An editor has performed a search and found that sufficient sources exist to establish the subject's notability.(June 2024) |
Brostep is a harder form of dubstep that emerged during the late 2000s and early 2010s and pioneered by artists like Skrillex and Rusko.
Brostep | |
---|---|
Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | Late 2000s – early 2010s, United States (mostly), United Kingdom (originally) |
Fusion genres | |
Complextro | |
Other topics | |
In 2011, dubstep gained significant traction in the US market, by way of a post-dubstep style known as Brostep, with the American producer Skrillex becoming something of a "poster boy" for the Dubstep scene. [1] [2] [3] In September 2011, a Spin Magazine EDM special referred to brostep as a "lurching and aggressive" variant of dubstep that has proven commercially successful in the United States. [4] Unlike traditional dubstep production styles, which emphasise sub-bass content, brostep accentuates the middle register and features "robotic fluctuations and metal-esque aggression". [5] According to Simon Reynolds, as dubstep gained larger audiences and moved from smaller club-based venues to larger outdoor events, sub-sonic content was gradually replaced by distorted bass riffs that function roughly in the same register as the electric guitar in heavy metal. [6]
The term brostep, sarcastically coined in 2009, [7] has been used by some as a pejorative descriptor for a style of popular Americanised dubstep. [1]
The producer known as Rusko himself claimed in an interview on BBC Radio 1Xtra that "brostep is sort of my fault, but now I've started to hate it in a way ... It's like someone screaming in your face ... you don't want that." [8] According to a BBC review of his 2012 album Songs, the record was a muddled attempt by Rusko to realign his music with a "Jamaican inheritance" and distance it from the "belching, aggressive, resolutely macho" dubstep produced by his contemporaries. [9]
Commenting on the success of American producers such as Skrillex, Skream stated: "I think it hurts a lot of people over here because it's a UK sound, but it's been someone with influences outside the original sound that has made it a lot bigger. The bad side of that is that a lot of people will just say 'dubstep equals Skrillex'. But in all honesty it genuinely doesn't bother me. I like the music he makes." [10] Other North American artists that were initially associated with the brostep sound were Canadian producers Datsik and Excision. Their production style has been described by Mixmag as "a viciously harsh, yet brilliantly produced sound that appealed more to Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails fans than it did to lovers of UK garage". [11] The brostep sound also attracted the attention of metal bands. Nu metal band Korn's 2011 album The Path of Totality features several collaborations with electronic music producers, including Skrillex and Excision. [12] This style of dubstep is sometimes known as metalstep.
UK bass, also called bass music, is club music that emerged in the United Kingdom during the mid-2000s under the influence of diverse genres such as house, grime, dubstep, UK garage, R&B, and UK funky. The term "UK bass" came into use as artists began ambiguously blending the sounds of these defined genres while maintaining an emphasis on percussive, bass-led rhythm.
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken beat, grime, and drum and bass. In the United Kingdom, the origins of the genre can be traced back to the growth of the Jamaican sound system party scene in the early 1980s.
Oliver Dene Jones, known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream has released records on several British record labels, such as Tempa, Tectonic, and Big Apple Records, and has performed throughout Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan, as well as the UK. Skream is known as an early and influential architect of the dubstep genre.
Skream! is the self-titled, debut album by dubstep producer Skream. It was released in 2006 on the Tempa label. The album is considered to be an important stepping stone for dubstep. BBC Music described it as having "accelerated dubstep’s transformation from hyped underground scene to [a] sort of influential [genre]", as it fuzes more "old-school rave" sounds with more accessible "pop" sounds. The album predates the highly popular and influential dubstep works by producers such as Skrillex, sometimes disparagingly referred to as "brostep". It essentially serves as an accessible entry into "classic dubstep".
Distance is a British dubstep producer and DJ. He also founded the record label Chestplate, whose sonic direction followed his style, fusing metal influences with dubstep templates.
Christopher William Mercer, known by stage name Rusko, is a British electronic music producer and DJ from York, England.
Dirtyphonics is a French electronic music band from Paris, consisting of members Charly Barranger and Julien "PitchIn" Corrales. Their music style is based on dubstep, drum and bass, and drumstep.
Nero are a British electronic music trio composed of members Dan Stephens, Joe Ray and Alana Watson. On 12 August 2011, they released their debut studio album, Welcome Reality, which reached number one in the UK Albums Chart. In August 2012, "Promises" received a Gold certification in the United States. On 10 February 2013, Nero won a Grammy Award for their collaborative remix of "Promises" with Skrillex. Their second studio album, Between II Worlds, was released on 11 September 2015.
Troy Beetles, better known by his stage name Datsik, is a Canadian DJ and music producer. His first release was in the spring of 2009. He has since played at venues all over the world, including festivals such as Coachella, Ultra Music Festival, EDC Las Vegas, Stereosonic, Boonstock, Shambhala Music Festival, and Electric Zoo.
John Dadzie, better known by his stage names 12th Planet and Infiltrata, is an American DJ and dubstep producer from Los Angeles.
The Path of Totality is the tenth studio album by American nu metal band Korn. It was released on December 2, 2011, in Europe and December 6, 2011, in the US. The album was produced by various electronic music producers such as Skrillex, Noisia, Excision and various other independent producers. "Get Up!", is one of three tracks produced by Skrillex, and was released as a digital download on May 6, 2011. "Narcissistic Cannibal" was released as the second single on October 18, 2011.
"Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" is a song recorded by the American producer Skrillex. It is the second track from his second extended play, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, released on October 22, 2010, through Mau5trap and Big Beat. The song began as a test for the Native Instruments synthesizer FM8 and was the first written for the EP. A dubstep track, critics noted the contrast between the beginning of the song and its drop. In 2012, it was used in multiple media and won the Best Dance Recording category at the 54th Grammy Awards. The song charted in multiple countries and received a double platinum certification in Australia, Sweden, and the United States (RIAA). It has since been named as a highly influential electronic dance music (EDM) and dubstep song.
Sonny John Moore, known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, and singer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as its lead vocalist in 2004, and recorded two studio albums with the band—Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount (2004) and Heroine in (2006)—before leaving to pursue a solo career in 2007. He began his first tour as a solo artist in late 2007. After recruiting a new band lineup, Moore joined the Alternative Press Tour to support bands such as All Time Low and the Rocket Summer, and appeared on the cover of Alternative Press's annual "100 Bands You Need to Know" issue.
Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many DJ Mag Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, and Deadmau5.
Glass Swords is the debut studio album by Scottish producer Russell Whyte under his alias of Rustie, released by Warp in 2011. The album was produced and recorded between 2008 and 2010 by Whyte, partially in his father's home in Glasgow, Scotland and partly in his own home in London, England. The album contains vocal work from Whyte as well as London based producer Nightwave.
KOAN Sound is an English electronic music production duo from Bristol, consisting of Will Weeks and Jim Bastow.
Riddim is a subgenre of dubstep known for its heavy use of repetitive and minimalist sub-bass and triplet percussion arrangements. It shares the same name as the Jamaican genre that influenced both it and dubstep, which originally derived from dub, reggae, and dancehall. Originating in the United Kingdom, specifically Croydon, in the early 2010s as a resurgence of the style used by early dubstep works, riddim started to gain mainstream presence in the electronic music scene around 2015.
Tony Williams, better known as Addison Groove, is an electronic music artist from Bristol, United Kingdom. Noted for his fusion of styles such as Techno, Jungle, Soul, Juke and Dubstep, he released his first album 'Nomad' on Tempa in 2008.
Lee Austin Bates, better known by his alias Must Die, is an American electronic musician, DJ, and producer. Born in Houston, Bates is associated primarily for his music in the dubstep genre. Bates is known for the track "VIPs", a collaboration with American musician Skrillex, released on the label Owsla. Bates has collaborated with artists such as Skream, Eptic, Zomboy, and Boyinaband, and has produced remixes for Svdden Death, Seven Lions, Excision, and Slander, among others.