Welcome to our new series – No Rest For The Wicked – here, we will post new and old exciting grime-related goodies (music, youtubery, et cetera) mostly on Sundays and Fridays.  First of all, let’s get something clear – grime is not dead. It is in a far more resilient position than most of us might think.  Some of us stopped paying attention in 2006/7, our attention shifted elsewhere, and leading grime artists contributed to the demotivation and undermining of an otherwise hungry and enthusiastic audience (fans and critics.)  Well, the audience became detached and drifted elsewhere. Some taking the funky train, some narrowing or broadening their listening/soundscapes, concentrating on other music.  We stopped listening listening, but the music keeps on… last year we had excellent/nearly classic albums from Durtty Goodz, Kano, some classic tapes from Jammer and Trim.

More recently, there’s a new generation of grime MC’s coming up – young and hungry fire spittas flooding the virtual grime market with freestyle videos, mixtapes, and one-off tracks you’ll find in forums and on mixshows.  Along with the new batch of MC’s are some recently created and re-structured sites to document the creativity and passion of the younger generation/the new jacks, some of whom seem to be refreshingly unconcerned with making bland, repetitive funky, club music, and songs with dances, and they seemed to be embracing that raw energy and that interesting space once occupied by the pioneers and luminaries, some of whom are now admittedly/increasingly/mostly making “commercial grime.” On these sites, along with new, up and coming MC’s, contents from the more established artists are also abundant.

Tim Westwood has been an ardent supporter of fresh talents, and of grime in general, and showcasing new music on his two shows on Radio 1 and 1Xtra – check his YouTube channel for loads of exclusive freestyles and performances. The young producer Bless Beats is the midst of all this, and he’s not crumbling at all under the pressure. He mostly makes beats for established “commerical grime” artists (radio-friendly grime artists who are hitting the charts with funky/danceable grime tunes) but also maintains links to fresh, young artists looking to create raw, innovative grime.  He gets shouts and respect from most of the young’ns not just because of his success, but more so because of his age. The situation is quite interesting, the position Bless holds at the moment…  the pressure to create more chart topping numbers and embrace success creating R&B/pop songs, or start making beats for artist who might never make it pass Rinse.fm, Westwood, or their street and internet albums/fame.  He’s very good at what he does, so he just might keep working that line for years to come, as you can hear on the following track, which will appear on his up coming album –

[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/Bless_Beats_ft_Wretch32__Donaeo___Double_S_-_Let_It_Out_CDQ.mp3]
Bless Beats – Let It Out feat. Donaeo, Wretch 32, and Double S

Some new video freestyles from young, upcoming grime artists –

[youtube width=”525″ height=”455″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igQubgSFnew[/youtube]Voltage

[youtube width=”525″ height=”455″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDHhkJqh8j8[/youtube]Macksta and Axe

(more…)