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London Orient: Kode9 Sinogrime Minimix |
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"Canary Wharf is like our Statue of Liberty," Roll Deep producer Target once said. "It pushes me on. It's like all the money is there and it's an inspiration to get your own."
London
Shanghai
Sinogrime is a sub-genre that barely ever existed, a momentary glitch in the supposedly predictable sonic geography of London dance music. Around 2002-3, with garage crumbling and the cement still drying on grime as a genre, a few producers in E3 suddenly lurched further east than they ever had before.
This is the sound of Shanghai towerblocks and the millennial promise of a new superpower, refracted through the scuffed windows of Crossways Estate in Bow. From the outset grime's sonic palette defined it as the most futurist of genres - a steel sword cutting cleanly through UK hip-hop's wooden edifice - but it rarely sounded as futurist as this.
I went to interview Kode9 for The Guardian recently (link here), and among other things we got talking about sinogrime… Here’s what he said:
Kode9 – Sinogrime Minimix
No tracklist I’m afraid – “all the tracks are Jammer/Wiley/Wookie/Wonder/Geeneus, but there were no track names on the Jammer whites”. We’ll stick it on the Lower End Spasm podcast too when Bok Bok gets back from the Night Slugs tour of last century's superpower.
***************************
Further listening/further reading:
Sharky Major – Diss Ain’t A Game (sendspace/youtube)
My favourite sinogrime track ever: a superb beat by Jammer, with the riff nicked from an obscure old-school Jet Li film - I know this from watching (whatever it was called) at 3am once.. I pretty much leapt out my chair when the credits rolled and this oh-so-familiar melody started playing. Sharky Major’s crushingly poignant - and ironic - lyric, reflecting on the tension between headstrong ambition and harsh reality in the wild east, is one of the most memorable in grime:
I feel like I aint as good as people say I am
I know I can spit ten times better than I've ever done
Watch me rise with the morning sun
***********
Wiley – Shanghai (sendspace/youtube)
I masochistically agreed to select and write about the ten Essential Wiley tracks for FACT recently. This extraordinary beat was without doubt the missing number 11, very hard to leave out.
***********
Blackdown on China’s near(er) east, with some wonderful Soho pics, as well as commentary from Steve Barker.
***********
A post on Dissensus discussing various sinogrime vinyl, some released, some just dubs, from Simon78. Wait... Dizzee had an instrumental called 'Chinky Ting'?? If anyone can sort me out with an mp3 of Jammer and Mr Wong's 'Chinkrasta' I'd be very grateful for that, too.
***********
PS - I've been writing some less-musically-specific things on my personal blog recently (on mobile phones and treble cultcha, here), so keep that RSS-ed.
London
Shanghai
Sinogrime is a sub-genre that barely ever existed, a momentary glitch in the supposedly predictable sonic geography of London dance music. Around 2002-3, with garage crumbling and the cement still drying on grime as a genre, a few producers in E3 suddenly lurched further east than they ever had before.
This is the sound of Shanghai towerblocks and the millennial promise of a new superpower, refracted through the scuffed windows of Crossways Estate in Bow. From the outset grime's sonic palette defined it as the most futurist of genres - a steel sword cutting cleanly through UK hip-hop's wooden edifice - but it rarely sounded as futurist as this.
I went to interview Kode9 for The Guardian recently (link here), and among other things we got talking about sinogrime… Here’s what he said:
I’ve always been fascinated by these little squiggly synths, whether it’s been in jazz funk, or gangsta rap, or 80s synth pop… and also grime. That’s what I love most about grime actually, that kind of hyper-coloured sound. I was never so into the aggression of grime – I liked it in the MCs and the music, but it was actually how fucking beautiful melodically Target, Wiley, Terror Danjah, Ruff Sqwad and Jammer were – the Chinese style instrumentals.For the first time, here is that mix:
I did this mix a few years ago that was just Jammer and Wiley and Target - of just half an hour of these Chinese-style plinky-plonk sounds… it was a bit sloppy, but it is fucking amazing music. Those guys were just on taking an aspect of hip-hop and blending it with really quite jarring, brash melodies.
Kode9 – Sinogrime Minimix
No tracklist I’m afraid – “all the tracks are Jammer/Wiley/Wookie/Wonder/Geeneus, but there were no track names on the Jammer whites”. We’ll stick it on the Lower End Spasm podcast too when Bok Bok gets back from the Night Slugs tour of last century's superpower.
***************************
Further listening/further reading:
Sharky Major – Diss Ain’t A Game (sendspace/youtube)
My favourite sinogrime track ever: a superb beat by Jammer, with the riff nicked from an obscure old-school Jet Li film - I know this from watching (whatever it was called) at 3am once.. I pretty much leapt out my chair when the credits rolled and this oh-so-familiar melody started playing. Sharky Major’s crushingly poignant - and ironic - lyric, reflecting on the tension between headstrong ambition and harsh reality in the wild east, is one of the most memorable in grime:
I feel like I aint as good as people say I am
I know I can spit ten times better than I've ever done
Watch me rise with the morning sun
***********
Wiley – Shanghai (sendspace/youtube)
I masochistically agreed to select and write about the ten Essential Wiley tracks for FACT recently. This extraordinary beat was without doubt the missing number 11, very hard to leave out.
***********
Blackdown on China’s near(er) east, with some wonderful Soho pics, as well as commentary from Steve Barker.
***********
A post on Dissensus discussing various sinogrime vinyl, some released, some just dubs, from Simon78. Wait... Dizzee had an instrumental called 'Chinky Ting'?? If anyone can sort me out with an mp3 of Jammer and Mr Wong's 'Chinkrasta' I'd be very grateful for that, too.
***********
PS - I've been writing some less-musically-specific things on my personal blog recently (on mobile phones and treble cultcha, here), so keep that RSS-ed.
