Son Raw works according to his own internal logic. Slackk makes Grime, but he doesn’t make dance or rap music, the oppositional poles that form the genre’s DNA. Whereas Grime’s superstar emcees have gone on to successful careers not altogether different from American rappers, and experimental artists like Logos reformat the genre’s attitude and sounds […]

Son Raw drinks Dom Perignon. While plenty of labels are putting out fantastic Grime-related music in 2014, Local Action might be the imprint that’s best captured the genre’s overall scope. From DJ Q’s vocal Garage to Finn’s R&B-sampling choppage to Slackk’s cinematic abstraction, the label has showcased just how diverse UK music can be, hitting […]

Son Raw apparently skipped June. It’s been a heavy month (and then some) since my last Bass music wrap up, and the new wave of artists combining Jungle’s rhythmic shifts, Eski’s stark intensity, and Dubstep’s bassweight shows no sign of slacking. In fact, I had to divide this update into two posts, for fear of […]

Son Raw just left London a much poorer, and happier man. In an era of rehashed press releases and sloppily executed dance music singles, the list of music publications and record labels I find interest in is short like leprechauns. Fact Magazine and Local Action are both great examples of how to do it right, […]

Son Raw is a gawd. No pastries required. Reconfiguration is the word to play in UK dance music right now. Long past a single-genre singularity and finally distancing themselves from the post-everything soup of “Bass Music” that characterized the Dubstep diaspora, today’s producers are combining Afro-Caribbean riddims with London darkness, Grime’s sparseness to bassweight and […]