About Drum And Bass: The history of D&B is a history of fusion. Born out of London's melting pot in the early 1990s, D&B represented the next evolution of jungle music, itself an early amalgam of dub, reggae and hip-hop. The divide has always been blurred, however, and no true fan would ever proclaim jungle and D&B to be mutually exclusive. After all, Origin Unknown's 'Valley of the Shadows', a seminal D&B track by Andy C and Ant Miles, has a distinctly jungle flavour yet crosses over into more recognisable D&B with an effortless elegance. Whether it's jungle at 170bpm or rolling drums at 175bpm, this is the period in which the genre came to be characterised by an unmatched level of speed and intensity, with breaks all over the shop and a deep commitment to pulsating basslines. It is called Drum and Bass, after all.
Growing off the back of the 1990s rave scene and sustained by clubs like Bagleys and a vibrant free party culture, D&B hit the 2000s with a reckless abandon and began diversifying in earnest. Manchester's Marcus Intalex and the legendary Calibre began rolling out the liquid, Bad Company UK and Ed Rush and Optical virtually invented the dark, techy sounds and a whole host of new labels, pioneered by Metalheadz in the 90s alongside Andy C's Ram Records and Tony Colman and Chris Goss' Hospital Records, offered passionate platforms for experimentation.
It's this historical basis that sees the genre now reaching possibly an epoch in its popularity, diversity and ingenuity. Innumerable labels are releasing an uncountable blend of tones and moods for an ever-wider audience, from the attitude-packed jump-up of Serum and Benny L, all the way through to the halftime of Ivy Lab and the Neurofunk of Eatbrain and Blackout. A now truly global phenomenon, the youngsters in the scene, artists like Klinical and Koherent, are touring the world earlier in their careers than their predecessors and they're spreading the genre as they go. When you catch the infectious enthusiasm for speed and adrenaline you never lose it, and it’s this unique ability to get people moving and smiling that makes D&B so damn good.
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