UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by jungle, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop and R&B. It is defined by percussive, shuffled rhythms with syncopated hi-hats, cymbals, and snares, and may include either 4/4 house kick patterns or more irregular "2-step" rhythms. Garage tracks also commonly feature 'chopped up' and time-stretched or pitch-shifted vocal samples complementing the underlying rhythmic structure at a tempo usually around 130 BPM.
UK garage encompassed subgenres such as speed garage and 2-step, and was then largely subsumed into other styles of music and production in the mid-2000s, including bassline, grime, and dubstep. The decline of UK garage during the mid-2000s saw the birth of UK funky, which is closely related.
Origins
The evolution of house music in the United Kingdom in the early to mid-1990s led to the term, as previously coined by the Paradise Garage DJs, being applied to a new form of music known as speed garage. In the early '90s, American DJ Todd Edwards, a pioneer of the speed garage sound, began remixing more soulful house records and incorporating more time-shifts and vocal samples than normal house records, whilst still living in the US. However, it was not until DJ EZ, the North London DJ, acquired one of Edwards' tracks and played it at a faster tempo in a nightclub in Greenwich,[when?] that the music genre really took off.[citation needed]
MJ Cole once stated, "London is a multicultural city... it's like a melting pot of young people, and that's reflected in the music of UK garage."[1] Thus, though UKG remains a distinctly British sound, the influences of black diaspora and especially the Caribbean on its development should not be ignored. The concept of the MC, which is a central figure in UKG, originates from the Jamaican dancehall tradition of 'toasting' and its vibrant sound system culture. Before the emergence of UKG, ragga MCs had a difficult time in the music scene but found solid footing through garage. Reynolds writes in Energy Flash, "the rude-boy factor of the ragga patois voice in speed garage anthems like Gant's "Sound Bwoy Burial" probably acted to 'inoculate' against the 'effeminate' sensuality of house."[2] Like the Jamaican dancehall toaster, the garage MC is a typically masculine and animated character which evokes responses from the crowd and engages their attention in a gritty, provocative manner. Reynolds provided an example of how the crowd would shout "Bo!" if they love a record which had just been dropped into the mix. The MC would then instruct the DJ to immediately stop the tune, manually go back to the start and "come again".[3] This active dialogue between the crowd and those involved in the performance of music embodies the interactive nature of UKG, and is further seen in other genres such as hip hop and reggae.
History
Relationship with jungle
In the United Kingdom, where jungle was very popular at the time, garage was played in a second room at jungle events. After jungle's peak in cultural significance, it had turned towards a harsher, more techstep influenced sound, driving away dancers, predominantly women. Escaping the 170bpm jungle basslines, the garage rooms had a much more sensual and soulful sound at 130bpm.[4]
Role of MCs
Since then, MCs have become one of the vital aspects of speed and UK garage parties and records. Early promoters of speed garage included the Dreem Teem and Tuff Jam, and pirate radio stations such as London Underground, Magic FM, Upfront FM, and Freek FM. During its initial phase, the speed garage scene was also known as "the Sunday Scene", as initially speed garage promoters could only hire venues on Sunday evenings (venue owners preferred to save Friday and Saturday nights for more popular musical styles). Labels whose outputs would become synonymous with the emerging speed garage sound included Confetti, Public Demand, 500 Rekords, Spread Love and VIP.
Speed garage
Speed garage already incorporated many aspects of today's UK garage sound like sub-bass lines, ragga vocals, spin backs and reversed drums. What changed over time, until the so-called 2-step sound emerged, was the addition of further funky elements like contemporary R&B styled vocals, more shuffled beats and a different drum pattern. The most radical change from speed garage to 2-step was the removal of the 2nd and 4th bass kick from each bar. Although tracks with only two kick drum beats to a bar are perceived as being slower than the traditional four-to-the-floor beat, the listener's interest is maintained by the introduction of syncopating bass lines and the percussive use of other instruments such as pads and strings.
Speed garage tracks were characterised by a sped-up house-style beat, complemented by the rolling snares and reverse-warped basslines that were popular with drum and bass producers of the time.
Among those credited with honing the speed garage sound, New Jersey producer Todd Edwards is often cited as a seminal influence on the UK garage sound for having introduced a new way of working with vocals. Instead of having full verses and choruses, he picked out vocal phrases and played them like an instrument, using sampling technology.[5] Often, individual syllables were reversed or pitch-shifted. This type of vocal treatment is still a key characteristic of the UK garage style. Armand van Helden's speed garage remix of Sneaker Pimps' "Spin Spin Sugar" in 1997 further popularized the genre and is sometimes credited with breaking speed garage into the mainstream. Another van Helden remix which also proved popular is his Drum 'n' Bass Mix of CJ Bolland's "Sugar Is Sweeter". Huge club hits in 1997 came from speed garage duos Double 99, 187 Lockdown and Industry Standard. The former two both scored UK top 20 hits in 1997 and 1998; Double 99's "RipGroove" reached #14 in its second release and 187 Lockdown's "Gunman" and "Kung-Fu" reached #16 and #9, respectively. Industry Standard scored a top 40 hit with "Vol. 1 (What You Want What You Need)" peaking at #34 in January 1998,[6] and the 1997 XL Recordings release of Somore featuring Damon Trueitt's "I Refuse (What You Want)" reached #21 also in January 1998,[7] containing mixes by Industry Standard, Ramsey & Fen, R.I.P. Productions and Serious Danger. Serious Danger obtained a chart hit in his own right with "Deeper" which debuted and peaked at #40 in December 1997, and the Fabulous Baker Boys scored a chart hit with "Oh Boy",[8] which peaked at #34 in November 1997 and samples Jonny L's 1992 rave track "Hurt You So".
Two-step (1997–1999)
Arguably one of the earliest examples of a 2-step track is the 1997 Kelly G remix of "Never Gonna Let You Go" by Tina Moore, which peaked at #7 on the UK chart. Roy Davis Jr. was also influential in the UK garage scene, with the huge club hit "Gabriel" featuring Peven Everett, released in 1997 on XL Recordings, reaching #22 on the UK chart. Lovestation released their version of "Teardrops" which reached #14 in 1998. Doolally, the former name of Shanks & Bigfoot, scored a #20 hit in 1998 with "Straight from the Heart". A re-release of this song the following year fared even better, peaking at #9, due to the success of their #1 single "Sweet Like Chocolate". Jess Jackson was responsible for many garage records but one which stood out was "Hobson's Choice". The B-side of this record changed the UK garage scene from funky and soulful to dark and bassy. Another example of the evolution in 2-step was the release of "Troublesome" in 1999 by Shy Cookie and DJ Luck, in which non-sampled 2-step beats were merged with a full ragga vocal (performed by ragga artist Troublesome).
The UK's counterpart to Todd Edwards was MJ Cole, a classically trained oboe and piano player, who had a string of chart and underground hits in the late 1990s and early 2000s, most notably with "Sincere" and "Crazy Love". MJ Cole has also won a BBC "Young Musician of the Year" award.[9]
American influences
R&B influences can be heard in early UK garage, the genre offered more complex drum beats, with heavy syncopation (swing) and a more energetic feel due to a higher tempo (normally between 130 and 138 BPM). However, in tracks like "Twentyfourseven" by Artful Dodger, a slower and simpler R&B infused drum pattern can be heard. This was to allow for these tracks to be aimed at a more commercial scene rather than for the dance floor. Garage producers then proceeded to churn out UK versions of US contemporary R&B hits, notably with Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine". The Architechs sped up the vocals through time-stretching and added sound effects to increase the competitive nature. "B&M Remix" eventually sold twenty thousand copies as a bootleg.[4]
1999–2000: Role of pirate radio, UK chart success
With the continued support of pirate radio stations such as Rinse FM, Ice FM, Deja Vu, and Flex FM, the soaring popularity of UK garage saw 1999 take the genre into the mainstream, breaking into the music charts. Production duos Shanks & Bigfoot and Artful Dodger were very successful with the tracks "Sweet Like Chocolate" (the first UK garage track to hit number one in the UK) and "Re-Rewind", respectively. After the platinum-selling success of "Sweet Like Chocolate", the floodgates had opened. Although "Re-Rewind" was denied a #1 position by Cliff Richard and his song "The Millennium Prayer", it was also a platinum seller, one of the garage scene's first and last. They became anthems for the 2-step scene, and got onto BBC's Top of the Pops. Other huge hits in 1999 include the #1 house/garage anthem "You Don't Know Me" by Armand van Helden. Although not UK garage, Mr. Oizo's #1 single "Flat Beat" received extensive airplay on pirate radio stations upon release, becoming a staple for house, breakbeat and UK garage DJs; thus leading to numerous UK garage/2-step remixes/bootlegs of the track.[10]Da Click (Pied Piper, MC Creed, PSG, Unknown MC and singer Valerie M) had a #14 hit with "Good Rhymes", while musical trio the Dreem Teem had a #15 hit with "Buddy X 99", a garage remix of Neneh Cherry's 1992 song "Buddy X". DJ Luck & MC Neat also had a chart hit with "A Little Bit of Luck" in late 1999 into early 2000.
2002 saw an evolution as 2-step moved away from its funky and soul-oriented sound into a darker direction called "grime", now a genre in its own right. During this period, traditional UK garage was pushed back underground amongst the bad publicity emanating from the tougher side of the genre, and publicised violence surrounding members of the So Solid Crew. Nonetheless, several UK garage songs did appear on the charts from 2002 to 2004, including Heartless Crew's "The Heartless Theme" (#21), Distant Soundz' version of "Time After Time" (#20), So Solid Crew's "Ride wid Us" (#19) and "Haters" (#8), Ladies First's version of "I Can't Wait" (#19), Pay As U Go's "Champagne Dance" (#13), Mr Reds vs DJ Skribble's "Everybody Come On (Can U Feel It)" (#13), Mis-Teeq's "B with Me" (#5), Jaimeson's "True" (#4) and "Take Control" (#16), and 3 of a Kind's "Baby Cakes" which was a number one hit in August 2004.
During this time, there was also a strong division of class in UK garage. In the heyday of garage, the late 1990s, it was a highly aspirational genre. When people went to the club to hear garage, they dressed stylish and smart. Clubs such as Twice as Nice enforced a dress code of no tennis shoes, jeans, or baseball caps. Having a formal dress code changed the importance placed on nice clothes from a style to excluding people. The dress codes were meant to "encourage people to make an effort", but also to "keep trouble out." In time, the club installed a metal detector, because "gangstas like to dress expensive," but theoretically could still carry a gun.[4] Eventually, when groups like So Solid Crew attracted more urban, lower-class audiences to raves because of their lyrics over the garage tracks, garage began to transition to grime because previous audiences were less likely to listen, so radios and clubs stopped giving garage opportunities.[11]
2007: Garage revival
In 2007, several DJs helped promote and revive UK garage's popularity, with producers creating new UK garage, also known as "new skool" UK garage or "bassline".
The end of 2007 saw "new skool" UK garage push to the mainstream again with notable tracks such as T2's "Heartbroken" and H "Two" O's "What's It Gonna Be" both reaching the mainstream charts. The revival was galvanised by DJ EZ releasing Pure Garage Rewind: Back to the Old Skool, which contained three CDs of "old skool" UK garage and a fourth CD with fresh "new skool" UK garage.
2010s resurgence
Early 2011 saw the start of a gradual resurgence of 2-step garage.[12] Producers such as Wookie, MJ Cole, Zed Bias and Mark Hill (formerly one half of Artful Dodger) made a return to the scene, by producing tracks with more of a 2-step feel. Electronic music duos Disclosure and AlunaGeorge, both successful throughout 2012 and 2013, often use elements of UK garage in their music, and arguably, some of their biggest hits including "You & Me" and "We Are Chosen" respectively, are entirely 2-step with an updated cleaner sound. Shortly following this, "original" style garage had made a return in a big way, with producers such as Moony, DJD and Tuff Culture paving the way. One of the genre's pioneering labels, Ice Cream Records, responsible for anthems such as "RipGroove", True Steppers' "Out of Your Mind", Kele Le Roc's "My Love" and more, opened up their permanent roster for the first time to include DJs outside of the legendary trio that launched the label.
AJ Tracey's song "Ladbroke Grove" initially debuted at number 48 on the UK Singles Chart in February 2019, then eventually peaked at number three in October 2019 following its release as a single. In September 2019, the British Phonographic Industry certified the song as platinum for exceeding chart sales of 600,000. It was one of the best-selling songs of 2019.[13]
In May 2020, English band the 1975 released their fourth studio album Notes on a Conditional Form which is heavily influenced by the British dance music scene, and specifically UK garage. Notable titles include "Frail State of Mind", "Yeah I Know", "Shiny Collarbone", "Having No Head", and "I Think There's Something You Should Know".
Genres evolved from garage
Dubstep
The dark garage sound that was being produced by the likes of Wookie, Zed Bias, Shy Cookie, El-B and Artwork (of DND) in the late 1990s would set the groundwork for both grime and dubstep. Developing in parallel to grime, dubstep would take a mostly instrumental stripped down form of dark garage and with it bring in production values and influences from dub reggae.
UK funky
Some UK garage/dubstep/grime/bassline producers have moved to a different sound called UK funky, which takes production values from many different shades of soulful house music with elements of UK garage and blends them at a standard house music tempo, and soca with tribal style percussion from afrobeat.
Future garage
A contemporary offshoot of dubstep heavily influenced by UK garage is future garage.
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.
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.
Andre Williams, better known as Shy FX, is a British DJ and producer from London. He specialises in drum and bass and jungle music.
Artful Dodger was originally a UK garage duo featuring songwriters and producers Mark Hill and Pete Devereux. They achieved notoriety in the 1990s and early 2000s, releasing seven consecutive singles all of which charted in the United Kingdom Top 20. During this period, the then-unknown Craig David was featured on the track "Re-Rewind". The single launched David's career, landing at #2 in the UK singles chart. Hill and Devereux won numerous accolades, including the 2000 UK Producers of the Year and Ivor Novello recognition for their songwriting.
Speed garage is a genre of electronic dance music, associated with the UK garage scene, of which it is regarded as one of its subgenres.
Grime is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) that emerged in London in the early 2000s. It developed out of the earlier UK dance style UK garage, and draws influences from jungle, dancehall, and hip hop. The style is typified by rapid, syncopated breakbeats, generally around 140 beats per minute, and often features an aggressive or jagged electronic sound. Emceeing is a significant element of the style, and lyrics often revolve around gritty depictions of urban life.
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.
Breakstep, or breakbeat garage, is a genre of music that evolved from the UK garage scene and influenced the emergence of dubstep.
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance music. While there exist attestations of the combination of dance and music in ancient history, the earliest Western dance music that we can still reproduce with a degree of certainty are old-fashioned dances. In the Baroque period, the major dance styles were noble court dances. In the classical music era, the minuet was frequently used as a third movement, although in this context it would not accompany any dancing. The waltz also arose later in the classical era. Both remained part of the romantic music period, which also saw the rise of various other nationalistic dance forms like the barcarolle, mazurka, ecossaise, ballade and polonaise.
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.
2-step garage, or simply 2-step, is a genre of electronic music and a subgenre of UK garage. One of the primary characteristics of the 2-step sound – the term being coined to describe "a general rubric for all kinds of jittery, irregular rhythms that don't conform to garage's traditional four-on-the-floor pulse" – is that the rhythm lacks the kick drum pattern found in many other styles of electronic music with a regular four-on-the-floor beat.
Bassline is a music genre closely related to UK garage that originated in South Yorkshire and the West Midlands in the early 2000s. Stylistically it comprises a four-to-the-floor rhythm normally at around 135–142 beats per minute and a strong emphasis on bass, similar to that of its precursor speed garage, with chopped up vocal samples and a pop music aesthetic.
Shollen Michael Quarshie, known by his stage name DJ Q, is a DJ and record producer from Huddersfield, England. He forms part of the supergroup TQD alongside Flava D and Royal-T.
DJ Cameo is an English DJ and former host of "Pirate Sessions", a now-defunct Sunday afternoon grime show on the digital UK radio station BBC 1Xtra. He later hosted the Tuesday night UKG show, but on 4 November 2015 it was announced that he would be replaced by a new DJ called Jamz Supernova who would be playing R&B. The music Cameo produces varies from 2-step vocals, to 4x4, to grime, and sublow. In 2004, Cameo was voted winner of the "Best Newcomer" Award for the garage scene's 2004 Peoples Choice Awards held in London. Cameo also received two back to back awards on behalf of Uptown Records, winner of best record shop.
On a Mission is the debut studio album by British singer Katy B. The album was released on 1 April 2011, by Rinse and Columbia Records and in the United States on 13 September. Katy worked with producers and writers DJ Zinc, Benga, and Rinse FM founder Geeneus. Katy had been recording songs for the album since June 2007 and continued recording for three years until December 2010. The album was heavily influenced by the singer's life experiences and her journey into the music world.
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.
Mark Daniel Taylor, professionally known as Royal-T, is a British UK garage, bassline and grime DJ and music producer from Southampton. He is signed to Butterz and Rinse Recordings.
Danielle Anne Louise Gooding, professionally known as Flava D, is an English UK garage, grime and bassline DJ and music producer. She was previously signed to the Butterz record label and is now signed to Hospital Records. She is one third of the supergroup TQD, alongside fellow producers Royal-T and DJ Q.
Reggae Owes Me Money is the debut album by British duo The Ragga Twins, produced by hardcore duo Shut Up and Dance and released on the latter's record label of the same name. After establishing themselves as dancehall artists from the Unity soundsystem in the 1980s, the Ragga Twins switched direction in the early 1990s, combining into a duo after signing to Shut Up & Dance's label. The production duo stirred the Ragga Twins' change in direction, fusing their previous reggae and dancehall style into the Shut Up & Dance rave dance style.
References
↑ Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music. Flame Tree Publishing. p.329. ISBN1-904041-96-5.
↑ Reynolds, Simon (1998). "Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture". Two Steps Beyond UK garage and 2Step: 451.
↑ Reynolds, Simon (1998). "Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture". Two Steps Beyond UK Garage and 2Step: 450.
1 2 3 Reynolds, Simon (2008). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Picador. pp.448–451. ISBN978-0-330-45420-9.
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