Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, England. It emerged in the late 1990s as a development within a lineage of related styles such as 2-step garage, broken beat, drum and bass, jungle, dub and reggae. The tempo is nearly always in the range of 138–142 beats per minute, with a clap or snare usually inserted every third beat in a bar. The style is typified by low-frequency bass, breakbeat, and wobble bass; the atmosphere is dark and mistic.
Birth: 2000 Bloom: 2004
The sound of dubstep originally came out of productions by El-B, Steve Gurley, Oris Jay, and Zed Bias in 1999–2000. Ammunition Promotions, who run the influential club night Forward>> and have managed many proto dubstep record labels (including Tempa, Soulja, Road, Vehicle, Shelflife, Texture, Lifestyle and Bingo), began to use the term «dubstep» to describe this style of music in around 2002. The term`s use in a 2002 XLR8R cover story (featuring Horsepower Productions on the cover) contributed to it becoming established as the name of the genre. The term began to be actively used after the first part of the compilation «Dubstep Allstars» (mixed by DJ Hatcha) was released on Tempa.
By 2004 dubstep had attracted attention of big labels like Rephlex and Planet Mu. Dubstep`s breakthrough on the national TV was made due to hits such as «Neverland» by Digital Mystikz and «Midnight Request Line» by Skream. Building on the success of Skream`s grimey anthem «Midnight Request Line», the hype around the DMZ night and support from online forums (notably dubstepforum.com) and media, the scene gained prominence after former Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs gathered top figures from the scene for one show, entitled «Dubstep Warz», (later releasing the compilation album Warrior Dubz).The show created a new global audience for the scene, after years of exclusively UK underground buzz. By 2006 BBC had shoot a documental movie «The Sound of Dubstep». Moreover, there were released cult movies like «Burial» from Burial, «The World Is Gone» by Various Production, and new volumes of «Dubstep Allstars». The most important event, which meant that dubstep finally got out of underground and gained a mainstream, was a release of the movie «About to Blow: Dubstep» by MTV Base in 2006.
Also read: 2 Step, Drum & Bass, Speed Garage, Grime, Bassline, UK Funky
Umbrellate style: UK Garage
Got something to add? Please!