"Incredible" | ||||
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Single by M-Beat featuring General Levy | ||||
Released | 1994 | |||
Genre | ||||
Label | Renk | |||
Songwriter(s) | General Levy | |||
Producer(s) | M-Beat | |||
M-Beat singles chronology | ||||
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"Incredible" is a song by British jungle producer M-Beat featuring General Levy on vocals. It was first released as a single in 1994 and reached No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart. A re-release a few months later featuring new mixes was much more successful, peaking at No. 8, and remaining on the chart for 12 weeks. [1] "Incredible" was the first jungle track to reach the top 10 in the UK. [2] It was released on Renk Records. [3]
General Levy's vocals on "Incredible" were adapted from a song he had previously written, titled "The Wickedest General". [2] "Incredible" uses lyrics from Levy's song "Mad Them" as well as the beat from M-Beat's song "Style". In response to General Levy's remark, following the runaway success of "Incredible", that he was "runnin' jungle", an ad hoc "Committee" of DJs and others influential in the jungle community launched a campaign against the song. [4]
The song was featured in the 2002 British comedy film Ali G Indahouse [5] and appears on the film's soundtrack.
Ben Willmott from NME wrote, "Poppy and infectious, it's totally uncompromising on the new style jungle beats but has a breathtaking ragga rap from veteran General Levy. A huge hit too." [6] Another editor, Dele Fadele, commented, "This is the first proper sign of an underground music — which rules Pirate Radio in London — going overground. Speed is of the essence as a sampled breakbeat gets sped-up and superimposed over a start/stop ragga rhythm." [7]
Chart (1994) | Peak position |
---|---|
Europe (European Dance Radio) [8] | 4 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [9] | 13 |
UK Singles (OCC) | 39 |
UK Singles (OCC) (reissue) | 8 |
UK Dance (OCC) [10] | 2 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [11] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed out of the UK rave scene and roots reggae and dancehall 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.
Paul Scott Levy, also known as General Levy, is an English ragga deejay, regularly employed on studio tracks by drum and bass DJs. He is best known for the track "Incredible" which he recorded with M-Beat. A remixed version of this reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart in 1994.
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