2016 is a year dominated by youth culture influenced by grime sounds. But has it fallen into the hands of big time industries? Grime is a genre that has its roots in your best friend’s garage, the ultimate DIY job, beginning with a set of decks, or more likely these days, a laptop. A secretive and underground art, produced by artists who originate from hard hitting English streets, seeking solace through creating energetic garage sounds. Not only does grime act as a form of escapism from impoverished realities, but it provides a distraction for artists who often have resorted to violence and crime.

As the genre has progressed through the noughties, the popularity behind grime increased. More and more people would not only enjoy the 8-bit synth sounds, but also relate to the lyrics spouting from the likes of Dizzee Rascal and DJ Slimzee. Despite the growing fanbase, it was still very much an underbelly performance. Many grime MCs would promote their tracks through pirate radio stations like Passion FM and Rinse AM.  Grime wasn’t about who was representing the most brands, or who had the most followers. It was about the quality of music and the poetic lyrics that exposed the bitter truth of growing up on a council estate. An insight into how an artist lived and breathed growing up on the streets of East London.

But as we descend into a year ruled by indie music and fused fashion tribes, grime has lost it’s roots, even in the alleyways of London, grime is nowhere to be seen. Clubs have been taken over by money melodies, with motives other than providing society with hard hitting jungle and bass. The uprise of artists such as Stormzy, Lady Leshurr and Tinchy Stryder hasproduced many hits that could be classified as dance tracks. Queen’s Speech by Lady Leshurr has become the British equivalent of PSY’s Gangnam Style. Music that is easy to listen too, but provides no lyrical quality other than confronting the lack of people brushing their teeth.

Even if grime has now gained the acknowledgment of the music industry, it has been swiftly met by another rival force, the MET Police. Similar to the punk movement of the 70s, the MET have persistently kept pressure on numerous grime events, shutting venues down merely because the crowd had grown too strong. The task force behind the closure of events such as Just Jam have been branded as the 696. Police will implement the form 696 which is used as a risk assessment that deems an event safe or not. Due to 696, events that are used to promote grime have been subject to cancellations after failure of passing  the rigorous process. The issue has grown so large that numerous artists  and MCs have resorted to drastically changing genre or even packing up the decks completely. This raises another question: is grime the new punk?

Both punk and grime have dealt with the notorious onslaught of police violence, with many retaliating through rioting, such as the infamous Punk Wars of 1979. Classed as a reject sound, merely because neither invited the Queen for a sing song. The subculture that surrounds both genres also retains similar characteristics, such as using fashion and clothing as a platform of identifying what music you’re into, swapping the Everton football shirt for Adidas trainers and safety pins. Even lyrically, both art forms project a sense of struggle, dealing with reality and fighting the system, like a fish swimming upriver.

Ultimately, grime and punk operate on the same wavelength, melodically different, but characteristically indifferent. But, will grime remain relevant, it’s still very much underground, but with Skepta at the helm, surely it will reign supreme.