Grime is not new to the U.K. by any means, but it’s enjoying a newfound surge in popularity. Research compiled by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) indicates that the gritty, urban genre is outperforming the rest of the market by a significant margin.
Physical sales of grime albums between May 2016 and May 2017 increased by 109%, while digital sales increased by 51% – despite an industrywide decrease in both. Year to year streams for grime are also up by 138% to just shy of 1.5 billion plays. Stormzy and Skepta appear to be leading the pack; each artist boasts an entry on the BPI’s Top 5 Albums chart and two on their Top 5 Singles chart.
A distinctively British phenomenon, grime coalesced in the early aughts with influences from U.K. garage, jungle and similar styles. Visceral, uptempo sound design elements and aggressive lyrics are common threads connecting grime releases, so its sudden mass appeal may correlate to the recent resurgence of drum and bass in England.
Overall grime now accounts for an estimated 1.6% of all album purchases, although the BPI article mentions that the challenge of properly differentiating grime from hip-hop could introduce bias to this figure.
Source: Mixmag
