De Underground Records was a record shop, studio, and record label located at 18 Sebert Road, Forest Gate, London, operating from 1991 until 1996.
The shop and its associated labels, including In Touch Records, I.E. Records, Reel to Reel, Ruff Groove, U No Dat, Oddball, Pure Energy, and the home brand De Underground Records released many seminal tracks including Lennie De Ice's seminal track "We Are I.E." in 1991. Co-owned by Michael Aymer (Mike De Underground), his brother Peter Aymer (the DJ Cool Hand Flex), Desmond Fearon (the producer Uncle 22), and Randall McNeil (DJ Randall), the shop was a hub for emerging sounds and artists. [1] [2]
In May 2021, Newham Council erected a blue plaque where the shop and label had its premises, in recognition of its contributions to "the development of UK hardcore, jungle and drum and bass music". [3] [4]
The Crate Digging: The Influence of De Underground Records initiative, a project initiated by Rendezvous Projects for Newham Heritage Month 2021, was launched to document and preserve the history of De Underground Records, focusing on its impact on jungle and drum and bass music. This effort aimed to make the shop and studio's undocumented history accessible to the public for education and cultural preservation. [5] [6]
Drum and bass is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s.
Daniel Andrew Williamson, better known as LTJ Bukem, is a British drum and bass musician, producer and DJ. He and his record label Good Looking are most associated with the jazzy, atmospheric side of drum and bass music.
Breakbeat hardcore is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In addition to the inclusion of breakbeats, the genre also features shuffled drum machine patterns, hoover, and other noises originating from new beat and Belgian techno, sounds from acid house and bleep techno, and often upbeat house piano riffs and vocals.
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed out of the UK rave scene and Jamaican sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings. Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.
Digital hardcore is a fusion genre that combines hardcore punk with electronic dance music genres such as breakbeat, techno, and drum and bass while also drawing on heavy metal and noise music. It typically features fast tempos and aggressive sound samples. The style was pioneered by Alec Empire of the German band Atari Teenage Riot during the early 1990s, and often has sociological or leftist lyrical themes.
Hardcore is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster tempos and a distorted sawtooth kick, the intensity of the kicks and the synthesized bass, the rhythm and the atmosphere of the themes, the usage of saturation and experimentation close to that of industrial dance music. It would spawn subgenres such as gabber.
Andrew Michael Clarke is an English DJ, record producer and co-founder of RAM Records, a label in the drum and bass genre.
Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, east London, England. It is located 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Charing Cross.
Suburban Base Records is a British breakbeat hardcore, rave and jungle/drum and bass record label. It is based in Romford, Havering, England. It was established by Danny Donnelly and operated in the UK from 1990 to 1997 and in the United States from 1994 to 1997, however, started to release again in 2014.
Kevin Ford, better known as DJ Hype, is a British jungle and drum and bass producer and DJ.
Metalheadz is a major drum and bass record label based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1994 by Kemistry & Storm and Goldie.
Luna-C is a British DJ and record producer, known for his work in breakbeat hardcore music. He was a member of the group Smart E's in 1992, who scored a No. 2 hit on the UK Singles Chart with "Sesame's Treet" which samples the Sesame Street theme song. He founded Kniteforce Records in 1992, for which he produced tracks and remixes under various aliases. The label was sold in 1997 but resurrected as Kniteforce Again (KFA) in 2001.
Drum and bass is an electronic music genre that originated in the UK rave scene having developed from breakbeat hardcore. The genre would go on to become one of the most popular genres of electronic dance music, becoming international and spawning multiple different derivatives and subgenres.
Don FM was a 1990s London pirate radio station, influential in the development of breakbeat hardcore, jungle and drum and bass music. It was the first jungle pirate station granted a temporary legal license.
Deekline is a British producer and DJ of breakbeat, breakstep, drum and bass and garage music. He is the innovator of breakstep music which is bass-heavy, breakbeat-infused 2-step, first characterised in his 1999 hit "I Don't Smoke", which reached No. 11 on the UK charts. He is the owner of Rat Records, which has released material of such artists as DJ Fresh, Jack Beats, Stanton Warriors, Wiley, Skinny Man, Rennie Pilgrem, House Breakers and Freq Nasty. Deekline has also had notable collaborations with British electronic music producers Ed Solo and Wizard. In 2011, he opened up his online clothing store, Bass Boutique.
Paul Pesce, better known as Peshay, is a British drum and bass and electronic music producer and DJ.
"We Are I.E." is a song by British breakbeat hardcore producer Lennie De Ice. It was first recorded in 1989, but not released until 1991 when it appeared on a four-track EP from Reel 2 Reel Productions, one of a number of labels that originated from the De Underground record shop based in Forest Gate, East London. It is often credited as one of, if not the first, tracks to lay down the foundations for jungle music.
Lenworth Green, better known as Lennie De Ice, was a British musician credited with pioneering jungle music with his 1991 track, "We Are I.E.". His other aliases include Body Snatcher and Lick Down Crew. De Ice was a member of music groups CIS Production, Dub Hustlers, and Madd-Ice.
Belgian hardcore techno is an early style of hardcore techno that emerged from new beat as EBM and techno influences became more prevalent in this genre. This particular style has been described as an "apocalyptic, almost Wagnerian, bombastic techno", due to its use of dramatic orchestral stabs and menacing synth tones that set it apart from earlier forms of electronic dance music. It flourished in Belgium and influenced the sound of early hardcore from Netherlands, Germany, Italy, UK and North America during the early-1990s, as a part of the rave movement during that period.
Randall McNeil, better known as DJ Randall, was a British jungle and drum and bass DJ and record producer.