Decade in Review : Bass
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From ghetto to global.
Imploding boundaries and exploding sounds - Johnny Ilan attempts to make sense of 10 years in bass.
A little over 30 years since hip-hop first shook the Bronx and dancehall started drifting out of the Kingston slums, urban dance music has been radically altered by the effects of technological development, hyper communication and the growth and globalisation of the consumer culture.
Whilst inventiveness, authenticity and the will to party still dominate the music, by the end of the 00s the ways in which it is produced, marketed, played out and consumed have significantly shifted. The depth and variation within urban dance music has grown exponentially. Our choices were once fairly well bounded by broad genres such as hip-hop, jungle and garage, but these musical movements have come to rely more and more on their regional and stylistic outliers for inspiration in a world that is more globalised, commercial and plural than ever before.
The 00s have been the era in which rappers are more successful as businessmen than musicians, where drum and bass found its way into high-end TV advertising, when niche third world genres are continuously claimed and discarded by a scene desperately seeking the commercially unadulterated but often too self-conscious to produce anything ground-breaking off its own bat.
Next : more thoughts from Johnny, plus his top five albums and singles...
By the turn of the millennium, urban dance music in both the US and UK had reached a certain level of creative and commercial maturity. American hip-hop had moved from its ‘golden age’ in the early 1990s, weathered the ‘gangsta’ controversy and had emerged as an economically valuable pop music trope.
Meanwhile in Britain, the break-beat hardcore of the early '90s had been steadily raising the BPM, mutating into jungle then DnB, producing Mercury Award-winning soundscapes and big name DJs who could rival their house counterparts in fame.
As the 2000s trundled on these two styles were suffering from major creative crises. Hip-hop, mired in a constructed beef between supposedly rival east and west coast styles, turned its gaze south, first to cities such as Atlanta, Houston and Memphis and later to the Caribbean, Central and South America. Drum and bass was eventually to be overtaken by garage as the commercial heart and creative engine of UK urban music.
By the mid 00s, DJs like Hollertronix were popularising a mixture of tried and tested classics from Jamaica and Miami with the fresh sounding ghetto styles of Rio, Baltimore, Chicago and Sheffield. Dance music production has increasingly attempted to realise this diverse sound of the global ghetto, but with countless bedroom producers merely throwing together formulaic breaks with wobbly basslines, quality control has probably been one of the greatest casaulties of the decade.
Nevertheless, there's been a lot of material that has skillfully drawn on the genre fluidity and diversity of influences available to originate music that is just as complex and/or compelling as that which came before.
Next: Jim's top five albums, singles and more...
Five Albums
Outkast 'Stankonia' [La Face]
The South rises up with innovation that the old guard just couldn't challenge. 'Bombs Over Baghdad' signalled hip-hop's sea change.
Skitz 'Countryman' [Ronin Records]
UK hip-hop of unrivalled depth, variety and sophistication, showcased by a top producer. A rare 00s classic.
Dizzee Rascal 'Boy in Da Corner' [XL]
Grime finds both a market and critical acclaim as Diz leaves the Roll Deep crew behind him and reinvents the possibilities for UK urban artists.
Various '5 Years of Hyperdub' [Hyperdub]
Drawing a compilation is a complete cop-out, but Hyperdub have pushed the most innovative sounds in dubstep and post-garage.
The Mixtape
Dance music hasn't always lent itself so easily to full albums. The 00s have seen the mixtape make a memorable return as a format. Big movers this decade include Diplo and MIA's 'Piracy Funds Terrorism' and Toddla T's 'Ghettoblaster'.
Next : Johnny's top five albums and more...
Five Tracks
Diplo 'Rhythm' [Big Dada]
A riddim that accomodated Brazillian Baile Funk and Jamaican dancehall; one of the tracks to kickstart the global bass movement.
Roots Manuva 'Witness (One Hope)' [Big Dada]
Big bassline and monster vocal has been killing it in the club all decade. UK hip-hop that appealed to the hardcore and backpacker alike.
Dr Dre ft. Snoop Dogg 'The Next Episode' [Aftermath]
Released in 2000 – some of the last great material from the hip-hop old guard. Has been causing white guys to throw faux gang signs for many's a year.
Skream 'Midnight Request Line' [Tempa]
Diddly-diddly-deep. The first dubstep track to really make moves outside of the scene.
Sean Paul 'Get Busy' [VP Records]
The Dutty Rocker's repeated entreaty for a mystery woman to 'shake dat ting' gave the world this decade's strongest reggae export.
Next : Johnny's Hero and Villain of the decade...
Hero:
The Internet
The increased penetration and quality of the internet have brought the artist and audience closer together, created networks of DJs and producers and brought the most exciting of sounds right to our fingertips in an instant. The internet has expanded our horizons and busted open the doors of possibility.
Villain:
The Internet
The internet has been taken by some as a license to post their ill-conceived, half-baked and poorly-finished production. Trawling through the blogs has become such an unwholesome activity that vinyl has taken on fresh appeal. A tune has to be somewhat decent for someone to invest the time and energy it takes to commit it to wax.
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