Souped Up is a London-based drum & bass label that drips with some of the fattest rollers and wobblers around. Led by D&B badmen Serum and Benny V, Souped Up have been carving their instantly recognisable bass face sound since it burst onto the scene in 2017. The forward-thinking label has so far churned out tunes from the likes of: Voltage, Bou, Dutta, T>I, Need For Mirrors, Mozey, Current Value, Levela, Ego Trippin and more. Rave favourites include Serum’s ‘Chop House’, Bou’s ‘Veteran (VIP)’ (feat. Trigga) and Bou, Simula and Bassman’s weapon, ‘Heavy & Dark’. Souped Up has a clear, colourful and unpretentious aesthetic and each release cover features a statement cartoon character. Reflecting their good humour, the label is also home to steroided-up soup can cartoon mascot, Vinny.
Review: Here's something that will make you happy when skies are grey... Serum and old pal Inja link up for some sunny-side fun. 'Jet Ski' revs us up for the opener as Inj matches each one-note hit on a signature Serum bassline. It's backed up by three more sonic stunners: 'Spray Tan' sees Spyda join the blend over some steel drum magic, 'Fantasia' takes us deep into an introspective euphoric daydream while 'Good Morning Sunshine' is the ultimate scene-setter. Wake up and smell the solar rays. Rave safe, rave hard.
Review: Some dads clean up your mess. Other dads make you mess yourself. Other dads make the mess and expect you to clean it up. We don't even need to tell you what type of fathers Serum and Voltage are, but in case you're unaware of the mischievous influence they have on each other, let's just say they're not changing any nappies tonight. 'Pum Pum Rule' is a splat-and-dash dust-up with some of the funkiest drums the pair have ever programmed while 'Metamorphosis' takes us back to the late 2000s style of tear-up with very messy consequences. Watch out for volume two when they try and tell us about the birds and the bees. Eek.
Review: Original Sin returns to Souped Up once again, this time bringing razor sharp MC Shakes into the mix for a heavyweight link up '100K'. As with all Original Sin cuts since the very beginning, the dynamics are set to max as the urgent bassline pushes and pulls us around each corner of the dancefloor. Complete with Shakes spitting hard with clarity and vibes, you already know how much damage this is going to cause as we move towards the ravey season. 100 thumbs up.
Review: Souped Up come through with that next level sickness once again as Russian giants Teddy Killerz get busy with the formidable arachnid MC, and fellow giant, Spyda on 'Run'. Opening with big reggae skanks, powerful vocals from Spyda and a bassline sharper than a sassy roadman on a bed of nails, it's a big 2024 anthem in waiting. Elsewhere Rouman gets involved on the sexier feels of 'Smoke' while finale 'Gun' shoots first and knocks heads off later with pure greasy intent. Bang bang!
Review: Next up from the ever-ready Souped Up crew, a vibrant two track display that showcases Upgrade as his very best, with both of these spicy originals packing a real dancefloor-ready punch. We begin with the other-worldly sounds of 'The Visitor', a synthesiser-driven stomp through gnarly sub textures, intricate percussive pops and monstrous melody, kicking off the project in style. On the flip to this, a more garage-inspired idea as 'Concrete Jungle' fuses with smooth female vocal chops with squelching bass slides and chord-driven progressions, giving a nicely balanced two-track project.
Review: No one knows what ACP stands for. A Cool Person? A Crap Party? Ah Crazy Patterns? Andy C's Pants? Who knows? But one thing we do know is that his music is seriously bubbling right now and you need to be paying attention to it. Fresh from his release on Serial Killaz comes this awesome Souped Up debut. Angular, scrappy and full of trippy surprises, 'Jumpscare' is an epic peak time slayer that sits somewhere between a young Dutta and the Teddy Killaz. 'Lullaby' is equally disarming, especially with its switch to dreamy instruments on the hook. Finally 'Foghorn' mischievously returns to one of the most divisive sounds in contemporary dnb and flips it into a vicious robotic mess. Another crucial platter.
Review: Everyone's favourite D&B dad Mozey returns to Serum's Souped Up with two more absurd thumpy bumpers. 'Tell Me' plays a mean flip as we go from hands-in-the-air Sub Focus style dancefloor energy to an absolutely grotty jump-up riff at a the flick of Mozey's luxuriant long hair. Looking for even more grot and grit? Then head for 'Volcano'. Rasping in a similar, venomous way as 'Tell Me' but with less playful switches, it's Mozey reminding us he's still a badboy when he wants to be. Cheers pops!
Review: Now here's where taxes finally get interesting... The addition of swords. Taxman shows us how: First you take your blade, then you chop up your returns and self assessment forms to shreds to the epic grind and dark swagger of this latest Souped Up banger. 'Never Give Up' cuts just as a deep but with more of an emotional blast and a sudden hurricane twist on the drop. Stylish.
Review: Consummate sportsman Mozey kicks down the doors of Souped Up HQ and cries 'new balls please' as loudly and threateningly as he can while brandishing a broken tennis racket... And who are we to argue? He's rolling with the likes of Rusko and Killa P and his tunes are such high calibre they could win an open without even playing a match. Highlights include the twisted dancehall and high frequencies of 'Hands In The Air' and the dreamy-but-deadly charms of 'Disco'. You cannot be serious.
Review: Northern giant Original Sin kicks the Souped Up doors down and makes himself at home with his pals Eksman and Trigga. Summoning up all the powers of Greyskull, 'Masters Of The Universe' goes all in with a big high freq wobbly bassline while Eksman calls 999 and warns them of a new pandemic on 'Drum N Bass Fever'. Further into this hectic collection we ride to find Trigga doing the damn thing on 'Chronic' before old Sinny closes the EP with the curmudgeonly slap-about 'The Other Side'. We have the power.
Review: Souped Up continue to smash us to pieces as we skank into 2022 as they welcome Enta to the label with three absolutely explosive pieces of late night action. Everything you need to know can be felt from the moment you press play on the title track - cheeky samples, skippy breaks and a drop so booming you are pretty much guaranteed to lose all your body hair while listening to it. Elsewhere the Noisia support 'L8 Nights' is a fat bassline worm wriggling around waiting to be chopped up into smaller worms while 'Them Special Effects' frazzles your mind with textures and pummels your feet with high voltage bass. What an EP.
Review: We choo-choo-choose this! Teddy Killerz return to Serum & Benny V's Souped Up for two filthy diesel-powered rave shunters. 'Night Train' gets everyone all aboard with its full-on 4x4 dancefloor charge and rolling buffet of FX and crazy textures. 'Vibrate' follows with another vast contrast of sounds that flexes from full-on and jumpy to beautiful pianos. Teddy Killerz at their absolute finest, full steam ahead!
Review: Now rolling solo, Jam Thieves continues to hurl bassline muck around the place, this time on Serum & Benny V's Souped Up. 'Bogota' is a stripped back vocal piece with an unyielding tech-teased bassline that belongs in a high security space weapons stockade while 'Don't Kill' takes us even deeper into the jam pot with very sleek and contemporary futurist paranoia. Darker than usual Souped Up flavours but still a perfect ingredient for any sets where the wobs are heavy on the gaf.
Review: Rusko gets his gaf on the wob AND tells us to pipe down in the process... This is life in late-stage capitalist 2021 - strange, off-kilter and straight-for-the-jugular. 'Shut Ya Mouth' takes the lead with some expertly controlled wobbles and an unrelenting break, 'Real Badman' strips back the drums and brings in a little Clipz style gruffness to the bass tones while 'Your Time's Up' carries a whole sledge of old movie samples and bassline so low-slung it's enough to scuff knuckles at 50 paces. Speak now or forever shut it.
Review: Gear them now! D*Minds return to Souped Up with more fruity ruffage. 'Charlie's Sheen' takes the spicy Hollywood actor to gully new levels with a stern Hazard-esque barking bassline and a sense of tension running throughout while 'Riddem' goes full-on barrel business with an expertly rattling snare and ballistic style bass scuds flying all over the place. Classic D*Minds carnage.
Review: Tik-Tok terrorist, shampoo advert superstar and all-round donnie Mozey returns to Souped Up with four more outstanding slap-abouts. 'Shrugs' takes the lead with its hornets nest bassline and skippy drums before 'Night Buzz' gets busy over a rattling snare and big bulbous sub plunges. Elsewhere we see him link arms with bossman Serum and stroll to the chemist for some foot ointment on the early 2000s Zinc style roll-out 'Trench Foot' before 'Waiting Room' sends us all off to purgatory on a big bag of nutty harmonic basslines with no ETA on when we'll be let out. Party on.
Review: Would you like to play a game? Rohaan would, and he's waiting for you in the Souped Up mansion games room with an array of outstanding pursuits and pastimes. 'Let's Play' reads the rules clearly with its hurricane synth stabs and sudden beat switches, 'Laser' then rips up those rules with its spiralling euphoric cascades and sudden drop into Armageddon while 'Stuck In A Memory' goes all stampy and throws the board off the table in a fit of drama and poignancy. 23rd century gamesmanship.
Review: Two of the most exciting acts around right now have collaborated on this single, as Bristol's The Sauce make their first appearance on Souped Up alongside label founder Serum. The drums are tight and head-nodding, and the basslines are expansive, choppy and full of the not-serious mentality that makes this such a great label. It's the b-side, 'A Truck Load', which really stands out from the pair, as a relentless yet subtly composed bassline barrels through the middle of the track with a feeling of pure inevitability; of course these two acts will make something this good, and of course it will blow your socks off. They wouldn't have it any other way.
Review: Man like Dutta returns to Souped Up with four delicious servings. We kick off with the title track 'Tokyo Drift', a sprightly, shimmering number where the bassline too's and fro's beneath Bone Slim's stylistic bars. It's backed by three more dreamboat jams; 'Explode' hits with a divine house-style piano hook, 'Bag Drop' gets a little murky for the sticky fingered massive while 'Middleman' closes the EP on an introspective jazzy flex. Drift away...
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