Martin Clark from Pitchfork Magazine on Elijah & Skilliam posted January 22, 2010:Recent times haven't been good to grime DJs. Logan Sama's flagship show has been halved by Kiss; 1Xtra's Cameo plays less grime in favor of funky and bassline; and last year, Mak10 converted altogether to funky. Once you look past Maximum, Vectra, JJ, and Karnage, the number of quality grime DJs begins to fade like the distant memory of "grime vinyl" or "regular grime nights." Can grime survive thanks to only seven A-list DJs?
One man's challenge is another's opportunity: That's certainly how Rinse FM's up-and-comerrs Elijah and Skilliam see it. There may be other grime DJs on the rise-- JJ is certainly making a name for himself and Score5 is willing to mix against Spyro-- yet they're arguably working within the established mold-- getting MCs to hype their sets, working the scarce grime rave circuit, following the style of grime's established selectors.
By contrast, East London's Elijah and Skilliam may have grown up with MCs but they don't DJ with them. They also have their own style and specialize in new production talent. While their sets retain the high-octane, aggressive fire you'd expect from grime, they stay away from the hype, war, and clashing that have long served as the scene's Achille's heel. This approach might leave other would-be grime DJs baffled. How do you make a name for yourself without clashing and hype? How do you get known without MCs, long since the power brokers of the grime scene? Can you become well-known without being in a crew? Well, like Wiley says on his electro-banger "Take That", Elijah and Skilliam "have the formula" : now they're ready to party. Download their 01012010 mix for proof.
Their first move was to focus on instrumentals rather than vocals. That's not to say that they won't play grime vocals, but it's not their priority. "I love the MCs," explains Elijah. "The UK has some of the best MC talent on the planet. The top spitters here can go toe-to-toe with anyone, in any country. I focus on the instrumental side because most MCs still don't do vocal great productions. I'm not into the hype, because it is a distraction from the music."
As DJs, they mix quickly to generate their own hype: If a grime producer has left space in their arrangements for an MC, Elijah and Skilliam just mix in a new track. Their style typically sounds like the three-way midpoint between hype grime, Joker's purple wow sound, and the jump-up side of dubstep.
Rather than relying solely on established grime producers, the duo have been especially talented at bringing new producers to the fore. They point to SRC, Royal-T, D.O.K., and Swindle as well as a rejuvenated Terror Danjah as producers to watch in 2010. All of these have seen the benefits of increased exposure. Terror's retrospective on Planet Mu last year has seen his DJ bookings take off beyond London's grime scene. Swindle, remixer of Terror's best track "Zumpi Hunter", has scored an EP on Planet Mu as well. SRC will soon have an EP out on Numbers, by which point grime will be at significant risk of becoming vaguely fashionable.
A decent proportion of the credit for this should be partitioned to Elijah and Skilliam. The duo have been adept at building bridges and bypassing the confrontation that makes grime exciting from a distance but has historically threatened fruitful partnerships within the broader musical industry. "The rate that new grime producers were coming through in previous years has been appalling," explains Elijah. "I know there are loads of people in their bedrooms making grime for the love, and are not sure what to do with it because they don't know any MCs. The DJs haven't really made themselves easy to get in contact with, nor do they actively seek out and play the new ones they find. Some weeks I listen to nearly 100 new beats people sent [to me]."
They're also masters of new media tools. When grime began, the RWD magazine forum established itself as its online platform. Yet over time, it became ignored. So Elijah helped co-launch Grime Forum, which flourishes to this day. "Seeing how Grime Forum has developed in two years is amazing," enthuses Elijah. "The culture is totally different: producers are sharing their beats, DJs are sharing their mixes. and there are a lot of open-minded people supporting and spreading the word. We also have the podcast doing very well on iTunes, all helping spread the sound."
Then there's the mixes, upped to Mixcloud, his Tweets, as well as the grime blog he writes called Butterz. But there's something distinctly old media about their biggest and most exciting recent move: The creation of Butterz, a vinyl label. Grime fell out of love with vinyl when the "mixtape" era, with its high profit margins and wider appeal, was ushered in by CDs like Aim High. Its fans deserted vinyl for CD or digital. Yet in 2010 releasing vinyl is still a stamp of quality and a statement of intent about your releases: Butterz certainly has both. It's also a good way of tapping into the global club network, from which grime DJs have been sorely absent. Having Butterz 12"s in shops worldwide should help redress that balance.
The first Butterz release comes from grime production legend Terror Danjah, with "Bipolar" a swerving, Joker-influenced killer made while on the phone to Elijah. Following that comes the Quality Street EP featuring Royal T, Silencer, SRC, and Terror Danjah's remix of his own classic, "Creepy Crawler RIP". 003 will be from Swindle and 004 from the chronically underrated D.O.K. That's an impressive roster of production talent.
Last year this column covered the producer mixtape, a show of production strength that sought to redress the power balance between grime MCs and producers. In 2010, perhaps Elijah and Skilliam are beginning to redress the balance for DJs too. "Grime is about hype, I still listen to and love MCs hype," concludes Skilliam. "What we are doing goes to show that you don't necessarily need an MC to create it. Well-produced music, a good selection, and a good combination can create hype as well. Not being tied to MCs also allows for more freedom. We can play what we like rather than playing what we have to."
Elijah and Skilliam's 2010 grime producers to watch out for:
Hear beats from these producers and more on Elijah and Skilliam's "01012010" mix.
Royal-T
"He's the first person to release a tune we debuted. People may think he is a one-hit wonder with "1UP", but he made that in November 2008; since then his production level has upped. He has an old-school feeling to his beats that MCs will love, and he's building real structured tunes now so you can play them from start to finish, no loop. He is doing work with the O.Gz as well, so he is guaranteed to have really strong vocals this year as well."
SRC
"He has four records coming out in the near future. He is a beat machine, and someone I clocked because of a Facebook message. He sent about 20 instrumentals off and 'Goomba' stood out. I played it on a show I did with Rude Kid in May and since then he has been sending me about 10 beats per month. He is a perfect example of a talent that [may] have stopped if he wouldn't know what to do with all [his] beats. I'm so glad he got in touch!"
Swindle
"I got in touch when I first started on Rinse FM, because of his remix of Terror's Zumpi Hunter, but he didn't have anything else like that, I didn't understand why. I brought him onto my show in Feb 2009 we spoke (the first and only time we have met) and just spoke to him all the time trying to get him on making some grime that is only intended to be played as an instrumental. He was sending me a beat a week in September took a break in October and I think the first one he sent in November '475' I was like 'yes, this is what I've been waiting all year for.' I forwarded it to Skilliam and he gave it the nod. Got its first play out in Holland and on the first Rinse Show back Skilliam dropped it, I said this one is called 'Air Miles'. He has got a few more challenging productions coming out with us, and Planet Mu, so just listen out."
D.O.K.
"He is like Terror Danjah's evil twin. I've heard the new stuff he is making. He is quite elusive, so I doubt you will hear much direct from him, but some people should be left to focus on making the music. Hopefully we can get loads out because he makes tons."
Terror Danjah
"This will be his first year [of] focusing on his own projects. For the past seven years he has been working with [others], but it will be interesting to see what sort of stuff he makes on his own-- without an artist in mind. Now that he has a single coming with Hyperdub, I think he has the chance to give everyone a shock to their system again."
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Download Elijah & Skilliam "01012010 Mix" HERE
Swindle - Open Your Mind (Butterz)
Royal T - Hot Ones Remix (Unreleased)
Terror Danjah - Acid (Hyperdub)
Swindle - 'Trending Topic' (Butterz)
DVA feat P Money - Wind It Up (No Right Turn)
Rude Kid - Absolut Vokda (No Hats No Hoods)
DOK & Terror Danjah - Hysteria (Butterz)
Swindle - Air Miles (Planet Mu)
Silencer - Miss Asia (Wow Bass Level 3)
Joker - Output One Two (Tectonic)
Rude Kid & Terror Danjah - The Best Crawler (No Hats No Hoods)
Tempa T - Boy Off The Ting (No Hats No Hoods)
Terror Danjah - Bipolar (Butterz)
OGZ - Hot Ones (Deeco Remix)
Maniac - Lengman Tune (Unreleased)
Terror Danjah - Sidechain (Swindle Remix) (Planet Mu)
SRC - Powerman 9 (Unreleased)
DOK - Keep Making Grime (Unreleased)
Rude Kid - Electric (Earth 616)
J Beatz - Life & Death (SCUK)
Terror Danjah - Air Bubble (Butterz)
Starkey - Ok Love (Planet Mu)
????? - ?????? (Teaser)
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