How has East London benefited the British music scene?

With Grime creeping back around with DJs like DJ AG, outside of Kings cross station most nights providing a platform for artists to show their talent and to be streamed to his thousands of followers on TikTok, and the new generation of Mcs doing everything they can to bring Grime back, it’s worth remembering where the genre came from. East London, the birthplace of grime music. But what is grime? Where in East London did it start? Who started it? And how has this shaped the current British rap scene?

So, what is Grime music?

Grime is ‘a style of music influenced by rap, ragga, etc., and characterized by lyrics and imagery that reference the dark side of urban life.’

Grime music is different to other genres of music, firstly because of the fast tempo of the beats which is 140bpm and because it is the genre that shaped street rap in Britain. Grime gave opportunities to so many young artists back in the early 2000s and it created history for British music, specifically Black British music. In his book, Inner City Pressure, Dan Hancox stated that “Grime is black music, even if it’s not always made by black people.” This is because Grime took a lot of inspiration from Reggae. It involves Mcs rapping about the struggles they go through as young black individuals in London city, in the early 2000s and what they went through growing up on council estates in the big city, living next door to the start of major gentrification.

For example, in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics the government spent £9.3 billion this includes both government spending and the other costs related. However, this money did not benefit Stratford and instead displaced its residents and upped the rent prices all over Stratford as they built more and more high-rise flats that the current residents could not afford.

Grime’s fusion of garage, hip-hop, and dancehall reflected the working-class, multicultural environment of East London, where diverse sounds mixed with the rapid technological advancements of the time. East London provided the perfect environment for the birth of grime—especially with its youth culture, DIY ethos, and underground raves that were central to grime’s early success. The genre has gone on to influence mainstream music globally, with artists like Stormzy (South London), JME (North London), Skepta (North London) and others becoming household names. The area remains a hub for grime artists and continues to push the boundaries of British rap and hip-hop.

Grime is called grime because grime songs are praised as mucky/duty/dirty/muddy just like the areas in that grime is created. “I swear to you it ain’t all teacups, red telephone boxes and Buckingham palace, I’m gonna show you it’s gritty out here” Dizzee Rascal on Graftin’

These grime mcs rap about what they see and what they have been raised around. “Most grime tunes are made in a grimy council estate” (Mc Nasty ‘Inner city pressure’ p16). These artists want to ‘rep’ the area they are from, they want to prove the fact that you still can be someone even if you come from a grimy council estate.

Another great educational piece to watch would be the show ‘Evolution of Black British music’ on Netflix, which is a 5-part series that breaks down every genre that started and shaped black British music, but specifically the grime episode really goes into depth about the genre and shows you many great Mc’s going back-to-back on the mic having rap battles.

Where in East London did grime start and who started it?

Grime started in Bow E3 in East London, and it was Wiley who gave us Grime. So many Grime artists came from East London, some names are, Wiley, Kano, Dizzee Rascal, Crazy Titch, Tinchy Stryder, Tempa T, Ruff Sqwad, D Double E I could really keep going but that is just some of the names that came out of East Londons Grime scene.

How gentrification effected East London and the music scene

East London has undergone plenty of gentrification over the past two decades, particularly in areas like Shoreditch and Hackney. It has changed the character of the local music scene.

Independent venues and music spaces have been under threat from rising rents, yet the area remains resilient, with new creative spaces continually emerging (Beau Beaus café E1 7AW). But also, artists are angry that their families, the ones that built up London with their strong communities, small, owned business and so on are being pushed out of London to house the rich that let their money sit in their banks or in stocks without contributing to the city. However, gentrification is not only an issue in East London, areas like Peckham and Croydon (South London) have been dealing with this issue too.

The changing landscape has also led to tensions between the new wave of affluent residents and the original working-class community that once defined East London’s musical identity. Despite these challenges, East London’s music scene continues to thrive.

The reason why grime Mcs/artists use grimy flats in their music videos is because this is where they grew up and where they come from, and they are proud of this. “The music being made by these young people reflects what you see when you wake up in the morning he continued. ‘Most people that’s what they’re seeing: a lot of grime in the area, a lot of grimy things happening.’”

So how did East London shape the current British rap scene we know today?

I decided to ask @Nazfromnewham who is a journalist from Newham and has a very broad knowledge on East London, this question as she grew up here and knows East London very well. She replied with “East London has a plethora of talented artists, and their impact is incredible. With Artists like Kano and Wiley pioneering grime, afroswing artists like NSG and Yxng Bane, trap artists like Lancey Foux and Baseman and rappers like J Hus and Potter Payper – for any music lover there is greatness that can be found in East London”.

Like Naz mentioned there is a lot of great artists that came out of East London. Without Kojo Funds, Yxng Bane, and Nsg, afroswing would have never been what it was back in 2016-2018. To this day people reminisce about the afroswing era of British rap. At the time of Afro Swing, I was 13-15 and even I remember the impact these artists had on me and at the time I lived in a small city in Norfolk called Norwich, every party I went to played Kojo funds-My 9ine, Yxng Bane- Rihanna and Nsg- Yo darlin. This shows the impact these artists from Custom House and Hackney had on people even in Norfolk.

I personally think that without East London, the scene would have been so different and most definitely not in a positive way. Grime and Afroswing both belong to East London and from Grime came the genre Drill which was born in South London, and it took over in 2017-2020. Drill music is still about today but I don’t think it’s as popular as it used to be just because simply, I don’t think people want to listen to such aggressive beats and lyrics that talk about assaulting your enemies. However, in the last couple of years people have been reminiscing about early grime. Birmingham and Manchester had their own thing going on, but it was not what it was like in the early days. A lot of the new generation have been recreating the old school grime energy and I think it is the perfect time to bring back the genre that is all about the struggles of growing up in deprived areas, considering all the gentrification that has been happening for over a decade now.

In conclusion East London has had a profound and lasting impact on the current British music scene. From grime and dubstep to indie rock and experimental genres, the area’s diversity, creativity, and history of counterculture have made it a cultural epicentre for musical innovation. Even as the area continues to change, its legacy in shaping contemporary music, both in the UK and abroad, is undeniable. The fusion of local influences with global sounds ensures that East London will continue to be a driving force in music for years to come and I am more than excited to see what continues to come out of the East side of the city!