Grimes humble beginnings as a DIY genre remains intrinsic
to its identity today 20 years later.
But how was a simple PS1 game so pivotal
to the early movement?
And how did it help bypass the gatekeepers
of the music industry at the time.
Grime began in the early 2000s
when garage artists such as DJ Target and Wiley decided
that the dance genre did not reflect the realities
of London life.
After being blacklisted from garage raves
for spitting hard lyrics
Wiley went on the search for a new sound.
This new sound, he found, was cold and straight to the point
with gliding square waves and heavy kicks.
A new style of MC was born;
more greatly inspired by dancehall roots
where they spat bars rather than cartoony isms.
Before the genre land the name Grime,
because it sounded dirty,
the genre was called Eski Beat
coined and pioneered by Wiley.
It was also called Sublow, two-step and urban.
- Certain producers came in with their own names.
So Wiley what it has things to be called Eski Beat
Johnny Cash wanted his thing to be called sublow
and someone wanted 8-bar
That problem with all the names coming forward was
they only worked with that person or that sound,
it just happened naturally
that we ended up going from calling it grimy garage to Grime
- The journalist started calling it Grime
and we're like this is not Grime
I don't want to be called Grime.
What are you talking about?
- We were offended.
Like, we were like, what are they trying to say?
Like, what do you mean Grime?
But after a while we was like, you know what?
It is a bit grimy.
And like, we get where they're coming from.
And like, I guess it kind of signifies the streets thing
And so we just ran with it
- Now Wiley pioneered Eski Beat
the genre began and grew from there.
but North, South, and West London
put their own identity on it too.
In North, we have crews such as Bloodline, Meridian
and Boy Better Know
with the likes of Pres T, Big H, Jammer,
JME, Frisco, and Skepta.
Whilst in the East, we had Wiley, Kano, Manga,
D Double, and Dizzee Rascal
Crazy Titch ran South
whilst Flirta D threw the flag for West
Early Grime sounds, when it used to be called Eski Beat,
came from equipment such as a Korg Triton
or digital audio workstations, such as FruityLoops.
That's why Grime is 140 BPM because FruityLoops
the default BPM was 140.
And that gliding synth sound,
Well that's a preset called 'gliding square'
on the KORG Triton.
They also sampled video games and movies
for these original sounds.
And we can't forget Street Fighter
which provided so many samples and is so revered
in the scene that feed that D Dubs
made Street Fighter Riddim.
But one piece of equipment is almost always forgotten about
in Grimes history,
Not only was the PS1 a huge development
in personal computing.
It became more than just the games console.
The PS1 one was a top competitor
against Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn.
However, it shook the world for two reasons.
The first was it introduced 3D graphics
and far larger storage facilities to the gaming industry.
And secondly, it was underestimated, similarly to Grime.
- "How do you know PlayStation is not a normal game system?
It carries these telltale signs.
Scientists say it's effects are mind boggling.
Users lose all sense of reality and enter another world."
- And you know what? The PS1 was sick.
I'd rinse out Lara Croft and Need for Speed
and Street Fighter.
But there's one often forgotten about game
that changed the landscape
for emerging electronic music genres.
It was the sequel to Music for the Sony PlayStation.
Music 2000
Music 200 was released in 1999,
a year after the first game.
And it revolutionised production forever.
Not because it had an amazing wave table synth or a simpler
but because it made a music studio accessible
to regular people.
It's actually where some of the early sounds
and bones of Grime were created
and the ability to layer tracks,
stick on heavy drum beats, and even sample
created the blueprint to how Grime producers made music.
- [Reporter] Play Stations.
We sent 17 year old producer, Benga, a challenge
Make us and 8 bar tune in your bedroom
using nothing but a PS1 and a 10 pound called Music 2000.
- [Benga] Right, this is Benga.
And I'm telling people how to make a tune on Music 2000
for the PlayStation, you get a baseline like this.
Let's make another baseline for your second part
of your 8 bar. You've got two baselines.
- Switch
- Although the game is forgotten about,
it won awards for the most innovative game in 1999
and Jester Interactive's Music TM range
has sold more copies than any other video game
Music sequencer worldwide
By today's standard, though
it's horrible to use.
It's fiddly, unresponsive.
I hated the MIDI drawing function
and the samplers are horrendous to use.
However, it was an invaluable and more importantly
a low cost tool for producers at the time.
Preloaded with amen breaks, rolling acid house bases,
and a sampler.
Anyone in the comfort of their own home
can become a musician.
I mean like literally anyone
and that's perfect for an emerging underground genre.
JME, in fact, records using Music 2000
which inspired the MC early on to begin producing
but it wasn't just a big deal for Grime, it was utilised
by a small number of jungle producers too.
The implementation meant that the industry
that was previously gatekept
by producers and DJs were record label deals
and financial backings
who were the only ones who could afford the DAWs computers
and samplers no longer held a monopoly
over the urban music industry.
Now before studio time was expensive
and reserved for big money or big names
this game, however, opened the flood gates
for underground producers and people began experimenting
with the limitations of Music 2000
Whilst it didn't exactly create any genres,
the game did inspire a new way of working.
And once FruityLoops became readily available
it was a simple transition over.
The range was discontinued in 2003
with Music 3000, but small pockets
of experimental musicians still toy with the games today.
So yeah, that's the story of Music 2000 and Grime
A game that came out the same year I was born
yet returning to it,
I feel like I'm returning to my roots.
You know, screw all the fancy plugins and DAWs
Bun Ableton that cost £500.
For £6, I bought Music 2000 in 2020.
And in my opinion, if you can make a sick tune
on something as simple and shit as Music 2000
then you're a talented producer.