I surf and check hundreds of sites during the day, always looking at, listening to, whatever bands or artists catch my brain. Today I was at indiestore.com and was tempted by their "Random Indie Store" button. "Sure, ok. I'll press the button." It took a few presses of the button until I found something that didn't make me cringe (i.e., bad Swedish disco, 13 year old girl singers, earnest singer songwriters, etc.) . I finally stopped the button when I landed on Session and the Bear. This UK producer/rapper duo just felt like "yeah, they've got something." They're still in their larval beginnings, but have that glowing kernel of talent. I've been watching the UK grime scene for a while and find it fascinating -- Dizzee Rascal, The Streets, Lady Sovereign and the like. I don't know if grime is ever going to translate largely in the US -- -- or just continue to appeal to a the group of us that can't resist a "Norf' " London accent. But, in a way, I wonder since, [as Nas says] "hip hop is dead," is the US going to experience the Brits reintroducing us to "our" music again? The UK grime-sters are coming to hip hop and rap via a similar road as the originators of American rap and hip hop -- poverty, housing projects, bleak urban environment-- and writing about how they get through their everyday experiences. Or is Grime just the Punk for this generation of Brit Kids as their reaction against Tony Blair inspired cynicism and hopelessness? Will grime ever win over the US "backpack" hip hop crowd? It's definitely made inroads.
Session and The Bear - check out their Fade to Black track, as it seems to be the best of the bunch. No cheesy samples; just some nice, spare and appealing production behind "The Bear's" flow. I hope these blokes keep at it.
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