so who's got 679's new grime comp - run the road?

Perhaps it sounds tinny and bassless because you're listening to a burn of a CD-R?

maybe its cos im coming from a hip hop angle, but a LOT of these tracks sound like theyre heavily HEAVILY influenced by dirty south and timbaland production.

SO WHY *ISNT* GRIME 'UK HIP HOP'?

THIS COMP, FROM WHAT IVE HEARD, AND IVE HEARD MOST OF IT, ITS NOT LIKE ALL THE THINGS I HEARD ON THE FIRST DIZZEE ALBUM OR WILEY ALBUM, THIS STUFF IS BASICALLY HIP HOP AND HIP HOP FANS WILL TREAT IT AS SUCH. THEY WILL PROBABLY HEAR IT AND THINK THEYRE JUST TRYING TO DO/BE HIP HOP. IM NOT HEARING MUCH THATS THAT OPPOSITE OR DIFFERENT TO MAKE THE AVERAGE PERSON ON THE STREET SAY 'YEAH THAT DONT SOUND LIKE HIP HOP'.

IM ALSO SAD TO HEAR YOU AGREEING WITH ME THAT ITS BASICALLY HIP HOP THOUGH. WAS HOPING THE SCENE WASNT LIKE THAT AS A WHOLE AND THAT SOMEONE COULD POINT ME TO SOME RECENT TUNES THAT WERENT LIKE THAT.

i think i need some better context. like an idea of what else has been ruling grime this year, so far to put these songs into the frame theyve come from.

Actually that's one of the more notable thing about the grime's "maturation" - the way the grooves have mostly moved from one bar loops (with a switch to a different loop every eight bars) to two or four bar loops. It's a move towards songfulness that maybe doesn't sit well with people who prefer the endless torrent (cf. flow) of earlier grime.

"What Have You Done" is another example of a typical grime tempo track that sounds much slower than it is.

btw, tim, have you heard wiley's remix of ludacris' roll out? i was trying to spot how hes switched the rhythm and the juggling of the snares compared to the original (apart from the flurry of claps being used) to make it seem more 'grime' but it was starting to do my head in so i gave up.

DVD have you heard Danny Weed's "Rat Race"? (and his mix of Jamelia's "Bout" for that matter)? I think you might like them - they've got a madcap quality to them that's reminiscent of the Wiley of "Eskimo" and "Ice Rink". Both are from last year.

1. Terror Danjah feat. Hyper, Bruza, D Double E and Hyper 'c*ck Back V1.2'
2. Riko and Target 'Chosen One'
3. Roll Deep 'Let It Out'
4. Kano 'Ps and Qs'
5. Jammer feat. Wiley, D Double E, Kano and Goodz 'Destruction VIP'
6. Dizzee Rascal ft D Double E 'Give U More'
7. No Lay 'Unorthadox Daughter'
8. Shystie feat. Ronnie Redz, Kano and Bruza 'One Wish' Terror Danjah Remix
9. Goodz 'Gimmie Dat'
10. Demon feat. Bruza and Big-E-D 'Da Rush'
11. Tinchy Stryder 'Move'
12. Lady Sovereign 'Cha Ching (Cheque 1, 2 Remix)'
13. Ears 'Happy Dayz'
14. The Streets feat. Kano, Donae'o, Lady Sovereign and Tinchy Stryder 'Fit But You Know It'
15. Wonder feat. Plan B 'Cap Back'
16. Kano feat. Demon and Wiley 'Mic Fight'

I think Sharkey Major is my sentimental favourite but, yeah, Dizzee, Kano & Sharkey are the top three.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/reviews/story/0,13875,1347746,00.html

Various Artists
Run The Road
(679)

Grime is the ferocious sound of the London Pirates; MCs competing over computerized beats, struggling for rank and recognition. It was born out of East London's 'badlands' of Bow, Limehouse, and Hackney. The scene's biggest success so far is Dizzee Rascal; most of the MCs here represent the next wave of talent.

Grime is not UK hip hop; it's the UK's fledgling urban equivalent. U.K hip-hop has always had to compare itself to the U.S scene, whilst grime has emerged through drum and bass, 2 step and dancehall.

Unlike the polished studio productions of the US, the music sounds cheap and home made:  jagged, futuristic and off-key, with fantastic hooks. It sounds like something new.

Nothing comes as rough as Jammer's "Destruction Vip" or Tinchy Strider's 8-bit riddim on "Move". You wont' see bling bling videos or big pimpin either. The MCs here are hungry as hell. 'I'm brutal and British' shouts Bruiser on the gangsta anthem "Cock Back", over a disturbingly literal soundtrack of guns being cocked and fired.

On "Unorthodox Daughter" Nolay promises, 'Soundboy, I can have your guts for garters!' A phrase Kanye West can't ever have heard, never mind said.

There is some respite from the anger. On "Chosen One" by Riko and Target, Riko reasons, 'Stay calm, dont switch, use composure, blood.' Elsewhere we have Kano's smooth flow on "P's and Q's" and Durty Goodz' double speed performance on "Gimme Dat". The comp also features contributions from the scenes more well known players: Dizzee, Wiley and Shystie.

This is the first major label document of the grime scene, but, by the time it hits the street, it will be out of date. Listen to the pirates if you want to hear what's coming next. That said, as a primer on some of the best tracks of 2004, and an introduction to the most important British musical subculture of the noughties, Run The Road is nothing short of essential.

Reviewer: Marcus Scott

Like This? Try These:
Wiley, 'Thin Ice'
Dizzee Rascal, 'Showtime'
Shystie, 'Diamond In The Dirt'

 Read other people's comments then Tell us what you think:

Yeah great reveiw mate you obviously know nothing about this scene but then you probably live in the 'badlands' of west london.
Jim, Hackney

i think dat diss cds jus heavy its has all da latest beats and tunes its off da hook!!
lea - lewsey farm

What exactly in that review would suggest they Marcus Scott knows 'nothing about this scene'? There's hardly a subjective opinion in there?
BB, The Shire

It is cool
leopoldo 3206 rosario

I hate those kind of pronouncements. Like I care! Mine just showed up from U.K. amazon, and it's good! I already knew the Dizzee, Wiley, Streets and Lady Sov tracks, but the rest of it's solid too. I don't understand all the upthread stuff about whether or not this is "U.K. hip-hop" -- of course it is, for chrissake. It sounds different than American hip-hop, no shit, because it has some different influences (as if there's not a huge range of sounds and beats and influences in American hip-hop too). I don't get this obsession with trying to somehow say it's not hip-hop. But anyway, this is good stuff.

So is this out, properly, then? With the same tracklisting including the Terror Danjah tracks and everything?

but a couple of the tracks make references to 'eski' and 'sub-lo(w)'. don't know what this proves though 8)

here in 'the badlands of west london' i'm not entirely convinced by it all, lyrically rather than musically, i think. that black-ops compilation on the front of that magazine a few months ago was better.

Dizzee aside, I'm not as yet that interested in grime lyrically - part of the joy of the music is being able to forget about what's being said and just ride an MC's flow. Ch'Ching, Ps and Qs and the Doogz track are the best examples of this. It'd be a shame if post-Dizzee grime albums get bogged down in blunt Big Statements.

as for artists naming their own scene, i cant think of any artists that like any labels whatsoever. they hate being lumped in as any one genre. anyway, grime MCs are all too divided about what theyd like to call the music/scene to decide on a mere one label.

As a comp, it continues to grow on me. Not sure about the Plan B and Ears tracks - and maybe 'Move' - but I love everything else.

(several xposts)

but sticking to the 'this is not what i wanted' line of thinking - something i can help but think is a little patronising on the listener/consumers part as much as its perhaps pompous on the artists' side - why do i give a shit about roll deep making poppy R&B-rap when id rather hear them do something more exciting and unheard of? i dont even care for let it out, much as grime scenesters seem to adore it, it just sounds like any old boring hip hop (chicago house-type piano aside).

The main effect of Run The Road on me is that it's made me even more impatient to hear the Lady Sovereign album. Let's hope she doesn't fall into the Shystie/Estelle trap and pad it out with boring wannabe-Beyonce balladzzzz.

OTM.

as for lady sov, her new single has that ridiculous phoned in from jail verse from riko which totally put me off.

I'm not really in the habit of slating things because they're morally repugnant so I can't answer that. But everything about 'Cock Back', to me, sounds out to raise a smile: the skipping tempo, Bruza's "you'll be left in ruins/ for your wrong-doings", all that stuff about burying people in the woods... it's black humour, innit?

What do we mean when we say "really good instrumental grime stuff"? Is there much real grime that sounds better instrumental than with an MC? I know there are times when it's nice to have a break in the middle of a run of MCs to allow the music to do its thing but, this is more as a breather than anything. "Ground Zero" certainly sounds much better as an MC backing track than on its own (I'm not thinking of "Doorway" so much here, although I like that too; "Ground Zero" appears to be a mainstay of Roll Deep radio sets). Certainly there are tracks which sound ace as instrumentals ("Vice Versa", "Weed Man" and "Fresh Air" spring to mind for me, as they always do) but they sound as good or better with MCs.

In terms of capturing the grime-as-8-bar moment, I only recently picked up Street Beats from 2003 and I thought it was loads better than it had been made out to be by everyone here. And the second disc of Cameo's mix cd captures the grime-as-2-step-revival thread as well. Between those two, "Run the Road" and Slimzee's Bingo/Dumpvalve mixes or the "Grime" comps I reckon the margins of the genre have been decently constellated for the novice; the problem is more in the depth department - eg. there's only one "Run the Road", at least at the moment.

PS. I`m not sure that grime gets a free pass while MOP doesn't. I thought everyone here loved MOP... I certainly do!

-- Marcello Carlin (marcellocarli...), January 31st, 2005.

the sad thing is i think 'boy in the corner' is the closest you'll ever get to a grime LP sounding underground.

we live in an r&b-style, artist dominated market now (and i use the dirty word "market" deliberately). gone are the days when someone as obtuse as Photek will sign to Virgin. if you want an album that sounds as edgy, weird, angry, explosive etc as a pirate radio set... you need to tape more pirate radio sets.

only indie labels would put an LP like this out and grime MCs dont see any value in signing to indies. they want big money now or nothing at all.

i read a review of dizzee's mix-cd with semtex in deuce a while back - the reviewer wrote something to the effect of it not being like sidewinder dvd packs so it was progress or 'different', as if thats always a good thing. apparently, people who dont approve of grime MCs trying to go hip hop are just small minded or haters.

It has the fader-flicking effects he always uses on his radio show if that's what you mean. The mixing is pretty average I guess... but the track selection! The second disc is amazing - "Charge", "So Contagious", esp. that awesome Mr DJ song I've only actually heard Cameo play before but I love love love.

Good too that he puts the dub of "Dedicated to Love" on the first disc (also great though generally more familiar to me - mind you, you can't go wrong with "Flowers", "My Desire" etc) as TJ Cases's stuff (that track, "I Like To Cut, I Like To Play", above all "One By One") was kinda like proto-grimette, immersing the diva in this gaseous chamber of bass malevolence with a deliberateness and single-mindedness of intent that was quite distinct. The Mr DJ track is like "One By One" brought forward four years, with all the advances in rhythm-sickness that grime has allowed.

probably. it sounds like the CD is skipping and sucks, horribly. Which is such a pity because as you say everything else - track selection, sequencing, range - is pretty much perfect. "Mr DJ" might well be my favourite song on the whole thing - I love Katy Pearl's calmness, barely breaking a sweat even as she's getting grimey. And when she hits that note on 'song' in the chorus she actually sounds as if she's rising through the mess of beats and bleeps. A lot of the divas on disc 2 remind me of Ciara on "Oh", actually.

I found two copies at Virgin Sunset in the Hip Hop section. Which brings up a good question: Where should this thing be filed?

RUN THE ROAD – V/A UK GRIME COMP

RECORD RELEASE SHOWS
W/ Jammer, D Double E and Ears

Thu March 10 Philadelphia, PA @ La Tazza (Free)
Fri March 11 New York, NY @ Rothko ($8)
Sat March 12 Toronto, ONT @ B-Side ($10)

72 results found:

Still fucking great.

Was this grime's high-water mark?

yep.

i think i might like vol 2 better tho

I could see an argument for the Nasty Crew Deuce mix or Lord of the Decks or something, but not Volume 2.

OI TRICK OI

I do love "Saw It Comin'" though on Vol 2. Wonder what ever happened to Mizz Beats.

I haven't picked up Volume 2 yet. Need to fix that.

The main effect of Run The Road on me is that it's made me even more impatient to hear the Lady Sovereign album.

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, January 31, 2005 3:06 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark

loooooooooool

my copy of this is all fucked up so all the tracks are basically unplayable skipping now but last time i tried to ride out the skips "cock back" was still the best shit ever

also "destruction v.i.p." probably claims the most thrilling moment on the whole thing

the name of this thread reminds me of 678

Was this grime's high-water mark?

Dunno about that, in so much as I'm not sure a compilation like this could be considered a high water mark in any genre. It's not like there haven't been grime tracks since that hit the highs of Destruction VIP or Cock Back, but maybe not bundled together in such a handy way. Volume 2 had some great moments as well, a bit diluted overall though and people like Klashnekoff and Plan B really didn't belong there.

RTR has some absolute classics but it tails off near the end with those useless ears and plan b songs. vol 2 had some good tracks too, but it didnt really have as good a sampling of grime as the first one, just cos about half of it was all produced by davinche!

i wouldnt call either RTR a definitive document of the scene though as theres so many good tracks and artists that didnt even get a look in.

also i dunno if its just me but im sure that 679 kinda scruffed up the fidelity of a lot of the songs on RTR1. they made it sound a bit dirtier, muddier, not quite as crystal clear as the versions on other comps.

it's a great comp but i thought vol 2 botched it slightly - some really excellent tracks (doctor & davinche's 'gotta man?' and the massive low deep production which kicks it off) but quite a few disappointments (no lay) and too much UKHH. had the series continued, vols 3, 4, 5 etc could have been just as excellent as vol 1, the standard of the best grime is still that high.

so i think calling it the high-water point of grime kind of does a disservice to the genre, though it's true that it's the high-water point of people bothering to compile the best of the genre

they shd have kept it going. a comp that collects all the best bits of all the mix cds out there would be a life saver.

god, dug it out again and seriously UNORTHADOX DAUGHTER. still. so. fucking. good.

"spit a couple bars and put you in BUPA!!!"

vs

"chickenheads if you move any looser, this aids epidemic is gonna be a killer"

vs

"for the life i've led, all the shit i've been fed, now i'm spitting it out like overdue lead, nervous MCs shall wet the bed when i see red"

vs

"DUCKS!!!!"

vs

"i'm stormy like thunder, blow through like a chick on a honda"

vs

"MCs bawlin' out bloody murder, stop the bawlin' cuz i fuckin' heard ya"

vs

"my lyrics flow dirty like a butt-naked slut that's bagging it up, smuggling crack in her butt-eye"

vs

"i'm the go-go-getter in the black hooded sweater, miss nolay don't you forget her"

vs

"a chance in life but life cuts like a knife"

Looking back I can see why they put all that UKHH on there - for a while around 2005ish it seemed like the two scenes were going to overlap quite considerably. The Up Your Speed remix being the key track there obviously. Also Awfully Deep came out that year. They seem to have moved away from one another again now.

some really excellent tracks (doctor & davinche's 'gotta man?' and the massive low deep production which kicks it off)

Yeah these two and the Ghetto & Katie Pearl are my favourites by some distance.

Am I the only one who loves "Saw It Comin'"? :(

i really liked that acoustic version of the Plan B song on disc 2 which is probably the herbiest shit in the world to like on a grime comp, which already makes it 50,000 Leagues Below Herb

vol 2

Can't stand Plan B. I have no problem with the Ears song on the first RTR though.

i love 'saw it comin' too - its slow, draggy tempo actually makes a lot more sense listening back now (i wasn't listening to much dubstep in 05)

as for plan b, he's not a bad MC, but dear god his emo acoustic shit is unbearable - saw him live that year and the entire audience was trying to awkwardly shuffle away within two songs

ears toured with the count & sinden last year i think (along with mz bratt and ny), and will be on their imminent album.

Can I mention how ridiculously I am anticipating that Count & Sinden album?

really matt? I don't much like "Hardcore Girls" at all. The song with JME was aight. The only really great thing I've heard by them was this awesome R&B/jungle mash-up that reminded me of the Urban Takeover Remix of "Wishing On A Star" from way back when. Can't remember its name.

i picked this up at a local record store's garage sale, was a buck.

it's pretty cool!

i finally "get" titchyscheider's name now

Tinchy Stryder is now one of the biggest pop stars in Britain. And he's not very good any more :/

all this stuff seems cool tho i get why ppl were excited. real dark and shit, their accents are weird i like it

i felt kinda bad for the CD tho, it was in the dollar bin...i remember on ilx it was like the future and shit and now there it is right next to the old kristen hersh and rocket from the crypt cds i bought

the future is finite, i guess.

was this anything like the rephlex grime comp? if so, that was kind of boring and kind of tacky-sounding even at the time.

Dizzee, Wiley, Tinchy and Roll Deep are making ££££ right now, as are a load of the next generation MCs, albeit with music that's much less dark.

Whoever thought it was ever going to take off in America was on crack though.

Roll Deep did a great bouncy little ska-ish track that goes "Trouble don't mean a thing/When you're moving in circles/That Roll Deep" - very commercial, but very good.

im still convinced the sonics were dirtied up a bit for this compilation. anyway, it has a few shit ones (mic fight, the one with plan b, and that ears one, the bruza and demon song is a bit lol too) but its pretty remarkable how many good songs are on this (cock back, give u more, destruction, etc). run the road 2 is a bit crap in comparison and a total missed opp, considering what was around in grime at that time.

its nothing like the rephlex comp - these are all 'songs' with mcs on them, not instros.

Should point out that the UK record buying public has only just come round to the idea of British rappers within the last 18 months or so. I wouldn't have anticipated this level of success from anyone back in 2004, even less so in 2007.

"i felt kinda bad for the CD tho, it was in the dollar bin...i remember on ilx it was like the future and shit and now there it is right next to the old kristen hersh and rocket from the crypt cds i bought"

Tons of great CDs end up in dollar bins these days.

i know! i can't help it that i feel things more deeply than other ppl!

"in every used CD store a heartache"

the bruza and demon song is a bit lol too

do you mean this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN5hr_91ytg

cos its dooooooooope

seem to remember being disappointed that one wasn't on the cd

That one got left off the Vice version. It was replaced by another inferior Demon/Bruza track.

vol 2 was so wack apart from this one;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzaMpSSq1BY

best grime video ever?

#
CufcAsh
2 years ago 6

Still a big tune. Fuck America

oh shit charlie from big brother working behind the bar in that vid!