◄Previous: 4 Grime music reception in the UK

# 4.1 Wot Do U Call It?

Grime’s roots lie in London’s marginalised Black youth, for whom rapping and producing music in their bedrooms was a vehicle through which creativity could be explored and expressed, while reflecting on day-to-day experiences in their lyrics. Media representations of grime have associated it with anti-social behaviour and gang violence, and this is partly a result of some artists being convicted of crimes coupled with lyrics often evoking themes of violence, conflict and boisterous masculinity. It is important to remember that media representations – whether written articles or news reports – act as sources of information and require a critical eye to assess their perspective, and the following section examines this further.

While grime is by no means the only musical genre to openly discuss violence (opera and death metal are obvious examples that deal with this subject matter too), the ambiguity as to whether this is figurative or literal has caused debate amongst both its supporters and opponents. A detailed examination of the lyrical content of much grime music highlights a great deal of word play and comical, non-violent themes, further challenging the genre’s violent associations. A pertinent example of this is found in Wiley’s ‘Wot Do U Call It?’ (2004), a response to the new musical style not being garage yet still not having a name. The media, similarly, did not know what to call it, though began to describe the music as grime due to the ‘hard-hitting’ lyrics and ‘dark beats’ (Target, 2018, pp. 118–119). Activity 6 explores ‘Wot Do U Call It?’ as a primary source.

## Activity 6 Responding to ‘Wot Do U Call It?’

Timing: Allow around 20 minutes to complete this activity.

Find a recording of ‘Wot Do U Call It?’ online. Wiley is known as the Godfather of grime, and this song is considered an example of the genre. Listen to it, paying close attention to the lyrics. You will note the word ‘Eski’ is used. This is a shortening of the term Eskimo, an outdated and offensive term. Wiley’s use of the word is not intended to be offensive, though ‘Eskibeat’ was the name that he initially gave to this new style of music as he thought it was ‘cold’ sounding. The musical style and word play that you will hear are typical of grime.

Write down your response to the music and its lyrical content. You should focus on how you might describe the sounds you can hear, what the lyrics are talking about and how they are saying it.

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### Discussion

Repetitive beats with heavy bass and synthesiser sounds act as a backdrop for lyrics delivered in a frenetic yet playful, conversational style. Lyrics are repeated in different contexts and words extended into phrases in a way that at times feels like a combination of free association and stream of consciousness. Wiley frequently uses words and phrases where the meaning is not obvious, such as ‘Get sharp like a knife in the sheath, Stay sharp like a knife cutting beef, Cut the strings, there’s no grief, If you don’t cut the strings there’s more grief’. In the context of this song, I interpreted this as the difficult situation that Wiley found himself in making his new style of music, and how that can be problematic with relation to audiences new and old. Extending this further, the lyrics appear to address the problem of finding a sense of place and identity for the music as a result of exploring a new style. Notably, Wiley delivers the rap in his East London accent.

‘Wot Do U Call It?’ is interesting in that it deals directly with the concept of reception, specifically how the new genre that Wiley was developing was received by those who encountered it. It also highlights a number of stylistic traits that permeate grime music, such as the use of language that is specific to the culture and environment of grime artists and audiences. For example, ‘Roll Deep’ refers to Roll Deep Crew, the grime collective founded by Wiley. As mentioned in Activity 6, the repeated use of ‘Eskimo’ and ‘Eski’ refers to ‘Eskibeat’, the style of music Wiley created that would later become known as grime, marking his transition away from ‘garage’, ‘jungle’ and ‘drum and bass’ music. As also mentioned above, the rap is delivered in an East London accent, which is a characteristic feature of grime that marks a noticeable break away from the style of delivery found in North American hip hop, though there are many examples of artists (e.g. Stormzy) from other areas of London. These traits make for a musical style that among members of its community feels very localised. However, the specific social knowledge that is drawn upon could equally alienate a listener, thus affecting the music’s reception. This is something that is easily true of a lot of music, especially where lyrics are involved.

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