for a new generation of black British youths who were seeking a sense of identity and representation” (Wood 176). As the artistic, highly malleable form of American hip hop made its way to Britain, enthusiasts began to see the art form as a potential outlet. During the 1980s, hip hop began to extend itself to many different forms, including but not limited to British hip hop. London Posse, credited for bringing British hip hop to New York, emerged in 1987 and several other artists followed shortly. Wood explains Tejeda 5 that “rather than operating as a ‘borrowed culture,’ British hip hop developed its own voice” (184), but the first wave of British hip hop in the mainstream was short lived as it became overshadowed by other emerging forms of art and discredited by those who believed that hip hop was an exclusively African American form. However, the influence of reggae in London Posse’s music prevailed and became a uniquely British sound. This went on to influence other variations of Black British hip hop such as jungle, garage, and grime. Of the British hip hop variations, grime, in particular, has withstood the test of time. In the American mainstream hip hop community, it still lacks recognition, but is beginning to be taken seriously as a form of hip hop. Perhaps it is worth asking what has made this particular genre so widely recognized and indicative of Black British music compared to other previous forms. The music form, which emerged following the untimely end of the era of garage music around 2002, is credited to rapper Wiley from the east of London. The gritty, harsh sound of the music and its aggressive and occasionally foolish lyrics were not taken seriously at the beginning. However, grime music, marked by rapid beats (130-140 bpm), became about a culture rather than simply a music form very quickly in its inception. For instance, to gain a spot at the table of grime artists, rappers had to come up with creative lyrics and battle other established artists for recognition. These rappers would videotape “Lord of the Mics,” which was a series of grime rap battles, and ask viewers and attendees to judge the rappers based on lyrical quality, rhythmic ability, and overall savagery. As people began to gravitate towards this unique scene and grime began to gain a larger following, those who attempted to pull it out from the underground met fervent opposition. Certain clubs in London banned DJs from playing the music and authorities did not take well to the art form or the culture surrounded by it (Duggins, Tejeda 6 Keens, and Fraser). Regardless, the grime prevailed and the sound has gained recognition as a uniquely London sound and the only known music belonging specifically and exclusively to black British artists.

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