As far as the United Kingdom is concerned, grime has been one of music's most predominant cultures for over a decade. Take Dizzee Rascal: he's performed at the Brits, his debut album trumped both Radiohead and Coldplay to win the Mercury Prize in 2003 (the most critically renowned music award in the UK), and he's had several number one singles.
In the States, however, they're only just starting to figure out this grime thing. What is it and how are these people rapping so fast, they're saying. Is there more to this than just Skepta? Who is "peng" and who is "gash"? It's like if people in the United Kingdom were only now coming round to the likes of 50 Cent, Eminem and Ja Rule, ten years after they ruled USA's culture.
While taste is subjective, I guess the one thing the Yanks are missing from grime is the context. When you learn the history behind a genre, the things that make it tick, where it's come from and what it means to the people who make it, it's probable you'll begin to understand it. Maybe even like it. At the least, it won't be dismissed. It's that necessary context that has helped the States come round to Future and Thugga's sound. By having a complicit knowledge of Atlanta, trap-houses, the Dungeon Family, Lil Wayne, the entire back catalogue of US hip hop et al, their music makes much more sense. Suddenly, Thugga and Future aren't a bunch of guys yelling and shrieking. The music has deep meaning and resonates with a certain audience.
As grime continues to move toward the international appraisal that it's long been due, it's perhaps timely that Dizzee Rascal appeared on American radio show Sway in the Morning to give that necessary history lesson. The host, Sway, has lots of questions: like "Who is Wiley?" or "Who is Roll Deep?" or "What is grime?" If you're based in the United Kingdom and weren't old enough to bare witness to grime the first time round or an American just finding out about it, the interview is prescribed watching. By the end, we're also treated to Dizzee's take on the infamous "Five Fingers of Death" challenge, where he freestyles over five different instrumentals. Watch both below.