{"id":15,"date":"2018-03-18T22:31:17","date_gmt":"2018-03-18T22:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/?p=15"},"modified":"2018-05-17T11:44:20","modified_gmt":"2018-05-17T10:44:20","slug":"week-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/2018\/03\/18\/week-3\/","title":{"rendered":"English Grime Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

MALCOLM SAID IT<\/strong><\/a><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Artist:<\/strong>\u00a0 Akala<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

Country:<\/strong>\u00a0England 2013<\/span><\/h2>\n

Album:<\/strong>\u00a0The Thieves Banquet<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0A reaction by James, Sam, Kevin and Elle.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

All of these statements are true reactions to\u00a0Malcolm Said It<\/em>\u00a0by people who don\u2019t consider themselves to be professional musicians or ethnomusicologists.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Kingslee James Daley (known as Akala) is an English grime artist and rapper born in 1983. Born and raised in London, he began his rap career at the age of 20 after choosing the stage name Akala (the Buddhist term for immovable) and began releasing music under his own independent record label: Illa State records. His first mixtape was released in 2004 entitled The War Mixtape <\/em><\/a>to an underwhelming amount of success. In 2006 he released his first album, It\u2019s Not A Rumour <\/em><\/a>and this was his big break. Containing the famous song Shakespeare <\/em><\/a>(a reference to his self-proclaimed title: The Black Shakespeare \u2013 which has been incredibly controversial), he was played on BBC Radio 1<\/a> and he won a MOBO award for Best Hip Hop Act<\/a>. Akala has released four more albums, all to varying success with his central focus becoming a political voice for the people. His third album Doublethink <\/em><\/a>underlines George Orwell\u2019s 1984<\/em>\u2019<\/a>s messages and highlights the governmental control of the people. More than anything, Akala has become a political activist who also writes music, using his songs to put across his messages\u2026 In May 2017, during the general election, Akala displayed his support for Jeremy Corbyn<\/a> stating that \u00a0\u2018perhaps for the first time in British history, someone I would consider to be a fundamentally decent human being has a chance of being elected\u2019.<\/p>\n

Malcolm Said It <\/strong>is the 5th<\/sup> song on Akala\u2019s fourth album The Thieves Banquet <\/strong>which was released in May of 2013. One of the albums most popular songs, it highlights the politically driven themes which are present upon the album. The opening lyrics which repeat with the same beat \u2018Malcolm said it, Martin Said it, Marley said it, Ali said it\u2019 use black political activists to underline the overt message of the song: \u2018if you ain\u2019t found something to die for, you\u2019ll never live\u2019. The song not only provides a commentary upon the government and their treatment of the black community, but also upon society\u2019s ability to ignore corruption and do nothing about it. He finishes the song accusing the ones with \u2018the bigger weapons\u2019 as being \u2018the bigger terrorists\u2019, underlining his final message that the Western world are to blame for this view because they do nothing to stop it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh my God, I know Akala!\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Mills <\/strong>is a History student at Newcastle University.<\/p>\n

Without knowing anything:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh my God, I know Akala. If you know the UK Grime scene, you know this guy, he\u2019s everywhere. He’s a political activist who puts his message out with his song. I\u2019m surprised you chose this song, it\u2019s not one of his most well-known ones, but it\u2019s got a really strong message behind it. \u2018If you ain\u2019t got nothing to die for you never lived\u2019, which is completely true. I think the problem with Akala is his messages are always so aggressively put across that it tends to put a lot of people off his music and therefore off the message, doing the exact opposite to what he wants. Also, in terms of Grime \u2013 it\u2019s my favourite genre to listen to – the song itself is nothing special\u2026 Actually it\u2019s probably a lot more basic than other grime. His rhyme scheme doesn\u2019t flow as well as other artists who are putting out the same message, so he\u2019s not as mainstream\u2026 If any grime is mainstream? He also name drops himself in his own music a lot, which I’m not particularly keen on.<\/p>\n

After being informed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I knew a lot of what you just told me before but it does underline one thing\u2026 Grime in the UK is underrated. It was created here, it thrives here, it tells an important story but it\u2019s so often overlooked for music that is more easy-listening. Commentary on the government is an ever-present theme in grime, but the way Akala turns this back on the people as opposed to being with the people is something different\u2026 And something that listeners may not have liked, which is probably why it has so few views.
\n
\n\u2018We\u2019re just too interested in the top 100 to care about music with a message\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elle Money<\/strong> is an Economics student at Newcastle University.<\/p>\n

Before knowing anything:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grime is so clever. The way in which they manipulate words is to have so many different meanings whilst having one overarching meaning is just astounding to me. As soon as the song started I was hooked. In fact, by just the name itself I was hooked. The beat was intense and the way his voice interacted with the beat was like nothing I\u2019ve heard before. Yes, it was repetitive, but I think it needed to be that way because it was almost like he was getting the message into our heads that way. I am slightly unsure as to what the overall message of the song was, because from the video it was wither black rights or governmental fraud\u2026 But that confused message kind of undermined it for me. Why not just create two songs; one about the government and one about black rights? I\u2019m sure there was a reason for it but to me, the message got lost along the way.<\/p>\n

After being informed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

He had to be from London, where else do grime artists come from? I\u2019m surprised the song isn\u2019t more popular if I\u2019m honest, particularly considering the political upheaval we\u2019ve been in recently, I would have thought more people (especially the young) would have been drawn to this kind of music. I assume we\u2019re just too interested in the top 100 to care about music with a message. Even after it\u2019s been explained to me, I still am unsure of the overall message which he\u2019s trying to tell, but I think he is too. He\u2019s trying to push as many messages onto the listener as possible in a short space of time, and it\u2019s effective, but only because of the beat. I think without the hook and the chorus, the song would lose a lot of it\u2019s intended meaning upon the listener.<\/p>\n

\u2018One of the best Grime artists around\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kevin Nika<\/strong> is a Bartender.<\/p>\n

Before knowing anything:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Akala. I already know him. I know him well. We come from the same place, you know? We grew up in the same neighbourhood. Everything he experienced, I experienced too\u2026 Kind of\u2026 He\u2019s black and I\u2019m Albanian, so we experienced different sorts of racism, but racism all the same. I think he\u2019s one of the best artists in the country right now because everything he says is relevant and resonates with me. I think this is one of this best songs as well because it isn\u2019t focussed on England like his other songs. Yeah he talks of the \u2018corrupt government\u2019 but who knows which corrupt government. My favourite line is \u2018who leads? It don\u2019t matter they can’t make change\u2019 because it\u2019s true. No one is in power\u2026 The people question you and you question the people. There\u2019s a good beat and hook to this song as well which isn\u2019t always there in Grime, it can be hard to access because it\u2019s quite an internal form of artistry, but I think Akala makes it accessible.<\/p>\n

After being informed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Western world are to blame. That\u2019s his point. And he\u2019s completely right. To be honest, I get behind everything that Akala says because he means what he\u2019s talking about. It isn\u2019t like he stops rapping and stops caring like so many artists\u2026 He goes out and speaks to people and tries to get the message out. I know Akala isn\u2019t as popular as other Grime artists out there, like Dizzee Rascal and Stormzy, but are they really grime anymore? They seem more concerned with money and grime isn\u2019t about the money \u2013 grime is about the message.
\n
\n\u2018I don\u2019t think he does enough name dropping?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sam Bant<\/strong> is a Drama and Theatre student at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama<\/p>\n

Without knowing anything:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I guess I can find it in myself to appreciate the message and video that comes with the music. The music itself doesn\u2019t appeal to me, but the video\u2026 The video I would actually describe as a work of art. If grime could be a video, it would be this. It\u2019s rough around the edges but that\u2019s what it\u2019s supposed to be and it\u2019s completely accepting of that. I really enjoy the combination of pictures and videos from both modern and older contexts because it becomes a message that\u2019s timeless. I particularly like at the end of the video where clocks and time become integrated in with the overall message because it could have so many different meanings: time is running out to change, there is always time to change or the message is timeless. All of these ideas can be applied to the video. Sorry, I got distracted with the video\u2026 But I feel as though the video tells a different story to the music although they sometimes entwine.<\/p>\n

After being informed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard the name Akala, he\u2019s a well-known Grime artist in England so I would have thought his music would have had more than a few hundred thousand views, but I suppose that\u2019s the price of being in a niche genre. The politically driven song is so fast paced that the overall message is easy to miss, I\u2019m glad that the overall message can also be found in the video. Sorry to talk about the video so much, but I think everything that Akala stands for is portrayed not only in the song but culminates in the video itself. My one criticism is this: I don\u2019t think he does enough name dropping?
\n
\nCheck out new English Grime Artists<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jammer<\/a><\/p>\n

P Money<\/a><\/p>\n

Scorcher<\/a><\/p>\n

Lady Sovereign<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MALCOLM SAID IT Artist:\u00a0 Akala Country:\u00a0England 2013 Album:\u00a0The Thieves Banquet \u00a0A reaction by James, Sam, Kevin and Elle.\u00a0 All of these statements are true reactions to\u00a0Malcolm Said It\u00a0by people who don\u2019t consider themselves to be professional musicians or ethnomusicologists.\u00a0 \u00a0 Kingslee James Daley (known as Akala) is an English grime artist and rapper born in … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “English Grime Music”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7276,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions\/169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/abrew1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}