Grime 01

Each Grime posting will include a set of classic radio merkage (see below, virgins) and all manner of glittering shit.
Grime, despite mainstream air, is very much alive.
If you're at all curious, please visit the rather magnificent >>Grimepedia


Eedyat's Guide to Grime Slanguage~

air: if an MC's bars get air, he's not doing his job properly
badman: a skilled MC
bait: shoddy, below-par. 'That tune was bait hip hop, not grime areyaMAD?'
bare: in excess, alot: 'Bare MCs wanna chat shit'
beef: or war; a feud between MC's or crews usually precipitated by musical differences or disagreements. Some MC's are magnets for it: Wiley's position at the top of the pile (the eldest grime MC at 29 and 'Father of Grime') has singled him out for every ambitious younga ; though many feel no need to usurp their fellow MC's. Few have ever carried out their threats and despite being an aggressive sound grime is not intrinsically violent. There are exceptions, once-prolific MC Crazy Titch is currently serving time for murder
blud: term of affection, mate, brother. Fam is used to refer to close friends or is just used when being friendly
'brap': sound made in approval of a heavy tune or MC, used to big someone up. Usually accompanies 'gun fingers'
bumbaclaat: Jamaican derogatory, meaning arsewipe
cheddar: money. 'P' is also used, standing for paper: 'I'm makin P like Diddy'
clash: an MC stand off over beats. Like a hip hop 'battle' on speed. Only recently, it has been thought that some clashes are rigged in order to gain publicity for the participants, others are deeply personal and heated.
dubplate: not strictly a grime term but referring to an exclusive, never-before-heard tune usually played out at the beginning of a set that distinguishes the DJ
endz: neighbourhood, East End etc. most are distinguished by postal codes. Bow E3 is the most notorious starting point for most of the best East MC's since 'grime' began in 2001.
gash: in hip-hop this is the oft-referred-to pussy and refers to women in general
gully: raw, real
hype: a hype MC or tune gets people moving, and is fast and intense
lemon: marijuana
man dem: group of friends or homies
mash: gun, 'draw for the mash'; strap and tool is also commonly used (though few MC's actually own one)
merk/murk: to kill, to beat somebody in a clash, an MC can merk a tune with his/her rhyming ability
mixtape: term for an independently produced and released album used in underground music since the 90's. There are few grime albums proper, and in 2005 mixtapes became a popular format on which MC's released music. Mixtapes have been accused of shifting the focus away from DJ's and raves to producers and 'studio rats'. Typically comprising 20+ tracks, quality control is not always on the agenda, but they retail around the £6 mark on specialist sites, such as uptownrecords.com, avalanchemusichut.com and the swag UKRecordshop (however bootlegging is commonplace so there is strong emphasis on supporting the scene whilst not pandering to mainstream standards)
'no long ting': no hassle, no fuss, no bullshit
pies: see gash
riddim: Jamaican, rhythm or beat
roadz: the streets, the ghetto, residential areas
rudeboi: weed smoking, hood-wearing bloke
send: to send for an MC on a track or on radio is to challenge them to a clash
shank: a crude, homemade knife carried to make pincushion out of / defend from enemies; to stab.
shoogz: another term for a grime/dancehall/dubstep rave
shower: as in showerman; meaning of superior skill, quality MCing; 'Tinch was shower on Rinse last night'
skeng / skengman: dangerous/hardcore, see badman
slew: similar to merk, to cut somebody down in their prime with lyrical prowess
spit: to rap, an MC spits or sprays bars over beats
sublow: another type of grime music, also known as 8 bar or mucktion, 'accompanied by grinding basslines and electro clap noises'
swag: poor quality. Can refer to fake MC's and swag tunes alike
sweetbwoy: from dancehall, refers to slower tempos and female vocals in tunes. This is the opposite to hype and is considered by many not to be proper grime, and is more reminiscent of chart-friendly hip hop.
wasteman: diss meaning a slacker, somebody who wastes their and others people's time
'whagwan?': greeting, 'what's going on / what's happening?'
wifey: girlfriend
Yardie: not original grime slang, old term meaning Jamaican. In grime refers to a yardie flow - stylised ragga-esque vocals. MC's notorious for their yardie flows in grime include Riko Dan (a raggamuffin since his jungle days), Flow Dan, God's Gift, Badness, etc
younga: a young MC. The grime youts, especially in the last year, have become very prolific and dominant in the scene as anybody under 18 on London estates has grown up surrounded by it.
16's, 32's, 64 bars: number of bars spat over a beat. In a regulated clash (such as those on live-video webcast Axe FM) each MC is given a limited number of bars to spit.

Anything I have left out is either because
a) I'm being a mug
or b) the phrase is an affected catchphrase of a particular MC, more on these later possibly

Classic set:

Meridian Crew ripped off the Logan Sama show (Kiss FM) 29/07/2005
http://www.mediafire.com/?9xkxannzevd

Featuring, in order of initial appearance: President T, JME, Big H, Skepta
Set is fucked. Each of these MC's have unique flows, classic bars and great hooks.
A history lesson on the late, great Meridian can be found here

~

'Kill of killy!' - Prez T