Grindie & JD CLIFFE

Grindie reborn through JD Cliffe

A term originally coined back in 2004 by music journalist John Doran, Grindie was little more than a joke. "What next? Grindie?" Exasperated at genre-blending gone too far.

But soon, the irony was gone. Prominent UK Grime producer Statik released Grindie Vol. 1 in 2006. An hour and 16 minutes of Grime legends such as D Double E, Jammer, Skepta and mash-ups of tracks from indie stars of the early 2000's such as Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes.

If the term had been coined in 2026, likely by a relatively annoying privately educated music content creator, it would probably have been met with immediate detest, but despite the few sneering comments on early 2000's forum boards, this new mishmash of genres went seemingly under the radar for the most part as something that could ever develop into a fully fledged genre.

Grindie Vol. 1 received little traction; after all, it was just a mixtape. Social media conditions in 2006 didn't have the capabilities of worldwide spread like they do today. In the grime scene, things were simultaneously happening that could have feasibly crowded it out.

Grime as a genre was heading towards overground legitimacy which began something of an identity crisis, as John Doran who coined the term said in a Vice article in 2012, recounting on the time period, "It soon became clear that every single sensible combination of sounds, beats and melodies had just been used up and now the component parts could only be stuck back together in ever more ungainly ways".

At the same time as the surge of grime as a mainstream sound, the genre still faced institutional barriers. The Metropolitan Police's controversial Form 696 between 2005 and 2017 meant a disproportional effect on gig cancellations in the grime scene.

 The prolific track, POW by Lethal Bizzle, was banned from venues due to the chaos it caused on the dancefloor. Although not a direct effect of Form 696, it does display the same suspicion and moral panic of grime and its audience at the time. As Lethal Bizzle stated in 2008, "It's funny how when you have punch-ups at a rock gig they call it moshing, but at a hip-hop show it's a riot".

Bizzle took to sneaking into Indie clubs to perform his music; his 2009 album Go Hard does display elements of Indie with guitar-heavy instrumentals.

The two genres do have plenty in common. Both sounds were built by people who may have felt like outsiders, and that shared posture, along with the brash anti-establishment energy and working-class background, is exactly what makes them sit together so naturally when someone actually tries it.

North-West Londoner JD Cliffe is that someone.

The Colindale native has been turning heads with his quintessentially British sound for a few years now. His most recent works show he is undoubtedly the artist to take this mashup of genres to the heights it deserved back in 2006. His latest single WAY U MOVE uses the sample from the 2005 hit I Like The Way by electronic music duo BodyRockers. Raucous, incredibly popular and a testament to sample clearing, Cliffe's latest single seems to be the second breakout track for Britain's newest rockstar.

NEW BRITANNICA, Cliffe's 7-track project released in February this year, shows commendable commitment to the melange of genres he is concocting, featuring grungy guitar riffs, drums and Bloc Party-esque vocals at times, all while maintaining the key rap element.

His now unique sound didn't reach the public until 2023 on streaming platforms with his fittingly named single The Future. In 2024, he released BUSS UR HEAD, a grungy, high-octane track built on thrashing guitar leads that gained him his second call-up to the Colors show stage the same year as its release.

More than anything, what JD Cliffe perfects is the overwhelming sense of nostalgia that everyone in the UK underground wants to convey to their listeners. He has perfectly triangulated the position that appeals to everyone who unintentionally got hooked on FIFA music while maintaining their love for grime and rap.

To John Doran's despair, grindie may be back and this time stronger, but then again it would be reductionist to box in a genre nonconformist to some amalgamation of vague labels and genres.

When it feels as if there is little to be patriotic about in this country, fusing together two forward-thinking British genres should give everyone a reason to be on their feet