Dubstep, one of the new booming genres of electronic music, started with just a few garage producers experimenting.
When dubstep originated in the garages of London with various disc jockeys drawing heavy influence from Jamaican Dub Music, which featured a heavy bass in dancehalls. DJs used the same dubplates, and developed the techniques that defined the genre.
Those techniques include the warped bass, the “wob wob wob” sound akin to the gargling of a walrus made famous by DJs Benga and Skream. The bass drops. There is a momentary pausing of the bass and then it returns with more intensity bass line. In live performances rewinds take the track back to its beginning and replay it if it drove the crowd crazy. Minimalist vocals and sparse lyrics compliment the instrumental.
Dubstep gained its name from Ammunition Promotions, which ran the prominent underground club Forward and foremost dubstep labels Soulja, Shellife, and Bingo. Dubstep differentiated from the UK garage sound drum and bass with the 2002 cover story by electronic zine XL8R (accelerator).
Also known as “Forward Sound,” dubstep became prominent in the underground when London club scene with air play from pirate radio stations. Prominent DJs from South London formed the label and record store Big Apple that signed dubstep pioneers Skream and Benga when they were in their teenage years. These DJs along with the Digital Mystickz (Mala and Coki) and Loefah were the prominent DJs that played at Forward dubstep events.
With competition, the large standing DJs were pushed to evolve their techniques. The Digital Mystickz pushed the genre to a darker sound. Rephlex turned the dubstep to a more grimy tone with his releases “Grime” and “Grime 2,” gaining aid and recognition from DMZ and Loefah. DMZ experimented with a reggae dubstep sound in Brixton with their DJ shows held live every two nights.
Dubstep gained more publicity with the efforts of DJ Mary Anne Hobbs of BBC with a show titled “Dubstep Warz,” inspiring the compilation album “Warrior Dubz” compiled by DJ Mary Anne and released by Planet Mu Label. Promoting the grimy side of dubstep, Mary Anne solidified dubstep’s worldwide following with BBC Radios world-reaching range. Her efforts might have very well led London’s revolutionary electro sound to set the soundtrack for the sci-fi film, “Children of Men,” by Digital Mystikz, Random Trio, Kode 9, Pressure and DJ Pinch. From 2005 to 2008, dubstep’s amazing period of growth is undoubtedly due to 24 hour live DJ performances from online radio sites SubFM, DubstepFM, and DubTerrain.
Due to online popularity, dubstep has gained mass popularity stretching across Europe to Australia, the Americas and Japan. The American ambassador of dubstep, DJ Joe Nice helped spread dubstep across the U.S. American DJs like Starkey are now experimenting with the sound to compete with British DJs. However, the dubstep sound isn’t as publicized in the U.S. as it is in Great Britain.
However, dubstep has opened the envelope for producers who are interested in pioneering the electro music frontier. And the Internet continues to office a broad audience for the DJs who want to pursue this genre.
As the dubstep genre has grown, it has intertwined with mainstream offering an interesting alternative with remixes for songs like, “View to a Kill,” remixed by Skream. Female rapper, Eve took Benga’s “E Trip” and had it reproduced for her track “Me N My” produced by Benga and Salaam Remi. As dubstep continues to influence mainstream DJs like Tiesto and Deadmau5, it shows worldwide promise as a genre that will stomp upon the American mainstream.
