Grime and the Millennial Bandwagon
As a millenial, it is hard to deal with the battering that we take from older generations on most topics- Brexit, Corbyn, barista-ing. But what is worse is when my generation openly endorses criticism of being fake and easily led by jumping on the bandwagon. Now this bandwagon-jumping is unfortunately not uncommon; there are many examples of it from the last few years. Beards, man-buns, even avocados have been the hapless victims of the bandwagon. Whilst some would argue that these fads are simply “fashion”, this is a naïve statement. These fads do not operate in the same way as fashion, and are often accompanied by irrational mass hysteria on whatever the topic is.
But. I am not here to talk about how awful millennials are, or how no one should pursue anything different. I’m going to talk about the Grime bandwagon.
Grime is a genre of music that is most certainly an acquired taste. Having been around since the millennium, in artists like Dizzee Rascal and Wiley, it has simmered on the back burner for almost a decade. Weirdly though, mainstream media didn’t touch the genre until 2017, when suddenly BOOM. Insert banal “we love Grime” statement here. Then before you know it every Daisii and Chet and their respective hipster dogs are huge Grime fans.
Why though? First off, lets start with a little disclaimer: There is nothing wrong with Grime. Whilst it might not be to everyones taste, it is an important part of the 21st Century’s musical direction. That being said, there is a fundamental problem with the idea that something should be liked just because it might make you seem cool. How many of the Radio 1 listeners that class themselves as a “Grime fan” actually relate to anything about Grime in any way? Three hipsters walked into a Stormzy gig… sorry, there is no punchline. All that this shameless faux-fangirling does is devalues genres, or fashions with no real benefit for anyone.
Take for example the cringeworthy Little Mix/Stormzy collaboration on their song Power. Everything about this song is disjointed and upsetting, but the inclusion of Stormzy for a strange cameo lacks structure and any musical meaning, and really doesn’t fit with any Grime idea. This is evidence of the negative impact that this “mainstreaming” has on genres like Grime; there is no reason why it shouldn’t be a popular genre, but not at the cost of its integrity.
Sam Marshall is a freelance musician, writer and reviewer based in SW UK.
