war report part 2.

I'll spare any lengthy introduction, this post is a continuation of my last entry which you can read here.

That post-war period in Grime is always an uncertain time. We can't expect dubs to arrive week after week, particularly when MCs have other projects to juggle, and the often anti-climatic void left is a golden chance for the lesser known MCs to bolster their status. Successive to my notes on Twitter being the internet's biggest breeding ground for animosity, it was the turn of North London's Row D to instigate a disagreement with AJ Tracey and inevitably, dubs were traded.

Both of these MCs have been mainstays on the ever evolving online radio scene but AJ in particular has gathered great momentum as of late, with his gem of a track 'Naila' from 2015 one of his highlights so far. That track, which shared the same instrumental as Kano's 'Garage Skank', coupled with a few other popular tunes certainly propelled the West Londoner to a higher popularity in some circles and it's his subsequent behaviour since that Row D has taken exception to.

Row D - Gay J Snakey



Row D's issue seems to lie in the fact that AJs career has progressed further than his own and in a far quicker time-frame but this is lost within the dub and there appears to be more emphasis on calling as many names out as possible, which signals this dub was probably a little rushed. MTP is AJ's crew and Row D mentions Big Zuu and Merky ACE specifically, which lead to more Twitter bickering later down the line.

The dub isn't all bad however and whilst homophobic insults are likely the easiest way of attaining the upper hand within a genre that is so dependent on street credit Row D references specific events which to me always boosters a dubs prestige, whether the listener knows them to be true or not.

"you're a uni student / got a blue tick now you're moving stupid"

"I'll spin a man like Jammz did Merky / man said that I'm washed / how can I be washed when I'm this dirty"

"Got a little hype and it went to your head / but you're my yute [youth] get sent to your bed / saw you in ministry you told me you never meant what you said / that's gayyy"

Jay Amo - Mental Case



Jay Amo was the first MTP member to respond and his flows, conducted with a rare youthful exuberance is definitely a trigger for the screwfacers.

"I'm a big man but I'm not thirty / you're ain't a big man...but you're thirty"

"How can Row D be new wave when he's spent a third of his life on Grime"



Out of the three dubs it's Big Zuu who takes the angriest approach and this dub reminds me of the rally aimed at Scorcher from God's Gift all those years ago. Zuu's irritation at being dragged into the warzone is clear and normally this may cause an MC to lose focus, affecting the quality of the music, but this isn't the case here and it's tee'd up nicely for AJ Tracey to pull a full stop on things.



"Row D I got a blue tick in a year / and you've been tryna call for a tick for a year"

"I didn't really send but I'm bored so / might still catch a mans set on a hood one"

Whilst AJ's approach is more tranquil than his crew-mates before him, this dub has a genuine heavyweight feel behind it and it's hard to ever see a Row D recovery. The line above about a potential future meeting on set adds real tension to the setting and AJ verifies the recent plaudits attributed to him with a relentless flow and clever references to real life events. One thing I would like to note though and that's if gay slurs are an easy bullet for MCs to load than dismissing their abilities based on being white skinned is even easier, and I've always thought insults based around drug culture just as ineligible an insult within Grime.

All in all, the results of Row D's dub is reminiscent of the era in which Wiley held multiple blows from The Movement during Grime's thriving competitive phase. I'm not suggesting for a second that the levels of MCing are anywhere near that high, because they're not (quite yet, perhaps), but the MTP members unleashing a raging onslaught of tracks in such coordinated fashion was a great move. Row D will have to do something massive to avoid damaging any long term reputation amongst his peers whom previously he shared radio time and stage space with.

war report part 1.

Over the last few years, there's been a harsh criticism aimed at social media from within the Grime scene, with the belief that Twitter in particular has contributed to some aspects of the genre declining. With the specific irritants perhaps too varied to cover in one attempt, one of the main complaints has identified the micro-blogging facility as the primary outlet for MCs to vent their grievances with each other and previous to a time where 140 characters back and forth was sufficient enough to do that, radio sets and recorded "war" dubs were the favoured methods of trading insults.

We've seen over the last twelve months how Twitter has pushed artists to react to what fans really want to see and a particular nod should be given towards Stormzy and his 'Shut Up for Xmas number one' campaign. There was no preordained commercial endeavour with that release yet the power of Twitter catapulted that song way beyond most's expectations, lining it up alongside the true Grime classics and cementing Stormzy as the go-to name for newcomers to the genre.

With that power in mind, when the seeds to potentially ignite lyrical battle are planted by 'x' MC via Twitter, it's been the response of fans to push for more, in hope that we'll see all-out war, or the starting embers of one anyway and the later exchanges between Merky ACE and Jammz are a perfect example of that. However, using social media as your default setting for any battleground shouldn't really appeal to the genuine Grime MC: regardless of whether you like 'x' MCs or not, it's inarguable that those who release dubs and other recorded material, visual or audio, automatically increase their authenticity where true Grime listeners are concerned.

"Line them up: I've got the semi on me today" - So Large, Rude Kid's Xmas Rinse FM set.

The Christmas period saw tweets flying in ten to the dozen and most of them were in response to a Rinse FM set featuring Rude Kid with a host of MCs, but most notably E3's So Large and North London's Capo Lee who went bar-for-bar at the tail end of the set. Whether or not So Large remixing Capo's immensely popular track "Liff" was a precursor to their verbal sparring or not remained to be seen at the time, but post-Rinse FM it was Capo who initiated further response appearing to address the situation on Mode FM.



So Large - Shots

"I'm gonna get nicked for my hobby now / them boys have got me mad / it's Christmas eve I'm shopping for body bags"

"What the fuck can he say / I done did Capo's career / turn him back into a funky DJ"



Capo Lee - Funeral Parlour

"What's Ghetts gonna say when his hype-man's dead"

"That was in East bro / how do you feel? Buried in your own backyard / how do you feel?".



Both associates of the genre in one capacity or another with So Large an infrequently featuring MC and Capo formerly a DJ on Axe Fm - hence the aforementioned DJ lyric - it's only recently the two have engaged more actively in the scene. So Large's '500 Bags EP' has just dropped to a lot of hype but Capo Lee's single 'Liff' garnered a larger excitement and further widespread coverage across the internet and through radio. These initial dubs are one-shot-kill attempts by both MCs: each getting straight to the point but it's Capo's confidence and calm address of the 'Liff' remix and it's intentions i.e "remixing my tune for your own campaign", that captures the essence of what this is about. So Large's raw aggression ties in neatly with the Spyro produced rhythm but at points feels nothing more than playground warfare whereas Capo sticks to a calmer tone, emphasising forcefulness in the right pockets with superior timing.

In amongst these dubs and the ensuing Royal Rumble style tweet marathon, Lewisham MC Merky ACE ran a poll on Twitter asking fans who they thought it would be most sensible for him to lyrically attack. By and large Hackney MC Jammz came away with the highest percentage of votes and a few hours later, ACE dropped his dub entitled 'Farda'.

"I'll delete my tweets in case I have to buss' your head on the streets"

"About king of pirate radio, you're a carbon copy of me and P Money / muddled up in some wastemans body"

"And I don't even need anyone in FT / just me MI and Capo Lee / will give you a headstone next to So Large's gladly".



It was probably clear from the offset that Jammz would've been the target for ACE's dub given the amount of material the Lewisham MC had prepared to fire but Jammz seemed almost instantly ready to defend himself with 'Merky Lemon'.

"all of this online talking / stop that / all this getalong gang ting / stop that"

"talking about rough is the new buff / but the gyaldem still don't care / what now?".



Honestly talking there is little to separate either of these dubs and both of MCs make good points throughout. Merky's observation that Jammz sounds like himself and P Money is an accurate one and the listener surely cannot deny the similarities on both sides in terms of flows. Interestingly Jammz brings up the idea of the "get-a-long gang": a commonly used phrase throughout Grime history that frowns upon groups of MCs which stick together. In this case it would appear Jammz stands neutral both audibly and within his online presence to the earlier discussed fallout whist Merky has chosen to side with Capo Lee.

So Large re-enters the fray at this point with a far better dub called 'Tipex'.

"looking like two-nil right now / on a real define hype man / I jump on stage *clip of reload at Eskimo Dance*"

"repping three years no-one didn't know ya / now your some Grime scene floater / your just Spooky's hoster / joker "



Not taking kindly to Merky ACE mentioning his name, Large guns for him as well, insinuating Jammz' dub was far more worthy and that ACE's affiliation with Dizzee Rascal counts for little. Overall this was an extremely better dub from So Large who comes back a little less scathed from the war as he may well have done otherwise. This was also a prime example of how this section of the scene is pretty much split two ways at the moment, with few notable exceptions, and predictably Merky ACE had a few more things to say on "2AM".

"ghetts is happy that he didn't bet / 'cos his money would've got tek (take) / bull in a china shop / na we call that beef on a plate"



For the line above alone this is personally one of my favourite war dubs from the last few years. A constant barrage of hostility and belligerence, ACE delivers here and his first dub would've gone over much better had he delivered with as much venom as he does here. Unbelievably, this is only the half-way point of the Winter war season and whilst Jammz and So Large haven't had anything else to say - yet - there was much development from other directions of the scene since this post was published, all of which I shall cover in a future post, so look out.