Wow, someones already posting grime videos!
I'm thinking about making them the subject of my research assignment actually, although I'm not such in what capacity...
Simon, the videos you posted really show how things have changed for Roll Deep... I think the changes grime videos have gone through show not just a change in budgets but at the same time a change in the goals of the music...most of the earlier grime videos I have seen have focused on reflecting the musics lyrical content and highlighting the urban lifestyles of the MC's... just straight street videos basically, but you can see stuff beginning to change. I think that "Shake a Leg," video you posted really shows Roll Deep trying to broaden the aesthetic possibilities of their music to try and get more people interested in what they are doing.
Another video that does this is the new lethal b video, it really looks like he's attempting to break away from the traditional constraints of grime subject matter and his video certainly succeeds in creating a strong albeit ambiguous visual aesthetic...
In saying that the video does seem to be strongly modeled on the American rap video... mostly just a projection of the rappers ego/image but I suppose that's what MCing returns to again and again no matter what the genre. And with no other available model other than rap of how grime can become more popular yet at the same time maintain its 'credibility' I would certainly like to see some crews or MCs break this mold, maybe ruff sqwad when/if they get that kind of budget.
It is interesting seeing grime as a new genre attempting to assert it's identity through music videos. It would also be interesting to see what an instrumental grime video would look like, I've found electronic music in general seems to have a big problem with asserting itself in video form, far too often falling back on crap animation.
Grime's cousin Dubstep also faces this problems if it is too spread. Although I think dubstep is less concerned about mainstream popularity. As instrumental music it certainly provides an interesting space for experimentation.
I produce dubstep and have made a video for one of my tracks, it's called "Laser Gun Dub." PLUPLUGPLUGPLUG.
oh and more grime video links would be cool...
- Linus Norman
2 comments:
haha your video is the shiit! I totally agree with you on electronic intsros clips. they are so regularly terrible to watch if you like the music attached to them. I was watching that roni size video with mc fearless, or dynamite maybe, getting bass booms fired at him and hes kinda terminator style. It was hard not to cringe. I had never seen the video but i definitely thought that was a big track when it came out and to see how they chose to represent (bad pun) D&B visually was embarrassing. I cant fully deny that i thought dandb had that kinda futuristic edge only when you see it as bad unselfconscious scifi its a shocker. concord dawn and salmonella dub have both had a few 3d animation nightmares.
Your clip kind of avoids all of that though by actively referencing old sci fi and the being obscure enough to be interesting. It fits real well with the kind of dub step ethos which because of how it is produced definitely contains a healthy amount of nerdcore. wiley does a rap about how bad his G4 lap top is and all the plugins hes got that no one else does. its a way less ridiculous thing for bedroom (me)and real life gangstas to spend their money on than pimp cups etc
i think as well your video nicely links musical imagination with the imagination of science fiction. Its a real good fit. id like to know if you had the movie in mind when your wrote the track or vice versa or whatever.
another ting. my mate has a grime dubstep and ukg show on george he played a locally produced dubstep thing by pots last Wednesday. if your keen ill get him to play your track and give the video a plug.
Look forward to the dubstep and grime essays. I'm a fan. Pinch, Kode9, Digital Mystikz (at Galatos soon!), Loefah, and a whole bunch of steppers from across the globe. I play quite a lot of it on my Base FM show Saturdays 4-6 pm. Those early Roni Size videos from the New Forms era do look quite funny now (e.g. Brown Paper Bag) but I guess futurism will always look kinda corny in retrospective. I do like the retrofuturism of so much contemporary music--much of it around the early 80s minimal sounds of electro, dancehall dub and even Detroit techno. Your video really amps up the shock and awe of 50s horror which seems so apt in today's paranoid times of security and surveillance and terrorism.
Post a Comment