Pearson Schools Blog

A False Binary 

Grime is a style of British rap music that emerged from the UK Garage scene during the early 2000s. The genre is defined by complex syncopated raps over fast beats, initially made famous by a generation of East London artists such as Wiley and Dizzie Rascal, and more recently, revived by the likes of Stormzy, who became the first British black solo artist to headline Glastonbury in 2019. On paper, Grime is perhaps not the natural bedfellow of Classical music. Grime Opera strives to challenge this assumption, uniting young people from a diverse range of backgrounds in pursuit of an authentic musical experience.  

Throughout history, musical instruments have traditionally been designed for performers with a clear assumption in mind: every individual has two hands, ten fingers and equal functionality across those digits. This bias towards non-disabled performers has typically made certain instruments and musical styles inaccessible to musicians who do not satisfy these prescriptive criteria.