Author: Leon Stefanopoulos

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Miscellaneous

Genre: Grime

An offshoot of Dark Garage, itself a darker form of the mainstream genre of 2-step, Grime takes the syncopated beats and rhythm of Garage, strips them down, and uses obscure synth sounds to give a mechanical feel to its tracks. Grime instrumentals were produced from the early 2000s and continue to be created to this day. These instrumentals are rapped over by Grime MCs, with a similar style and flow to that of Drum and Bass MCs, giving Grime tunes a unique “man vs machine” feeling to them. Following a dip in popularity in the early 2010’s, the genre returned, spearheaded by Grime legend Skepta and a cast of up-and-coming MCs, including AJ Tracey, Big Zuu and Dave. Today, mainstream UK Rap is mainly dominated by Drill and American-style hip-hop beats, but Grime still lives on, with an avid community of producers and MCs.

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Miscellaneous

Genre: Bassline

An evolution of mid-90s Speed Garage, Bassline appeared in the early 2000’s, centred around Sheffield’s Niche nightclub. Whilst DJs in London were spinning Dark Garage tracks and the precursors to Grime and Dubstep, DJs in the north were creating something new, based around the 4×4 drum patterns of older Speed Garage tunes and harsh basslines similar to those used in Drum and Bass. The competition between northern DJs caused the genre to rapidly progress, and by the late 00s Bassline tunes were filling the charts. Today, artists such as Bad Boy Chiller Crew and DJ Q are keeping the genre alive and new artists are constantly innovating within it.

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Miscellaneous

Genre: Dubstep

A misunderstood genre – originally emerging as an evolution of Dark Garage in South London raves with the purpose of opposing Garage’s opulent sophistication by being more “real” to the lives of its listeners – Dubstep is now thought of by many to be “cringe” or “meme music” due to the adoption of the genre by Skrillex and other American producers. In the early 2000’s dubstep tunes were known for their deep basslines, 140bpm tempo and half-time drum patterns, giving the genre a deep, relaxed feel. Over time, dubstep began to incorporate more mid-end basslines and more sporadic, exotic-sounding synths. This newer form of dubstep was picked up by producers in America, creating a genre colloquially known as “Brostep”, the sound of which is often said to be closer to thrash metal than to Reggae and Dub, where the genre got its name. The poor reputation of Dubstep caused by Brostep made many of the founding producers of the genre to move away from Dubstep during the early- to mid-2000s.

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Miscellaneous

Genre: Jungle & D’n’B

Jungle ravers
Image courtesy of Eddie Otchere/Another Magazine

A genre defined by its rumbling bassline and crashing, rolling breakbeats, Drum and Bass emerged in the early 90s from a myriad of influences. Its biggest was Carribean soundsystem culture, which had already infiltrated British underground music in the forms of Acid house and Hardcore techno warehouse parties. Jungle took influence from the music of these parties and brought them back to their roots, utilising the deep, booming baselines of Dub and Reggae whilst also taking influence from American Hip-hop’s sampling of breakbeats. Jungle hit its peak mainstream popularity in 1994 and has since returned to the underground. Drum and Bass remains alive today, being a popular, albeit very much underground music genre, that frequently influences the mainstream.

Categories
Miscellaneous

Genre: Garage

Emerging as a sub-genre of house music in New York’s renowned Paradise Garage nightclub in the mid 90s, Garage quickly became the signature sound of London’s rave scene due to its infectious rhythm and soulful vocals. The genre, popular with DJs of the time, began to attract producers in the UK away from making Jungle, which was rapidly losing popularity. Garage’s popularity soon skyrocketed, with its demand in raves rapidly spreading to nightclubs. In the late 90s and early 00s, Garage songs were consistently topping the chart. However, this popularity didn’t last long. 2002 marked the “death of Garage” and it returned to the underground once more, splitting into new genres, the main ones being Grime and Dubstep. However, Garage never really did die, and can still be heard today: in many modern Pop and Dance tracks, and it even has an avid community of “NUKG” (Newschool UK Garage) producers, DJs and listeners.