I think to bring up children you should take lessons and pass a test like driving a car," says JT LeRoy. "And my mom missed a lot of lessons." LeRoy, the androgynous, 25-year-old American author whose treatment at the hands of his errant parent has been the subject of two eminently controversial and largely autobiographical books - Sarah and The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things - is in the UK to promote the cinematic adaptation of the latter. I really believe that it's the sound that will define the decade It's not just about music, it's about identity. It's just what British black culture needs." FOpen Mic: A Life of Grime, is at Sony Ericsson Proud Galleries, Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1, 15-21 July, An accompanying book is available for £9.99: call Marco Santucci Photography, 020-7226 7705. Can it make the leap into the mainstream while staying true to its roots? "It's already evolving very quickly," says Spencer. "But I think there are enough people at street-level to make sure it keeps its integrity. Artists get valuable exposure from pirate radio stations operating from cramped flats and abandoned shipping containers; now Radio 1 has got in on the act with 1Extra, its digital urban-music station.So now grime finds itself at a crossroads.
Along with its specialist magazines, grime has its own version of MTV, Sky's Channel U, which runs homemade promos alongside glossy American rap videos. Record companies are homing in on MCs with potential mainstream appeal, but the culture itself is largely self-sufficient - the latest tunes will be burnt on to CD and on sale at raves long before their official release. Despite Skinner's association with grime, his kitchen-sink realism and vocal style is in a category all of its own.Though grime borrows much of its language and aesthetic from American hip-hop, it has its own distinct culture that comes directly from the streets. As hip-hop has become a catch-all term for a variety of sounds in America, so has grime in the UK. Wiley, the producer, MC and member of Roll Deep, is the principal exponent of eski or eskimo, while Black Ops advocate sub low, so-called because of its low bass frequency. Dizzee Rascal was famously stabbed in Agia Napa last year, allegedly by a member of a rival south- London gang riled by his sudden success, f though he lived to tell the tale.
Gun crime is often glamourised in lyrics though more recently there's been a move to tone down the aggression and espouse peace between crews.Grime may still be in its infancy but the scene has already started to sub-divide. Indeed, like UK garage, the genre championed by So Solid Crew, grime comes with an alluringly dangerous edge. Each has a nominal leader, though there is often disagreement over who that person should be. These groups of teenagers stand huddled together, unsmiling, with their hats and hoods pulled low over their faces. In some instances the body language is defensive, menacing even, though in other cases they just look plain bored.The majority of MCs are part of crews, groups of lads numbering anything from five to 15 who spit en masse and go by gangsta monikers such as Nasty, Deep Ops, Ruff Squad and Roll Deep Rivalry is rife both between crews and within them. "If they were going anywhere, to a battle or a recording session in Leytonstone, say, they would take me with them," he recalls "I would shoot and they would film.
