Mainstream success of artists from the Grime scene

[Nick1325356898]

Been thinking about this for a while, whats up with this trend? Seen quite a few guys breakin thru recently, and alot more that are trying to replicate that mainstream sound.

Seems like, to be a success you gotta compromise in terms of creative control, so what is this really about? The mainstream genuinely discovering and appreciating the Grime scene or record labels capitalising on the popularity of 'urban' culture and exploiting artists to make a profit?

IMO, these guys that are tasting success now will be forgotten in 10 years time. Hope they are investing wisely.

[Reivax ™]

its a phase the uk market always goes through

It's like when i was growing up it was all about Brit Pop dominating the charts, in my teens it was the indie wave, its just a cycle unfortunately..

With America, Hip Hop has been growing for decades, their influence has alot to do with the success of uk urban music in mainstream imo.

This could be positive because the Grime/Urban scene are starting to build their own mainstream identity that could possibly emulate a fraction of the influence Hip Hop has had in America.

[Supermalt]

topic is rinsed

[Yardie 2.0]

topic is rinsed

[spiderman]

Been thinking about this for a while, whats up with this trend? Seen quite a few guys breakin thru recently, and alot more that are trying to replicate that mainstream sound.

Seems like, to be a success you gotta compromise in terms of creative control, so what is this really about? The mainstream genuinely discovering and appreciating the Grime scene or record labels capitalising on the popularity of 'urban' culture and exploiting artists to make a profit?

IMO, these guys that are tasting success now will be forgotten in 10 years time. Hope they are investing wisely.

its the bit in red.

lol @ thinkin the mainstream would appreciate grime. the majority of this country won't understand grime let alone be able to appreciate it.

its only cos the whole "urban" thing is the in thing at the moment. they just make pop music with an urban twist and have this urban image, thats all. musically there is not much creativity going on.

[kurious]

aye when i touched down in Nigeria and the driver came to collect me from the airport he was blasting Giggs in the car

[Badman]

Wouldnt really link mainstream with success personally

[streets.]

Grime is a sound that thrives in the underground, it's not a mainstream sound.

Yes there will always be standout grime records that could cross over into the mainstream, but on the whole it's not a sound that connects with the widescale genral public. This also applies to genres like country, heavy metal, punk, jazz, classical etc etc etc. Grime is not unique in this situation so stop whining about artists being a success.

[Supermalt]

Grime is a sound that thrives in the underground, it's not a mainstream sound.

Yes there will always be standout grime records that could cross over into the mainstream, but on the whole it's not a sound that connects with the widescale genral public. This also applies to genres like country, heavy metal, punk, jazz, classical etc etc etc. Grime is not unique in this situation so stop whining about artists being a success.

There's nothing like some actual facts to separate the truly wealthy from the merely right (from the outright lying). While, as anyone who's been reading this series already knows, there's no shortage of rappers claiming that they're making filthy sums of money, but nearly none of them actually are. Instead, their cash flow's being eaten away by baby mommas, 360 deals, taxes, advances, and stupidly large jewelry.

However, there are a select few urban artists who are actually pulling in major, major dollars. Actually, according to Forbes' list of the top ten highest earning musicians, there are only three: Beyonce, Jay-Z and the Black Eyed Peas. First, let's take a look at the list:

1 - U2 ($130 million)

2 - AC/DC ($114 million)

3 - Beyoncé ($87 million)

4 - Bruce Springsteen ($70 million)

5 - Britney Spears ($64 million)

6 - Jay-Z ($63 million)

7 - Lady Gaga ($62 million)

8 - Madonna ($58 million)

9 - Kenny Chesney ($50 million)

10 - Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay and Toby Keith ($48 million)

Right off the bat, props to Beyonce. Good lord Queen B, that's some serious cash. Crucially, it's not Beyonce's music that's bringing in the paychecks. Instead, her music has served as the entry to some truly lucrative business offers, including huge endorsement deals from make-up company L'Oreal and her own House of Dereon fashion line. Let me break that down even further. Beyonce isn't a musician, she's a brand, and brand international corporations want to do business with. Do you think there's a long line of Fortune 500 companies lining up to have Soulja Boy rep their products?

I know a lot of men are uncomfortable with their wives making more money than them, so how do you think Jay-Z feels? The man's the most powerful rapper on the planet, and his wife's still clearing more than $20 million a year more than him. I hope Beyonce made him sign a pre-nup. Actually, for all I know, Jay doesn't have a problem with it at all. Either way, it's got to be nice to live in a household worth over $100 million. Again, even with the success of "BP3", Jay's not making that money because of album sales. It's the international tour, the 40/40 nightclub chain, the Broadway show "Fela!" and the share in the New Jersey Nets that's making the trips to the island possible. Notice a theme here?

On a larger scale, the one thing all the biggest acts have in common is an enormous tour following. Just take U2. The average ticket for one of their shows cost $94. Multiply that by the 50,000 person arenas they can pack, times a 90-stop worldwide tour, and Forbes reports that they cleared $130 million from touring alone. As Gary Bongiovanni, the editor of Pollstar, a concert trade publication said, "In today's world artists have to tour to make money because they can't just sit at home and collect their royalties and expect to make their mortgage payments." The Bongiovannister doesn't lie.

But there's bad news on the horizon there too. Ticket sales have fallen 17% over the last year because of the recession and increasingly impressive home entertainment systems; do you really want to pay $100 for a U2 ticket when you can watch the tour DVD on your enormous flat-screen in your underwear? Maybe, but it's a lot closer than it was ten years ago.

In other words, if rappers really want to make that major, major money, they have to operate less like a musician, and more than a corporation. Or as Jay would put it, you can't be a businessman, you've got to be a business, man. Actually, considering the rankings, I should probably close with a Beyonce quote instead: "Stop the track, let me state facts / I told you give me a minute and I'll be right back / Fifty million round the world / and they said I couldn't get it."

That's more like it.

[Dubby]

topic is rinsed

And speaking of Rinse

Is it just me or has their stream and podcast download connection been extremely sh*t as of late?

[Black Ant]

Rinse has been sh*t for about 2/3 months

[spiderman]

topic is rinsed

And speaking of Rinse

Is it just me or has their stream and podcast download connection been extremely sh*t as of late?

they say they are upgrading.

its cos there is too many people who lock on now and the server cant take it.

[DJ Stashman]

i remember when Grime (lets be clear the sound was called sublow before it was labelled grime) was nothing.

When you sprinkle commercial dust (e.g fashion) over anything of course its going to become mainstream. There are so many different genres out there that are not exposed enough and pirate radio is rinsing the same sh*t and not doing what it was doing back in 1980-2000 and is bowing down to record companies and not people doing different things. Dubstep is being rinsed so much its already become commercial. Not enough ballsy people in the industry right now if you ask me.

[FANTA]

cant wait till grime isnt trendy anymore.

[Guest Esquilax]

cant wait till grime isnt trendy anymore.

It kind of isn't though

The more bait stuff is trendy but a lot of it will remain undiscovered IMO

Unless I'm wrong and the hipsters are listening to the old stuff

[Guest WAVESURFER]

Yeah I don't think grime is trendy any more tbh.

[MARVELL]

streets said it all. supermalt talked way too much, comparing U2 to grime artists is silly.

the breakout grime artists mainstream today are just following the same tired formula US HH has been using

but with a lot less versatility, quality, and money behind them. HH is slowly dying, currently in a coma

but the teeny bopper rappers we have today going mainstream will do well, on a decent level.

i dont know why everyone expects some sort of global domination, from these artists.

its a career everyone gets into so as to make a good living out of it. and you cant say they arent doing that rigt now

[Dubby]

grime isn't trendy, dunno who told you it was

it was labelled Sublow/Eski/8bar before it was grime wasn't it?

[Guest WAVESURFER]

Only person I really remember calling it sublow was Jon E Cash.

[Dubby]

probably woulda been more trendy if the name Sublow stuck

but yeah, reminds me Jon E Cash was supposed to be re-releasing his old catalogue

[DJ Stashman]

jon e cash / alias/ terror danjah , biggest producers in 2003/2004.

check the catalogue

[Guest Yilmaz]

streets said it all. supermalt talked way too much, comparing U2 to grime artists is silly.

the breakout grime artists mainstream today are just following the same tired formula US HH has been using

but with a lot less versatility, quality, and money behind them. HH is slowly dying, currently in a coma

but the teeny bopper rappers we have today going mainstream will do well, on a decent level.

i dont know why everyone expects some sort of global domination, from these artists.

its a career everyone gets into so as to make a good living out of it. and you cant say they arent doing that rigt now