Dubstep is the name given to the largely South London-based dark garage sound that originally came out of productions by El-B (as part of both Groove Chronicles and the Ghost camp), Zed Bias (aka Phuturistix, Maddslinky and more) and Steve Gurley in 1999-2000. Like another garage hybrid, grime, it uses dark sounds, but differs from grime as it's largely instrumental. South London is the area of Greater London south of the River Thames. ... 2Step (also known as 2 step, two step or 2 step garage) is a typically British style of modern dance music, and one of the two major sub-genres of UK Garage (although UK Garage is sometimes imprecisely used as a synonym for 2Step), together with its brother 4x4 Garage. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Grime developed in Londons underground scene between 2002 and 2004. ...

Origins and Early Dubstep

The term 'dubstep' was first used on an XLR8R magazine cover that featured Horsepower Productions, and gained full acceptance with the Dubstep Allstars Vol 1 CD (Tempa) mixed by DJ Hatcha. XLR8R (pronounced accelerator) is a San Francisco-based magazine covering electronic music, culture, style and technology. ...

The key touch points of the early dubstep sound were Croydon's now defunct Big Apple shop and rejuvenated Big Apple records that pushed the sound. Producers and DJs in the Croydon area included El-B and Jay Da Flex from Ghost, Hatcha, Menta/Artwork, Skream and Benga from Big Apple records, and Horsepower. Croydon is a major suburban town and commercial centre situated 9. ... DJ or dj may stand for Disc jockey, dinner jacket The DeadJournal website, or Djibouti. ... There is also Benga in the province of Nyanga, see Benga, Gabon Benga is a musical genre of Kenyan popular music. ...

Horsepower released records on the Tempa label, alongside Big Apple one of the first distinctly dubstep labels. Tempa was run by Ammunition Promotions, the other key touch point for the early development of dubstep. Since 2001, Ammunition have been responsible for a raft of labels like Tempa, Soulja, Road, Vehicle, Shelflife, Texture, Stealth People, Bingo and more - though to date only Soulja, Bingo and Tempa remain active. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Forward

Ammunition also run club Forward>>, originally held at the Velvet Rooms in London's Soho and now running twice a month out of Plastic People in Shoreditch, east London. This club was critical in the development of dubstep, providing the first venue devoted to the sound and an environment in which producers could premier new music. Forward>> also run a radio show on key east London pirate station Rinse FM, hosted by producer/DJ Kode 9, owner of the pioneering Hyperdub label. Shoreditch is a place in the London Borough of Hackney. ... East London (Afrikaans: Oos-Londen, Xhosa: Imonti) is a city in southeast South Africa, situated in the Eastern Cape Province at 32. ...

Also part of Forward>> from the start were other strains of garage hybrids. One style of early grime, then called '8bar', was played here by DJs like Slimzee (then of Pay As U Go, now part of Rinse FM). These flavours allowed producers like Croydon's Plasticman and Manchester's Mark One to come through with their own takes on the grime sound. The summer of 2005 has seen Forward>> bring grime DJs to the fore of the line up with Roll Deep, Jammer, Geeneus, Newham Generals performing with their respective MCs.

Dubstep Today

2003 saw the emergence, through pioneering DJ Hatcha sets, of a new force in dubstep: Digital Mystikz. The south London collective, consisting of Digital Mystikz (Mala and Coki) and Loefah brought sound system thinking, dub values, and jungle bass weight to the dubstep scene - and with it a new lease on life. After 12"s on Big Apple, they began their own DMZ label, which has released six 12"s to date. They also began their night DMZ, held every two months in Brixton, a part of London steeped in reggae history. Showcasing the best in new dubstep talent (such as Skream, N-Type, Scuba, Kode 9, D1, Random Trio, Chef, JoeNice, Pinch, DJ Youngsta) and backed by a massive, sub-bass boosted sound system, the night is currently the benchmark dubstep night worldwide. Only Subloaded, Bristol's dubstep night promoted by DJ Pinch and the Context crew, can compare to DMZ's sound system in weight. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dub is a form of Jamaican music, which evolved out of ska and reggae in 1970s Jamaica. ... Drum and bass (drum n bass, DnB) is an electronic music style. ... Reggae is a music genre developed in Jamaica. ... Bristol is a unitary authority with city and ceremonial county status in South West England. ...

Another key turning point for the scene were the two misnamed 'Grime' compilations put together by Rephlex (assisted by Ammunition). Featuring Plasticman, Mark One and Slaughter Mob on the first volume, and Kode 9, Loefah and Digital Mystikz on the second, it introduced the different flavours to the global electronica audience, the repercussions of which can be seen in current productions and club nights. Rephlex Records is an influential record label started in 1991 by acclaimed Electronica musician Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) and Grant Wilson-Claridge, without the intention of making large profits. ... Electronica is a rather vague term that covers a wide range of electronic or electronic-influenced music. ...

Breakstep

There is a breakbeat influenced side of garage - originally called breakbeat garage, now more often referred to as 'breakstep.' This sound is not to be confused with dubstep itself, although there is some cross-over between artists.

Breakstep evolved from the 2 step garage sound. Moving away from the more soulful elements of garage, it incorporated downtempo drum & bass style basslines, trading the shuffle of 2 step for a more straight forward breakbeat drum pattern. The breakthrough for this style came in 1999 from DJ Deekline's 'I Don't Smoke' selling 15,000 units on Rat Records until eventually being licenced to EastWest in 2000 and climing the top 40 UK chart to no.11. Following this came DJ Zinc's '138 Trek,' an experiment with drum & bass production at garage tempo (138 bpm). This instigated a dialog between breaks and garage producers, with Forward>> playing host to Zed Bias and Oris Jay (aka Darqwan). They were mirrored in breaks by producers like DJ Quest, Osmosis and Ed209. Current descendents of these artists include Toasty Boy, Young Dot, Mark One, Search & Destroy, Quiet Storm, DJ Distance, Reza, Slaughter Mob, Blackmass Plastics, Warlock and the Hotflush Recordings camp. 2Step (also known as 2 step, two step or 2 step garage) is a typically British style of modern dance music, and one of the two major sub-genres of UK Garage (although UK Garage is sometimes imprecisely used as a synonym for 2Step), together with its brother 4x4 Garage. ... Drum and bass (drum n bass, DnB) is an electronic music style. ... Drum and bass (drum n bass, DnB) is an electronic music style. ...

External links

• Dubstep Blog
• Dubstep* Forum
• DMZ Discogs
• Hotflush Discogs
• Tempa Discogs