New grime collective Norf Face have just dropped a ‘Size? Sessions’ set for Rinse FM, following on from the self-titled debut album that the quartet released last month. The set begins with ‘Baitest Sound’ and ‘More’, two singles taken from the recent LP.
This collective is comprised of grime legends and Boy Better Know members Frisco, JME, and Shorty, alongside hungry grime newcomer Capo Lee. All four artists are linked together by their upbringing in Tottenham, an area of London that became synonymous with Grime because of BBK and is now becoming synonymous with drill because of OFB.
Although many of the biggest UK rap artists, including Skepta, Stormzy, and Ghetts, came up on grime, a large majority of these MCs have since experimented with different sounds and tempos away from the genre. Frisco, JME, and Shorty are three artists that never really chose to do so, whilst Capo Lee is one of the artists that has really re-invigorated the grime sound in recent times.
The grime collective’s recent set for Rinse FM awakens the raw energy captured by the genre’s early pioneers (N.B. pioneers which include Frisco, JME, and Shorty). The set runs for over thirteen minutes and sees the four MCs go back-to-back over a variety of colourful grime instrumentals. Intricate flows and sharp delivery take centre stage as the artists try to playfully outshine each other.
Tonight from 6PM we’ll be joined by Norf Face (@JmeBBK @Shortybbk @CapoLee100 & @BigFris ) @ollierant Lady Passion & @BaileyIbbs97 Live on Facebook & Youtube pic.twitter.com/sJjmSeobkx
— Rinse FM (@RinseFM) April 6, 2021
It is very fitting that this performance is for Rinse FM’s YouTube channel, given the station’s long-standing history within the grime scene. When it was founded in 1994, Rinse FM operated as a pirate radio station that mostly played garage, dub, jungle, and house music, genres that would go onto contribute to the birth of grime as a genre. Aptly, in the early 2000s, artists like Dizzee Rascal and Wiley would then go on to give grime its first exposure on the radio station.
It is poetic that the grime scene in 2021 is still drawn back to Rinse FM, which became a legal entity in 2010. With the rising popularity of other genres such as drill and afrowave, grime has experienced, by its own standards, a relatively flat five years or so. Nonetheless, with artists like Frisco, JME, Shorty, and Capo Lee continuing to shape its sound, it does not look likely that the genre will fall by the wayside anytime soon.
Check out Frisco, JME, Shorty, and Capo Lee’s ‘Size? Sessions’ set for Rinse FM below:
