rap and that: November 2009

Grime is huge in London and much of the UK but seems to be spreading further afield.. I Spoke to the French Grime Collective 'Grime Sin' to gain further insight into how such sounds are being received and adapted in France..

First of all introduce yourselfs; what's the history behind 'Grime Sin' as a group?

'Grime Sin' is a collective of french MCs & beatmakers, most of us are coming to grime from other musical backgrounds and we're all still involved in our solo projects; We came together because all of use were experimenting with Grime as a side project, thats how we met. This crew is essentially a way for us all to quench our thirst for faster styles and its also like an escape valve, a world that allows us to throw up our darkness and make fun of it and with it, surfing on it, but never falling and flood us or our listeners into it!

The whole collective is :

DJ ROULEZZ : (Producer, DJ, Beatmaker)
MESH M18 : (Lyricist, Beatmaker)
TITINEBOY : (Lyricist, Beatmaker)
TOMAWOK : (Lyricist)
SPAN : (Lyricist, Beatmaker)
WIRE : (Lyricist, Designer)
JENNY K : (Lyricist)
H.P.S, STAYA, SAM UZ & TONY-O : (Beatmakers)
Dr SAMSON, VALREQUIN & FLOWAGAL : (Dancers)

For live shows, the minimal crew is 1 DJ + 3 MCs, the max we did was 1 DJ + 6 MCs and 2 Dancers. It really depends on the stage's capacity and the promoter's wishes!

At first, DJ Roulezz & I just wanted to make only one street cd called "Grime Sin" with the aim of introducing such music to French people.The idea was to mix UK Grime anthems with some strong, fast french lyricists. After we recorded the first tunes for the project, we quickly decided to keep 'Grime Sin' as the name of the crew instead; this is because we had realised that we all wanted to continue to work together in this way and we needed a name!haha.When we finally released the tape, we called it 'Serial Sinners' because its built like a thriller movie about mysterious murders of whack MC's. The funny thing is that some of our friends are the official french dubbers for the famous TV series "CSI : Miami", millions of people here know their voices and we made them talk on the interludes/ skits of this CD, investigating on the mysterious death of these whack mc's, lol.

We are now working on our first LP, entitled "Peur sur la Ville" (Fear on the city) which will feature only exclusive content from the best French grime mcs and fresh wicked riddims! (Should be available in February or March).

'This crew is essentially a way for us all to quench our thirst for faster styles and its also like an escape valve, a world that allows us to throw up our darkness and make fun of it and with it, surfing on it, but never falling and flood us or our listeners into it!'

How and when were you introduced to grime? Have you previously been fans of other music such as drum 'n' bass coming out of the UK?

Thanks to friends we had the chance to get the first tunes that people such asDizzee & Wiley were putting out in the early 2000's, then little by little we became familiar with the work of other artists like Kano, JME, Skepta, and so on..Weve never stopped following the evolution of Grime in the UK, and as listeners all of us have always been fond of other UK sounds (Junglist & d&b, Dubstep, etc..)

'We are now working on our first LP, entitled "Peur sur la Ville" (Fear on the city) which will feature only exclusive content from the best French grime mcs and fresh wicked riddims! (Should be available in February or March)'

How much of a grime scene is there in France? Is there any city in particular where the sound has a strong following?

Around 2003 Grime started to become popular in parisians clubs, it was like the new hype phenomenum. But then some other styles like Dubstep, booty or bassline quickly took hold and grime took a back seat. Since 2005, except for a few live shows from UK artists, it has been impossible to find any Grime parties. Its not really respected as an autonomous music anymore and always seems to be played down in parties and mixed with other genres. Tho its not really associated with violence.

In terms of French MCs it was very difficult to find new ones to spit on our last tape! Almost all of the good French Grime MC's weve discovered are now part of the Grime Sin Collective. I know there are probably other able mcs out there but I dont know them and I'm still lookin for them !

'Around 2003 Grime started to become popular in Parisian clubs, it was like the new hype phenomenum. But then some other styles like Dubstep, booty or bassline quickly took hold and Grime took a back seat'

In terms of rapping what is your background? did you originally spit to Hip Hop?

Most of us MCs are coming from Old School French & US Hiphop and / or Rub-a-dub, Dancehall, Singjay.. The common point/ uniting feature of all our flows is that we all love fast styles. Apart from that we are fans of "Chanson Francaise" (old french singers & lyricists like Jacques Brel, etc..), and I feel this gives us a special melodic & lyrical touch, especially when we sing.

'Weve never stopped following the evolution of Grime in the UK'

Have you had the chance to visit the UK? If so did you check out any grime when you were there?

Some of us have been to London and enjoyed a few grime shows from crews like Ruff skwad, Neckle Camp & Roll Deep. However that was only ever during hollidays and weve never been to the UK to perform or to meet and work with artists (YET!). This is something we'd love to do !!

What topics do you cover in your lyrics? are there any grime artists in particular that have inspired you to start creating this type of music?

We cover the same type of topics weve dealt with in solo projects (outside of Grime); We just cover them in a different way, focusing on our hardcore definition of them, and most of time with (sick) humor. Our favorite topics are against all types of Wack Mcs & Soundbwoys, we also talk about girls (who don't?!) and do "egotrip" stuff. Thats for the "easy" side of things. When it comes to "serious" things we usually talk about the weaknesses and evils of the human soul..
. We also have a few "social" lyrics.

In terms of our favorites grime artists, I'd say we've been inspired by so many UKG artists! However we all feel that Wiley was the first one to drive us crazy with his Eskimo beats!! ;)

'Wiley was the first one to drive us crazy with his Eskimo beats!'

How easy is it to pick up the latest records where you live? are there any record shops or websites in particular that you would like to big up?

In recent years (sadly) many music shops have been closing!. This means that we almost buy everything on-line and sell our records on-line
with Toolbox & Stamina records.

Members of the Grime Sin Crew are involved in a variety of musical styles outside of Grime

Are you involved in promotion at all? do you run your own nights? if not do you plan to?

Yea Grime Sin is for the moment 100% independent. Its not easy to manage everything, but it is very constructive and interesting! We are about to release our first real LP with 100% exclusive riddims and lyrics, so we plan to look for a distribution contract for that release.

Where do you see the French Grime scene in 3 years time?

Thats the most difficult question! Because its hard to talk about a French grime scene. It doesn't exist yet! haha, so my hope is to see a real French Grime scene in 3 years ;)

I understand that you have played in Barcelona? where else outside of France have you played? do you have any plans to play in the UK?

All of us have played outside France (almost everywhere in Europe) as solo artists (reggae, hiphop). and as Grime Sin Crew weve done several shows in Spain. However most of our shows have been in Paris & other French places. Of course we are all excited about the prospect of playing in the UK! hopefully someone will read this interview and book us ;)

And finally are there any shout outs youd like to give?

Yeee big up all grime fans, VMDeluxx, tHC, EGO6 crew, Youn-y-timat, Amkoullel, Absurd, Youthman, Bigred..
And a special shout out to all grime fans and to you man !! Thanks a lot for the interest ;)

MESH M18 for GRIME SIN