The State of the Scene: A Match Made in Heaven – Drum & Bass Meets Grime

Drum & Bass is a constantly changing genre. Its current iteration is easily distinguishable from previous ones: within the last couple of years, we’ve seen artists like Sota and Basstripper driving the genre forward, introducing new, ‘futuristic’ sounds to the sonic palate. And, very quickly, songs begin to sound dated. This is not unique to Drum & Bass: it’s inherent to electronic music. But it does mean that often without noticing, we are always witnessing some sort of evolution within the genre. Simultaneously, we are seeing an explosion in the popularity of Drum & Bass, which has tempted artists from a swathe of genres to join the movement. The most recent example is noughties girl group The Sugababes, who, on Friday 30th August, dropped their collaboration with A Little Sound, ‘Situation’ (a rework of the group’s 2000 release ‘Overload’). But over the last few years, it’s rappers that we have most commonly seen collaborating with established Drum & Bass producers. It’s become so common now that you could legitimately declare the emergence of a new sub-genre: the love-child of Drum & Bass and Grime.

Granted, the presence of lyricists within Drum & Bass is by no means a novelty. Traditionally, the culture has always relied on the skills of MCs, especially in live environments, but what we’ve seen in recent years is different. With grime artists joining the scene for the first time, the majority are releasing fully produced songs, with written lyrics throughout. By contrast, MCs have typically improvised live in the rave, giving a different feel to their collaborations with producers.

The single best, and most exciting example of this is Chase & Status’ newest release ‘Backbone’, with Stormzy, arguably the UK’s most famous rapper. Having been teased and rumoured for months, the single was eventually released in early August 2024, and performed, by the rapper himself, in front of 45,000 ravers for the producers’ biggest ever headline show, at the Milton Keynes Bowl the following weekend. The song serves as a showpiece, the pinnacle of the fortunate, developing marriage between Drum & Bass and Grime. Because Stormzy is not the first Grime artist to dabble in Drum & Bass.

The relationship between the two has developed in the space of the last few years, driven by pioneers like P Money, who is now one of the most established rappers in the Drum & Bass world. Gaining notoriety in the early 2010s as a grime MC, P Money first jumped on a Drum & Bass tune in 2019, collaborating with Kanine on ‘Point ‘Em Up’. He went on to team up with British producer Whiney, with whom he has now released a whole host of songs, including October 2023’s collaborative album ‘Streets, Love & Other Stuff’. Consisting of 14 songs, the album represents the coming together of the two influences beautifully – the lead track ‘175 x 140’ is indicative of this clash of cultures, beginning in the tempo typical of Grime and building seamlessly into the faster tempo of Drum & Bass. Throughout the song P brags of his multi-genre ability, and the success of the new sound developing out of the two influences. “175 or 140 I’m a Grime MC on DnB”, he raps. “They ain’t got this sound boy, this is one of a kind. They ain’t ready for this, this is D&B and Grime”, he repeats throughout. The pair have taken their album around the world, touring with Hospitality in Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia. 

And P Money seems to have paved the way for other grime artists to follow. Within the same album, high-speed rapper Ocean Wisdom features on ‘Junkyard’, while P appeared on stage with JME, Dizzee Rascal and D Double E during Turno’s Drumsheds set back in November 2023. Clips circulated from the set showing grime legend JME spitting lyrics from one of his biggest songs That’s Not Me (2014).

Within the scene as a whole, there are already a healthy number of well-established lyricists, including some who deviate from the traditional role of an MC. Rappers like Duskee, Bru-C and Degs have strong foundations in the Drum & Bass world, and new artists like Songer (with his recent collaborations with K Motionz, Issey Cross and Bru-C) are joining the fold. But the introduction of those coming from the world of grime is contributing to the development of something special. An aggressive yet skilful twist on the up-tempo beats of Drum & Bass is being produced by adding the Grime flavour to the Drum & Bass recipe: the hard-hitting lyrics of grime laid over the heavy-hitting sounds of DnB is evidently a match made in heaven. It remains to be seen how far this crossover will be taken. While it’s unlikely that a world-famous rapper like Stormzy will double down on his successful DnB debut any time soon, there is certainly the opportunity for this developing sub-genre to grow. P Money will certainly continue to carry the torch as Grime’s ambassador to Drum & Bass, and it’s not out of the question that more artists of his ilk might be tempted to join the movement. Whatever happens, the future of Drum & Bass is exciting and inevitably diverse.