Is this the first grime election?

Call this a massive retweet...



Not all politicians are tough on grime, tough on the causes of grime. In fact, some of them are making hopeless attempts to be down with the kids
It's normal for politicians to try and gain some cred by talking about music (who can forget Gordon Brown expressing admiration for Arctic Monkeys – aka The Day Indie Died?). But you don't really expect them to be getting down with grime artists.
That changed last week, when Nu Brand Flexx performed in front of Paxman on Newsnight with a "campaign song" for the Tories. The Conservative Party responded to these "great" beats by apparently inviting them along to play last-minute gigs in the marginals. God, politicians are cool. Or at least I think that's the point.
Not that this is the first time that grime has been used as a buzzword for politicians to convince us of their integrity on the streets; who remembers Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb last year assuring us that he was "living the grime scene" and the even more amazing fact that he could back up his words with actions (Lamb helped fundTinchy Stryder's career, through his son's record label).
More recently, John Whittingale's involvement in resolving Form 696 earned him the moniker "The Tory MP that saved grime". And, of course, there was Paxman himself asking Dizzee Rascal if he'd ever consider running for office.
But is grime really a ticket for politicians to get in with "the youth"? Hardly. In fact, assuming artists are just pawns used in a game of chess by those in power is to do them a disservice. Tomorrow's general election has spurred social commentary from noted grime bloggers like Hyperfrank, while hip-hop DJ Semtex has been tweeting on the importance of reading each party's manifesto and giving them all a fair hearing. A comedic mention must also go to grime fans blogging in support of "Liberal man Dem", a play on words that subverts the names of grime crews in support of the Lib Dems. One of the funnier vandalised Conservative election posters dong the rounds bears the caption: "David-Next Taxxx!", alluding to Tempa T's Next Hype.
Last week, Lethal Bizzle ended up riling the BNP with his tweets. The subsequent furore on their website saw his music described as a "collection of jungle noises" – and they probably weren't talking about the genre.
The point is, these bloggers and artists are taking sides regardless of which politicians are trying to strike up friendships with them. Even Patrick from Nu Brand was quick to maintain on Newsnight that: "This wasn't something to say that we particularly supported this party, it was a musical challenge." And, in case you're wondering, you won't be seeing them performing in the marginals. Apparently, the band got so much stick for their song they turned the Tories down.

via 'The Guardian'