the problem with grime now is it just doesnt know what it wants to be. i find most of the tunes im hearing now not fast enough. theyre not really hip hop per se, but theyre not really uptempo either, which was the thing that previously made it defiantly 'not' hip hop. so you just have this wavering in-limbo sound thats not quite hip hop, not quite grime, which sounds like a copout. thats not new in grime but it seems to have affected 90% of the genre now. so you just have all these tracks made by guys that are aware the scene isnt going to blow up like they thought, so they seem to be retreating into the perceived safety of urrrrban mainstream hip hop/R&B type stuff (a lot of the interviews i read, artists seem to be encouraging the idea that you need more sing a long hooks, more glamour, more radio friendliness, where is the hardcore attitude?!) but keeping a little of the 'griminess' just in case anyone says theyre imitating which is neither here nor there. you can say its great now cos its so diverse and its all over the map etc etc but for a scene this small, that just seems to equal fragmented, unsure of where its going and lacking much of a cohesive identity. the collective forward momentum is nowhere to be found. even rules and regulations, i find it a bit dissapointing so many tracks are in that 65/130bpm mould. you can say they just FEEL 65bpm when really theyre 130 but all that half time thing can be a bit annoying IMO, i personally like the tunes to FEEL fast. i dont need another uk hip hop scene. i hate to say it but im starting to think blissblogger might have been right.