MySpace has taught me a lot of things and enriched my life in many ways. I mean, before MySpace I never realised that Lost in Translation was the best movie ever made or that George Lucas was the best director ever to step foot in this part of the galaxy. Without MySpace I wouldn't have been given the pleasure of learning that 65 per cent of the people in the world would like to meet Notorious B.I.G., John Lennon, Martin Luther King and Bob Dylan.
Also thanks to MySpace (and the small detail of some audio ripping software) I have now got hold of Ghetto's "Sing For Me" (which I wrote about a few weeks back) and am putting it up here for your listening pleasure. Your ears can thank me later.
Ghetto, "Sing for Me"
My American friend said something the other day which got me thinking. He said, "I like that new grime video with the green screen background and all the girls." It didn't really get me thinking at all but it made me want to point out that almost every single grime video follows this same cheap, simple formula, which usually involves the following:
A budget of 50p (or less)
A slew of almost attractive, noticeably unenthusiastic girls
An appearance from Tim Westwood and/or DJ Cameo
Some cutaways to friends of the MC looking excited that they will be on TV but still trying to play it cool, unsuccessfully
All of this rambling is basically a drawn-out way of introducing some new grime videos that have appeared on YouTube this week.
First up is "From Day" by Double S. My same American pal noted how surprisingly focused this song is, and he's right. That's what grime has been lacking: focus. It's taken about eight years to realise but I have finally cracked where grime has been going wrong. This song is the solution. Everyone should copy this song. The video is, erm, not so focused unfortunately, but it was never going to be—it's a grime video, after all.
Chipmunk, "Muhammad Ali"
Chipmunk seems to be all over TV right now, and for good reason. I really can't wait till his voice breaks properly, though. I can appreciate he's a good MC, but listening to him is the aural equivalent of having a ferret trying to crawl up your trouser leg. It's quite novel at first but after a while you'd rather not want to be dealing with it.
Little Dee, "Star in the Making"
A lot of grime MCs don't really bother with choruses. Some people have said that's the reason why grime doesn't do well commercially—everyone enjoys a good chorus, right? Little Dee has overcompensated for this and repeats the same line a good 50 times in this song. Still, this is one of the better recent outputs in grime.
Phew! After that intense literary and visual workout I think we need some music to finish things up here. Below you can click to download a new studio set with Logan Sama and Durrty Goodz, which is part of the inventively titled iGrime podcast series.
Download: Logan Sama & Durrty Goodz, "iGrime Podcast Episode One"
Tracklist:
Rapid - License
Maniac - Headshot
DVA - Kill All A Dem (VIP Mix)
Footsie - Soundboy Killer
Silencer - World War 4
Crazy Bandit - Get Down
Davinche - End Of Time
Bless Beats - Cream
Dexplicit - Big Picture
Dexplicit - Wakadoosa VIP
J Sweet - Concrete
Joker - Holly Brook Park
DJ Oddz - Champion VIP