Still Runnin'
Kano - Get Set
Trimbal - They Give An Inch
You remember when you first heard about grime last year, or maybe the year before? It was like the stuff that Mike Skinner kid, the Streets, was doing but definitely harder and definitely tougher sounding. Or maybe you first heard it when Dizzy Rascal stepped in with that "Fix Up, Look Sharp" track? Or maybe it was Wiley, telling you his music ain't "garage" (pr. gare-idge), that he was an "eski boy" and all that Treadin' On Thin Ice stuff.
Maybe the first time you heard that grime stuff was on the Run The Road compilation last year - the only domestically-released grime compilation to come out in the US - it was a good record, presenting a decent overview of the scene as it was in early 2005 (as it was first released in the UK on 679 Recordings in January, then in March by Vice Recordings).
Well, now here we are, about a year later, and we've got volume two of Run... and it is straight dope.
There are songs on it that sound like slightly modified American hip-hop, but only a couple of them. The rest of the comp is just UK fire, as spit by Kano, Lady Sov, DaVinChe, Sway, Plan B, Crazy Tich, Klashnekoff, and Trim (as produced by Skinner), the artist on the second track there, among others. On Vol. 2, the beats are better produced, but still dirty and gutter as all hell. I guess really, the Run... series is really just showing the evolution of a scene, as captured by a handful of artists - I do know that "grime" (in quotes) was supposed to be the next big thing here, but it is still hard to say how big it will ever be in the US. Whether any of these artists show up on MTV or not, well, that's hard to say - I hope that they do see the recognition they deserve, as some of these cats really are talented MCs and producers - but there's nothing wrong with being underground-popular.
If you want to get a taste for what I'm talking about here, beyond these two tracks, you can stream the entire album from the Vice site, here - if you're feeing it, I would suggest you pick up a copy, as it is solid through the whole record. Buy from amazon.com, Insound, or download the album from iTunes.
Booyaa!