Album Review: Grime 2.0 by Various Artists

Grime is central to British hip-hop, a brilliant evolution of - and fusing with - that country's electronic underworld. Though it experienced a rise and subsequent decline in mainstream popularity (consider the international renown of Dizzee Rascal), grime's been growing since it spewed like acrid bile from beneath Britain's already unrepentant underground over a decade ago. Big Dada's two-disc compilation features the best and brightest in global production.

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It’s a decade since grime – one of the most innovative and experimental of all genres – bubbled up from London’s council estates and overflowed into the mainstream. With Dizzee leading the charge, the transition opened the door for a handful of MCs like Tinchy Stryder and Tinie Tempah to reclaim Britrap as a primetime concern. But it was at a cost.With every Calvin Harris collab attributed to a former grime MC, the scene floundered, and the promise of this complex new sound and its under-represented point of view coming from a marginalised corner of British society was sidelined in favour of making quick bucks with pop hooks.

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As the name suggests, Grime 2. 0 is a document of the second coming of the titular genre, the bombastic, sinister and often violent voice of the UK underground (which has, as this release makes clear, gone worldwide). Compiled by legendary writer and A&R Joe Muggs for ever-cutting-edge Ninja Tune subsidiary label Big Dada, Grime 2.

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Since day one (or close to it), grime has been dogged with a reputation for being unsafe, unstable or inconsistent. According to critics, it's been on the cusp of resurfacing for years now—on life support and waiting for a saviour—but in truth there's always been a lot going on, you just have to know where to look. Labels like Butterz and No Hats No Hoods have been proving its continued relevance for years.

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