UK bass

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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. [1] 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. [2]

UK bass is sometimes conflated with bassline or post-dubstep. [3] [4] It is not to be confused with the hip hop and electro-based genre Miami bass, which is sometimes called "bass music" as well. [5]

Origins

The breadth of styles that have come to be associated with the term preclude it from being a specific musical genre. Pitchfork writer Martin Clark has suggested that "well-meaning attempts to loosely define the ground we're covering here are somewhat futile and almost certainly flawed. This is not one genre. However, given the links, interaction, and free-flowing ideas… you can't dismiss all these acts as unrelated." [3] Dubstep producer Skream is quoted in an interview with The Independent in September 2011 as saying:

The word dubstep is being used by a lot of people and there were a lot of people being tagged with the dubstep brush. They don't want to be tagged with it and shouldn't be tagged with it – that's not what they're pushing... When I say 'UK bass', it's what everyone UK is associated with so it would be a lot easier if it was called that." [6]

In the United Kingdom, bass music has had major mainstream success since the late 2000s and early 2010s, with artists such as James Blake, [3] Benga, Burial, SBTRKT, Sophie, Rustie, Zomby, [7] and Skream. [8] The term "post-dubstep" has been used synonymously to refer to artists, such as Blake and Mount Kimbie whose work draws on UK garage, 2-step, and other forms of underground dance music, as well as ambient music and early R&B. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] Outside of nightclubs, UK bass has mainly been promoted and played on Internet radio stations such as Sub.FM and Rinse FM. [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skream</span> English electronic music producer

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.

Horsepower Productions are an English electronic music duo, initially a larger musical collective who released experimental garage recordings, and helped pioneer the dubstep genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rinse FM</span> London-based radio station, critical in the emergence of dubstep and grime

Rinse FM is a London-based community radio station, licensed for "young people living and/or working within the central, east and south London areas". It plays garage, grime, dubstep, house, jungle, UK funky and other dance music genres popular in the United Kingdom.

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.

Wonky is a subgenre of electronic dance music known primarily for its off-kilter or “unstable” beats, as well as its eclectic, colorful blend of genres including hip-hop, electro-funk, 8-bit, jazz fusion, glitch, and crunk. Artists associated with the style include Joker, Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, Zomby, and Flying Lotus. The genre includes the related styles of purple sound and aquacrunk.

UK funky is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England that is heavily influenced by soca, soulful house, tribal house, funky house, UK garage, broken beat and grime. Typically, UK funky blends beats, bass loops and synths with African and Latin percussion in the dembow rhythm with contemporary R&B-style vocals.

Zomby is a British electronic musician who began releasing music in 2007. He has released music on several labels, including Hyperdub, Werk Discs, and 4AD. Zomby's influences include oldschool jungle music and Wiley's eskibeat sound.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post-dubstep</span> Electronic music genre, British development of dubstep

Post-dubstep is an umbrella term applied to a range of musical styles that have been influenced by the sparse, syncopated rhythms and heavy sub-bass of the UK dubstep scene. The breadth of styles associated with the term post-dubstep precluded it from being a specific musical genre in the early 2010s. Such music often references earlier dubstep productions as well as UK garage, 2-step and other forms of underground electronic dance music. Artists producing music that has been described as post-dubstep have also incorporated elements of ambient music and early 2000s R&B. The latter in particular is heavily sampled by two artists described as post-dubstep, Mount Kimbie and James Blake. The tempo of music typically characterised as post-dubstep is approximately 130 beats per minute.

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.

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.

<i>Blow Your Head: Diplo Presents Dubstep</i> 2010 remix album by Diplo

Blow Your Head: Diplo Presents Dubstep is a DJ mix compilation album by American dubstep musician Diplo. It was released on November 2, 2010 on Diplo's own label Mad Decent in the United States, and the following year as an import in the United Kingdom. It features multiple artists performing alongside Diplo, including Rusko, Benga, Zomby, Joker & Ginz, and James Blake, on some of the tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyph Mngo</span> 2009 song

"Hyph Mngo" is a 2009 song by Joy Orbison. His debut single, it was influential in the dubstep genre and was included in a number of "best of" lists.

References

  1. ↑ Ryce, Andrew. "Bass / House". Resident Advisor . Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  2. ↑ timi. "The Best UK Bass Music of 2012 (so far)". Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Clark, Martin (4 May 2011). "Grime / Dubstep". Pitchfork . Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Richards, Sam (14 June 2011). "The UK leads the way". The Guardian . Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  5. ↑ See for example: Allmusic biography on electro act Dynamix II.
  6. ↑ Moir, Sam (13 September 2011). "Skream: "I want to make sure once this fad dies out, I'm still standing"". The Independent . London. Archived from the original on 26 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Zomby: Ultra Album Review – Pitchfork". Pitchfork .
  8. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Rob (30 June 2011). "Example: 'I have a formula now'". The Guardian.
  9. ↑ Aaron, Charles (4 March 2011). "10 Post-Dubstep Artists Who Matter". Spin .
  10. ↑ Moore, Thad (12 July 2011). "SBTRKT adds to post-dubstep genre". The Daily Gamecock . Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
  11. ↑ Guidry, Jake (19 May 2011). "Blawan takes post-dubstep and UK house out of its comfort zone". XLR8R . Archived from the original on 2 September 2011.
  12. ↑ "Fantastic Mr Fox (No 910)". The Guardian . 6 January 2011.
  13. ↑ "A profile of James Blake – post-dubstep artist". BBC News . 6 January 2011.
  14. ↑ Tidey, Jimmy (5 April 2008). "The Rise of Online Radio". Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  15. ↑ Clark, Martin (17 November 2010). "Grime / Dubstep". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
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