‘The future of grime’ seems to have become a frequent topic of debate this year. For one thing, producers like Mr. Mitch and Yamaneko are releasing ambitious album-length statements that seem to have more in common with ambient and electronica than with ‘Pulse X’. Some have written about a ‘gentrification’ of grime, which seems well off the mark given that this is just one facet of the genre. Still, it’s an interesting trend to take note of. Secondly, it’s no longer just an insular London sound – grime has permeated the music of new producers as far flung as Houston and Sydney, and more importantly, those shifts are being reflected back. A globalisation of influences is apparent in tonight’s Just Jam programme, which features performers from all over the world; from Chicago to Syria, from Norway to Lisbon, from New Jersey to London. Despite being held at London’s Barbican, a huge concert hall more used to orchestras than grime MCs, the show definitely leans towards the rowdier end of the spectrum. Thankfully, the product hasn’t been diluted, and the artists seem thoroughly unfazed by the novel setting.
“The underground brought overground, for one night only”, as
the programme notes would have it. But it almost wasn’t to be, after the
original event, originally scheduled for February this year, was cancelled
after the police put heavy pressure on the venue. Enough has been written
recently about Form 696 and the Metropolitan Police’s relationship with black
and Asian music for me not to have to go into detail – this excellent documentary presented by JME tells you everything you need to know. Thankfully,
the event was finally allowed to go ahead with an even better lineup – here’s
what went down.
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As the lights fade, Novelist
strolls on stage right to the opening beats of ‘Take Time’, his first
collaboration with Mumdance and
quite possibly the song of 2014. The
guy is all of seventeen, and yet he commands this huge auditorium with the
relaxed cockiness of an MC ten years into his career. Needless to say he tears
through ‘Take Time’ before Mumdance then drops ‘Shook’, the pair’s forthcoming track
on XL Records, very much in the same vein. Finishing up with two great
pace-shifting freestyles, the set is over all too quickly. Novelist comes into
this show off the back of being nominated on the BBC Sound of 2015 longlist,
alongside fellow upcoming grime artist Stormzy – just one of many important
steps forward for the scene this year. Whether Nov can find the fame that’s
eluded so many grime artists unwilling to compromise on their sound remains to
be seen, but his talent certainly cannot be doubted.
Drippin, a young
producer from Norway, plays next. His set sticks closely to the militarised
grime beats of his Silver Cloak EP
for Lit City Trax. Clips from some classical hack ‘n’ slash film play in the
background, the flashing rows of spears and shields acting as the perfect accompaniment
to the aggressive soundtrack. Drippin’s reach is broader than grime though, drawing
on the industrial Night Slugs/Fade to Mind template, and feeding in some
hip-hop towards the end of his excellent set, one of a couple tonight that
really make the Barbican feel like a club, however briefly.
The next performance is a real treat – grime star D Double E onstage with legendary jungle
MC General Levy, and garage producer
Sticky on the decks. Levy throws out
copies of his new mixtape and gets the whole room on their feet for ‘Pull Up’,
his new tune with Sticky. His delivery is still lightning fast as he bounds
around the stage. Everyone stays dancing while D Double E runs through ‘Bad to
the Bone’ (his version of S-X’s ‘Wooo Riddim’) and ‘Streetfighter Riddim’,
before the pair team up for Levy’s 1994 classic ‘Incredible’, which gets
perhaps the biggest audience reaction of the whole night. Big ups.
Performing alongside visuals that look like the missing link
between Second Life and Minecraft, Maboku
is one of a number of DJs (see also: Marfox, anyone on the Princípe label) popularising the style known as ‘kuduro’. Mixed in
with house and grime influences, it’s a sound that reflects his background –
Angola by way of Lisbon. And like so much else tonight, it hits hard. A great set, and a name to watch
out for.
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After a short interval (an interval? At a grime
show? This truly is next level) we kick off tonight’s second half with a synth
jam from Alexis Taylor and Brian DeGraw
(of Hot Chip and Gang Gang Dance respectively). I close my eyes as the vibe
shifts from birds chattering in the rainforest canopy to sticks clattering
around a tribal fire. It is, to be quite honest, pretty tedious given the
energy of the first half. Not even Taylor’s giant wooden ampersand necklace can
save proceedings, although the set picks up some momentum towards the end when
he picks up the mic and coos over a more dance-friendly 4x4 beat. Someone
kindly points out to me that this is a version of a track called ‘(F.U.T.D.)
Time of Waste’ from DeGraw’s recent solo album. Despite being a fan of both
bands, I won’t be rushing to check it out on this evidence.
UNiiQU3 brings
the bass-heavy Jersey Club sound, with edits of some of 2014’s biggest hip-hop
bangers – ‘Stoner’, ‘We Dem Boyz’, and ‘Hella Hoes’ all in the mix – but out of
all tonight’s sets, it feels the least well-suited. Despite her enthusiastic
presence on the mic, willing the crowd on, UNiiQU3’s set never quite translates
to the Barbican space in the way that, say, Drippin’s atmospheric music seems
almost to be tracing the contours of the architecture. On the other hand
though, fuck that – this is pure fun, and the visuals are great too, hopping
between YouTube detritus and lava-lamp Ceefax shapes.
Chicago DJ Traxman
has brought along Litebulb, a
talented footwork dancer who takes centre stage and wows us with his
convulsions. “Take ‘em to the Chi!”,
Traxman yells into the mic, his face beaming with pride in his city’s output.
The frenetic juke rhythms cascading out of the speakers are undercut with a
tinge of sadness – it’s still only eight months since dance music lost a legend
in DJ Rashad. Traxman is one of many DJs carrying on his legacy, and we get
plenty of Rashad cuts tonight – ‘Double Cup’, ‘We on 1’ and ‘Brighter Dayz’ are
all warmly received, as is Traxman’s own ‘Blow Your Whistle’. This is the first
time I’ve ever seen a footwork set with a live dancer, and it feels very
special – although in Chicago, of course, this is simply the norm, the two
having evolved together. Here’s hoping the sound that Rashad and Traxman worked
so hard to shape continues to get twisted in interesting ways as it travels
around the globe.
JME. Big Narstie. Preditah. Two incredible grime MCs + one shining new producer = the
ingredients for the best set of the night. And that’s without even mentioning Skepta, the inevitable special guest.
Between them, this lot have clocked up some serious tunes, evident from the
moment Big Narstie kicks things off with ‘Don’t Fuck Up the Base’. JME follows
up with ‘Serious’ and ‘That’s Not Me’, halfway through which Skepta runs out
for his verse and the crowd absolutely loses its shit. It feels like a real
moment, a victory lap for the
breakout grime track of 2014. Finishing up with ‘It Ain’t Safe’ and ‘Too Many
Man’, Skepta and Big Narstie throw out t-shirts while JME descends into the
crowd and raps into some guy’s phone. I can’t stop grinning.
Omar Souleyman’s
celebratory set is the perfect way to end the night. The Syrian wedding singer
may be an unlikely star, but his ‘dabke’ sound ups the tempo and keeps the
party going. Replete in khaki robes, a red and white keffiyeh and his trademark
sunglasses, Souleyman walks the rim of the stage performing tracks from his Four
Tet-produced album Wenu Wenu. His
presence is mesmerising, his face unreadable. He shakes the hands of those in
the front row, hands out miniature Syrian flags. The music easily transcends
the language barrier, and draws a line under tonight’s firmly international
character.
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Hats off to Just Jam, then, for programming such an eclectic
and exciting bill, and for overcoming the event’s original cancellation –
tonight was a huge success on a pretty ambitious level, and everyone involved
should be very proud. Proof that the underground can flourish when given a
bigger platform.
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