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Research Investigation

Research Investigation

I have chosen to research How UK Rap/Grime has influenced youths 'in particular Grime music'. Throughout my investigation I will concentrate on the way U.K artists are being portrayed in the media, embedded in my investigation there are many themes, topics such as violence, crime, sex and power are often shown in many of today's music.

"I’m sick and tired of hearing U.K Hip-Hop doesn't get credit and success when I am working to get it for myself and others" Estelle.

East London is known for its cultural diversity and is the place grime originated from. This is reflected in the musical taste of the local area. The combination of the various sounds assisted in the creation of a new genre, grime an amalgamation of drum 'n' bass, garage, hip-hop, Jamaican dance-hall, reggae and techno.

This is UK Grime, is a good overview of the modern “grime scene” the former political stance that was held by many grime artists has since changed into a competition between rival artists, It features most of the front-line artists who made the genre what it is over the past decade names such as JME, Skepta, Ghetts, Badness, Blacks, Mz Bratt and many others including a often controversial lyricist, Crazy Titch, with a song that he recorded whilst in jail serving a 30 year sentence for a fatal shooting which seemingly took place in an over exaggerated dispute over lyrics.

"Grime artists are helping to create a culture were killing is almost a fashion accessory." Kim Howells (Former Minister) 2007

Hip/Hop Rap and Grime have endured much criticism over the years, this has been seen especially from politicians,in 2003 a government official named David Blunkett described rap lyrics as "appalling" he went on to say those who made music which glamorised gun violence would be made aware of "what is and isn't acceptable", others agree with Blunketts view, former minister Kim Howells refers to influential artists in the Grime/Rap community as "boasting macho idiot rappers".

Jeff Chang stated in an article in The Village Voice "Dizzee Rascals often violent and sexual lyrics capture, encapsulate, and preserve" the life that myself and my peers live on the streets every day.

 BBC1 Radio 1xtra has often promoted grime in a good light its fire in the booth edition of its shows often draws millions of listeners and viewers on YouTube who can relate directly to the music and live similar or identical lives to those that they idolise, Radio 1xtra in 2012 release a show dedicated to the last 10 years of grime.

Artist Such as Lethal Bizzle, Dizzie Rascal and JME have been accused of promoting violence, David Cameron commented on Radio 1's music policy for Saturday nights known for Tim Westwood's hip-hop show and implied that the music contributed to the country's increasing problem of knife and gun crime. Bizzle came to his friend's defense with a joint venture to solve the problem and limit the language allowed to be used pre-watershed . He received a positive reply from Cameron's correspondence secretary, who reasoned with the rapper.

"David believes there is a lot of good music out there, and some musicians have been very positive role models and have highlighted important issues." 

Although the argument seemed over, days later, after Cameron launched a direct attack on the U.K based rapper in The Mail on Sunday, claiming Bizzle was talking "rubbish". in response to Cameron's statements Lethal Bizzle was quoted to have said

"[Cameron's comments] really peed me off. You've got big people like Cameron who can make a difference, and you've got me trying to help people... trying to get them out of the hood and pursue a career, give them a little future, something for them to look forward to doing and getting their lives in order. You've got people like Cameron who can really press the button and he's... doing nothing." 

Glossary

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01gnsy2 (Radio 1xtra 10 years of grime)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2632343.stm (David blunkett)
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/hiphop-under-fire-404145.html(davu

Casa Grande

Kaylon Amure

CASA GRANDE REVIEW

Casa Grande is a film set in Brazil in and around the city of Rio de Janerio. A story about class, race, fear of the unknown and ‘coming of age’ the film tries to rebel against the normal conventional Brazil based films, instead of showing the favelas and poverty the film director (Fellipe Barbosa) tries to focus on the problems higher up the class-chain and gives an insight into why Brazil may be the way it is today.

The main protagonist seventeen year old Jean (played by Thales Cavalcanti) is born into wealth and does not have to face a lot of the problems faced by everyday people, and has his world turned upside down when his family faces bankruptcy Jean struggles to come to turns with the changes in his life this is shown in a scene where he argues with his friend about money his father owes his friend’s father, this may show that the upper class in Brazil are shielded from the struggles that are faced by the inhabitants of the favelas and areas of poverty in Rio and are not used to not being able to pay someone back borrowed money as they usually do not have to borrow money.

Education is a key subject in this film as the separation of upper class white individuals from lower class coloured individuals is shown in various different ways one of the main ways is the many heated conversations about the quota system (which allow a small amount of students from public schools to go to the best universities and stop them from joining gangs and enables them to find jobs), this shows the fear that is conveyed by the upper class individuals as the quota systems would allow public school children to have just as much priority to get into a public university as private school kids. 

Jean has an edgy relationship with his family, it is very obvious that he is closer to the people who are outside of his family (the workers), for example a frequently used establishing shot of the gate and the big house show workers each morning coming to work in his home, however as the film progresses each time the shot is shown the amount of workers diminishes until there are none left, this visibly hurts Jean as he feels as if he has no one left to speak to In his home.

The most important aspect of this film is the ending, after all the events that have happened Jean still feels closer to the workers that used to work for his family he then goes to see them instead of doing his examination, this shows that even though that isn’t his family he feels closer to them than his and felt so strongly he potentially ruined his education which is what seems to be most important to his parents, his constant advances on the maid are finally accepted and he sleeps with her, the ending shows us his journey is over and that he has finally become a man of some sorts. The film camera shot of a mid-angle still shot with a cut to black is a good way to end the film as it enables to viewer to create an ending themselves however not answering many questions the viewers have.

Proposal

How the influence of UK Rap/Grime on young generations has been represented in the media

History

As in the US, the British Hip Hop emerged as a scene from graffiti and breakdancing, and then through to DJing and rapping live at parties and club nights, with its supporters predominantly listening to and influenced by American hip hop. Unlike in the US, the British hip hop scene was cross-racial from the beginning. This is due to the fact that various ethnic groups in Britain tend to not live in segregated areas.

In the mid-1990’s hip hop in the UK started to experiment and diversify often transforming into different genres entirely, such as trip hop, Knowledge, was England's first documented rapper While many rappers such as Derek B begin by imitating the styles and accents of their U.S. rap stars, attempts were made by U.K. rappers to develop styles more obviously rooted in British linguistic practices - Rodney P of the London Posse deliberately chose a London accent.



Following a large interest from major record labels in the 1980’s the British rap industry began to grow, artists began rapping trying to emulate American hip hop artists, artists and groups such as Adam and the Ants, Wham and Malcolm McLaren all attempted to emulate the popular American genre however only a few solely rap and hip hop artist where in the U.K at the time, with artists such as Newtrament and Mc Kermit.

Videos

Caveman where the first UK hip hop group to be signed by a major record label in the UK active between 1990-1992 they released various underground single. The group consisted of the artists MCM ,The Principal and Diamond J.

Shotty Horror is a U.K grime/rap artist that was promoted heavily by Don't Flop (a rap battle contest in the U.K) he became one the most watched rap battles on don't flop, considered a 'up and coming artist' in the underground scene, he was voted Dont Flops best rapper of the year 2012* often raps with violent notations however he references to his life a lot and has a very                  wide and fan base.

How Things have changed

The media has helped the change and increasing popularity of British Hip Hop and Rap artists in the UK, 'gangster rap' no longer is considered the cause of crime, and has helped artists become known in the UK, current rap and Hip Hop artists have achieve their goals because of the vast media available to them, that wasn't available in the 90's and early 2000's,websites such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Vine, Tumblr and many others, this has enabled many everyday people to become know

SBTV the YouTube based music promotion channel is one the best examples as it has not only developed greatly into a profit making business, founded by Jamal Edwards it has discovered and promoted 'undiscovered talents' ,artists of the likes of Ed Sheeran, Devlin and Youngen all UK based artists have made their claim to fame by appearing on their channel . It also has TV promotion such as Channel AKA which also has the profile of British hip hop and grime. Radio stations such as BBC 1xtra and Choice FM this is where majority of young people listen to their music and stay updated on what is happening in the industry and what is expected to come up next for the mainstream

How have the younger generation of the U.K Rap/Grime/Hip Hop industry been represented in the media ?

Due to the often violent and homogeneous themes frequently heard in the lyrics of today's musicians, themes such as murder, drug dealing, and 'the hard life' are often construed to be a direct cause of the way the younger generation of today's society behave and act. However because certain styles and storytelling telling have proven to be profitable this caused them to therefore be imitated exhaustively.

While the grime and rap scene show many images of 'black' rage towards police and the government, over the last few years it has become normalized, validating mainstream stereotypes of young people. how ever due to these stereo types it has enabled the media to create a false view on the younger generation.

On the other hand due to the increase in social networking sites and TV programs orientated around music it has enabled many young musicians to 'break' on to the scene, YouTube channels such as SBTV, Link Up TV, Don't Flop and JDZ Media have received a lot of good coverage in the media as it has allowed the voiceless youth to express themselves through music, mainly rappers rapping about the hard life on the streets and dealing drugs to make money, it has allowed them to get off the streets and do something more productive with their time.

As a frequent listener to this genre of music i believe that despite lyrics being orientated mainly towards violence, money and sex, that the artists in the genre that promote peace  (and rap about the the political oppression that they feel they are subjected to) such as Lowkey and Akala are forgotten as the majority do not rap about the same topics, this has proven to be quite popular among viewers as both videos have over 2 million view each. i find that due to the increasing violence that the media are using the influence that Hip/Hop music as a scapegoat when in fact it is more likely that youths are being exposed to increasing violence themes from a young age. 

               Lowkey                                    Akala