For some reason, Drake and Kanye West have feinted an interest in UK hip-hop, e.g. grime music. As such there’s been something of a resurgence for the genre, now gaining something of an international recognition, wether or not grime stars and fans even care. A few of the biggest names at the forefront of this include of course, Skepta, with his ‘breakthrough’ singles That’s Not Me and Shutdown, enter his younger brother- JME.
Integrity> marks JME’s third studio album following 2010’s Blam! and has been a significant improvement speaking commercially, just missing out on the top ten at number 12, compared with Blam!’s peak at number 66. However, despite this rise in JME’s popularity, it’s good to see that he very much the same artist, refusing to stray away from his grime roots, and staying true to his artistry.
Integrity is typically grime, the instrumentals are to die for, and the musical accompaniment across the LP is begging for freestyles in mass. JME’s lyricism is as hilarious as ever, ‘I wear ski-boots at festivals’, his 360/FPS/COD/MMO/XP/MC referencing genius on the aptly titled Game, marks for one of the project’s many highlights.
Integrity has come at a perfect time for grime music, with its popularity on the up, one of the scene’s most prolific and consistent figures drops an integral album, perfect for the new-found fanbase to sample. ‘If it ain’t broke it don’t need fixing // I ain’t broke so I won’t make a shit single, it’s a joke // man’s putting out music like a hoax.’ The grime scene is built on lines like this- witty, direct, no flares, on the most part, Integrity encapsulates where grime is in 2015 with reportable synchronisation.
Verdict – WWW