Coming Straight Outta Phoenix-Meet Grime By Davey D / Breakdown FM

When we think of Arizona, we don’t often associate it with Hip Hop. There have been a few instances in the past but they never really stuck. For example, some of y’all may recall when Bay Area artists like Rappin’ 4Tay attempted to bridge the two regions with an album project featuring rappers from both regions.

We also know that Arizona is just a 4 hour drive to LA, however, there hasn’t been much of presence felt in Hollywood or Compton by our Grand Canyon state brethren.

Most people’s association of Arizona and Hip Hop came when Public Enemy recorded the song ‘By The Time I Get to Arizona’ , where they took issue with the state for refusing to honor Dr Martin Luther King’s birthday/holiday. PE caused big time controversy when they released a video showing a Sentator’s car being blown up.

But in all fairness, that was back in the days. Nowadays Arizona, especially Phoenix and Tempe are Hip Hop hotspots. Many underground/backpack acts have the state and its various cities as A-List stops. Chicano/Latino rap is huge in the region with cats making big time money on the independent tip. Commercial Hip Hop is blowing up as G-Unit and Game have both signed talent from the area. Most notable is an artists signed to G-Unit called Hot Rod.

Also blowing up the spot is a rapper named Grime. He comes to the table with swagger and a hardcore revolutionary spirit that’s so hard we began to wonder how such an oppressive state allows him to stay there.

Grime is no joke with his lyrics and breakdown of political situations. He starts off each show by hanging the American flag upside down and then he lets lose with an audio arsenal that includes songs like ‘Let Freedom Ring w/ a Buckshot’ ‘Everywhere is War,’ ‘Hell’ and the BB King inspired ‘The Thrill is Gone’.

We caught up with Grime during the recent ‘Rock The Bells’ concert in Southern Cali and we had a good conversation about politics, the Hip Hop scene in Phoenix and the overt corruption our country shares with his place of origin, Pakistan.

Grime is a much needed breath of fresh air in a world full of stale, recycled, clichéd Hip Hop. His beats are nice, his flow is on point and his lyrics are pure butter. Grime is one of the many vying to permanently put Arizona on the map.