UK Artists’ Music Videos – What is the Future?

The Grime scene has largely developed and come a long way in the last 10 years.  With its growth artists are becoming increasingly present visually thanks to social media such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.  Sites such as YouTube make it easier for artists to post videos and share with the whole world their talent.  The underground UK music industry has also developed and elements such as a music video direction has become easier to produce and more professional.  This brings me to my point, where is the future of Grime/UK Rap videos headed?

A recent video of a well known UK Rap artist features scantily clad women dancing around the male artist and a big expensive car.  The music video itself follows a typical US style rap formula and famous US rapper lyrics which makes me question is this the future of Grime/UK rap artists as the scene progresses?  It is obvious that with musical fame and progression the money will follow and so will material goods such as flashy cars and glamorous females.

So where does that leave Grime and Grime Music videos?  I argue that we should not look to the US when making our music videos.  Grime came from the streets of London and one of the reasons that it is so successful is that it is home grown and we can feel proud like it’s something we have nurtured.  The British have always had a gritty approach to films unlike big Hollywood blockbusters and we do not tend to gloss over the mundane or struggles in life - take Eastenders and Coronation Street for example.  The US is built on a very different system with the American Dream which encourages the notion of opportunities.

British rap artists have imitated and looked to the US in the past for inspiration and I am sorry to say that UK Rap has not really worked out for us.  In my eyes the reason is simple, it is not home grown, it is not our own.  The US do Rap and Hip-Hop so well and for a British artist to compare, well it’s a bit like the HTC phone and iPhone.  It’s never quite good enough.

Don’t get me wrong there are many talented British artists out there who are shining through and standing tall for the UK. But these artists have done it their way, in an individual and honest British way.  In my eyes an upcoming British Grime artists will stand out far more than an upcoming British Rap artist.

This is why I refuse to enjoy watching British artists emulating the American Dream within their videos.  Fair enough the scantily clad ladies will be here to stay and that element is worldwide.  We, here in the UK are not ‘flossy flossy’ we don’t have Hollywood smiles and American football teams so why do we need to have US style music videos.  Take example from Giggs, Skepta and Kano who keep it real in their videos even with continued success.

I’m not knocking or hating on any artists who have the US elements in their videos and neither am I hating on the US.  All I want to say is that do we really need to see it and can’t we have our own style when it comes to making videos and do we really have to look to the US?