- When its first mastoid beats started booming their way out of east London council estates in the early noughties, it sounded like alien music. The lyrics were in a language that most of us didn’t understand.
- It’s about community. Before a small-ish crew of Londoners struggling on the fringes of society decided to get together and talk about what their life was like, a huge section of London (and British) life was just glossed over by the mainstream. Now, a previously mute generation of Londoners has a voice.
- During the early 2000s, something distinctly British was born—grime. The UK’s homegrown response to Hip Hop. A darker, unrelenting sound with a 140bpm backbone. It always packed a punch. And though the two music scenes shared some similarities, grime was born from reggae, dance-hall and garage.
- Grime is not garage Grime is not jungle Grime is not hip-hop and Grime is not ragga. Grime is a mix between all of these with strong, hard hitting lyrics. It's the inner city music scene of London. And is also a lot to do with representing the place you live or have grown up in.
Feared, derided, misunderstood and still resolutely un-hugged, the utilitarian, hugely popular sportswear garment, the hoodie, has staged a comeback against a backdrop of pyromania and rioting. Worn by millions every day, a generation's default wardrobe choice was transformed into an instant criminal cloak for London's looting youth. It may be more newsworthy now, but the hoodie and the folk devil it represents have been with us for a long time. As for the hoodie, its mass adoption as an everyday item began with the parallel popularity of hip-hop imported from the US in the 1980s, where rappers modelled themselves as athletes in a bid to emulate the power and success of world-beating sports stars. The corporate balance sheet of Adidas would doubtless be a lot poorer without the patronage of rappers Run-DMC, or reggae star Bob Marley. Hip-hop later turned to gang culture for its stylistic cues, and it is probably impossible to say whether gangsters modelled themselves on hip...
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