The Founding Fathers of Dubstep

So Dubstep has taken the world by storm, introducing a shiny new style when no-one thought there was any life left in the British underground electronic scene.

But as always, it was individuals that brought innovation - let's see which people are responsible for us having heard of Dubstep...


El-B

One of the pioneers of Dubstep, he brought the wobbly sound to the fore, evolving it from his hip hop and UK garage roots.

Zed Bias

With a background in producing Broken Beat and UK garage, Zed, who incidentally was behind the 2000 single "Neighbourhood" if you remember back that far, was another founding father attributed to the birth of Dubstep.

Kode9

This founding father is more notably a DJ rather than a producer when it comes to Dubstep - Fronting the pirate radio station "Rinse FM"'s Dubstep Radio show. Kode9 also created the immensely influential Hyperdub record label, which
would later go on to release the self titled album by "Burial" - arguably the
most successful Dubstep album to date.

DJ Youngsta

Another DJ from Rinse FM, DJ Youngsta also took to the turntables at the important FWD>> club night that created the initial scene around Dubstep.


Benga

On the "Big Apple Records" label, Benga was another of the first producers to start bringing the style into view of the mainstream, with his massive collaborative effort "Night", produced with "Coki" of the Digital Mystikz.

Actually placing in the top 100 chart, and with over a million views on youtube, this tune is attributed to being the first big Dubstep hit to cross over into the mainstream.

Skream

Working at the "Big Apple Records" record shop - the vinyl store that was at the center of the growing Dubstep scene gave Skream an inside look into what was going to be the next big thing.

His productions with Benga in his early days were more obscure and less melodic, but his solo stuff such as massive crossover hit "Midnight Request Line" brought in a much catchier element, whilst still retaining the dark dubstep feel.

Rusko

One of the biggest proponents of the Dubstep genre at the moment, Rusko brought it to new audiences with a more upbeat, fun take on the style. His remix of Kid Cudi's "Day n night" along with his own club bangers such as
"Cockney Thug" have earned him critical acclaim in the Dubstep scene.

Coki

This founding father is one half of production duo DMZ, along with Mala - these two run the "DMZ" club night, which gets hundreds of patrons coming in to feel the unnecessarily heavy basslines and lose themselves in the ambient
noises. At this DMZ clubnight, a BBC DJ discovered the genre...


Founding Mother - Mary Anne Hobbs

It's not just a sausage fest any more - After Hobbs discovered Dubstep, she proceeded to champion it on her radio show which had promoted grime previously. She put the genre out to more people than ever before with her show "Dubstep
Warz" on BBC Radio 1.

Joe Nice

A Dubstep DJ from America, attributed with bringing the genre to the continent. Bringing DJs such as Mala, Kode9 and Loefah to New York (Once again, the big apple features in the history of Dubstep!) for his "Dub War" club night, his
passion for the genre certainly helped to push it to a wider audience.



Burial

An almost anonymous producer until mid-2008, Burial was responsible for the self-titled album released on Kode9's hyperdub label which was named "Album of the year" by Wire magazine, one small step for Dub, and one giant leap for...
uh... Minimalistic dark electronica.


So there we have some of the most important and influential names in Dubstep – people that conceived the idea, people that took the genre to new audiences and people that turned Dubstep into what it is today.
If it wasn’t for all of these people, for all we know we could be sitting listening to up-tempo music right now, instead of bobbing our heads like our neck is Zebedee from the magic roundabout.
So who will be the next big name in Dubstep? Are there many more Founding Fathers to come? Who will sign the declaration of Dubdependence? (Okay, that’s one too many juxtapositions for this post) Keep your eyes on the scene and maybe
you’ll see... or keep your eyes on your sequencer and maybe you’ll be the next
name on the list!

Tags: Dubstep, Fathers, Founding, The, of

Views: 6

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by LITR on September 20, 2009 at 11:50
Nice article!
I think the next big names in dubstep will be artists like:
16 Bit
Excision
Datsik
Downlink
Cookie Monsta
Nero
The Widdler
Reso
Black Sun Empire

I think they're taking dubstep to a whole new level.
But that's just my opinion..

RSS

NONE DECAY MUSIC PRESENT THE GREASE MONKEY EP

This release has already garnered a great deal of interest from DJs including Billion, AnnGree and Barrington. And you know that with that kind of support in the bag, this is a big, big release. Read More

TWO MASSIVE TRACKS FROM DAWN RAID

Dawn Raid are proud to present their second single on new label Hocus Pocus... Read More

ROLL THE DRUMZ PODCAST #18 FEATURING CONSCIENCE

Drummer's back to host this month's show and he kicks things off with a 30 minute mix of heavyweight tunes from some of the biggest labels the scene has to offer... Read More