| Dubstep | |
| Stylistic origins | UK Garage, Dub, Drum & Bass, Grime, Jungle |
|---|---|
| Cultural origins | Late 1990s in Croydon, UK |
| Level of recognition | Major Genre |
| Derivatives | |
| Bass, Hybrid Trap, Moombahcore | |
| Subgenres | |
| Brazilian Dubstep, Briddim, Brostep, Carnival, Deep Dubstep, Experimental Dubstep, Melodic Dubstep, Post-Dubstep, Proto-Dubstep, Riddim, Tearout, UK Dubstep | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Ambient Dubstep, Chipstep, Drumstep, Dubcore, Dubstyle, Glitchstep, Hybrid Dubstep, Neurostep, Psystep | |
Dubstep is a type of electronic music that started in the underground UK garage scene in London during the late 90s to early 2000s, becoming one of the most well-known music genres in the world. Prominent Dubstep producers include Skream, Benga, and Digital Mystikz. Bassnectar is the most widely known Dubstep and Bass music artist for bringing Bass music mainstream in the U.S. Skrillex and many other brostep artists that rose to prominence in the early 2010s are divisively said to not be "dubstep" by some, but given how the style is derivative of original dubstep, most online sources catalog it within dubstep. Dubstep has roots in UK Garage, Grime, Drum and Bass and Jungle.
History[]
Origins[]
See proto-dubstep for details on early dubstep.
Dubstep, emerged in the late-1990s in the suburbs of London as an extension of UK Garage, fusing various genres of electronic music, the two main ones being 2-Step and Dub, but also drum & bass and jungle. The origin of the term “Dubstep” comes from producer Oris Jay, of the Tempa label, who thought that in his productions there was 2-Step and Dub.
It’s like 2-step, but it’s got dub in it. It’s kind of like… dubstep. […] Why don’t we just call it dubstep ? ~Oris Jay, A.K.A Darqwuan
Thus, the Dubstep genre was formulated in the British underground, releasing the first “Dubstep All Stars vol.1” compilation in the 2000s. The genre remained fairly underground with a small but devoted fan base mainly in the UK.
One of the first forms of Dubstep is UK Dubstep, a genre produced by Britains artists like Zed Bias, Skream, Benga, Loefah, Mala, Rusko, and Coki. The genre will evolve in 2005 into a more aggressive and dancefloor-friendly form known as UK Tearout, a genre popularised by Coki in 2007, and will evolve into Brostep, thanks to artists like Rusko and Caspa, and popularised in first in Canada by canadian artists like Excision and Datsik.
Popularity[]
Between 2010 and 2012, Dubstep experienced its height in popularity. The genre was revitalized with the advent of brostep.
Having gained enormous popularity (especially in 2010) thanks to Skrillex with 'Scary Monster and Nice Sprites' and 'First of The Year (Equinox)', two pieces of music that represented a kind of revolution in dubstep production, with their intense growls and wobble bass.
In the wake of Skrillex, other brostep artists emerged to push the genre, like Zomboy, Zeds Dead, Virtual Riot, Excision, and Knife Party. All have helped popularize the genre with brostep, filthstep, drumstep, and other genres emerging out of brostep.
With the popularization of Brostep, the UK Dubstep scene will create a genre named Post-Dubstep, a genre of Dubstep that rejects the hard aspect of Brostep. Post-Dubstep will give born to others genres, like Chillstep, popularised by Blackmill, Sappheiros and CMA, and Future Garage, coined by Burial. But this genre will died in 2012-2013.
Decline[]
After 2012, Dubstep began to lose popularity. This decline can be explained by people getting bored of listening to it, people labeling the genre as if it weren't music, and, above all, the fact that other genres of electronic music were beginning to gain in popularity.
Indeed, in 2013, the song "Animals", made by young DJ Martin Garrix, who was only 15 at the time, exploded in popularity and led to big room house becoming vastly more popular, taking a huge cut of dubstep listeners away at the time. Other genres like future bass, future house, trap EDM, and bass house can also be attributed to dubstep's demise.
Although Dubstep was popular for only a short time, it remains one of the most popular underground genres, alongside drum and bass and hardstyle, and continues to be popular thanks to DJs like RIOT, Getter, Adair, or EH!DE.
Subgenres[]
Having gained in popularity during the mid-2000s and early 2010s, Dubstep led to different subgenres, which also gained in popularity.
Brostep[]
A more modern style of Dubstep, where instead of an emphasis on sub frequencies, an equal share of attention is given to mid-range frequency elements.
Earlier, Brostep usually put the BPM at 140; however, from around 2015 onwards, it became more common for it to be 145-150, as this increased the energy of the track. Common sound design used includes growl basses, screeches, sustains, stabs, and heavily distorted Reese basses; often, melodic elements will be present as well, for instance, supersaws and atmospheric pads.
Definitive features of a Brostep track's arrangement include (but are not limited to): Melodic intro sections and buildups, a drop with melodic or glitchy fills, breakdown sections or later halves of the drop where heavier elements are stripped away, and second or third drops that create drastically different pattern variations. A notable and oft-used technique that differentiates Brostep from other forms of dubstep is a rhythm or 'flow' that changes several times in the space of 4-8 bars; this makes Brostep feel much busier and tense than other forms of Dubstep.
Brostep, due to its popularity and creative freedom opportunities, gave rise to several other subgenres of Dubstep.
Drumstep[]
A fusion of Drum & Bass with Dubstep, always using a half-time beat.
Melodic Dubstep[]
a more accessible Dubstep genre, focusing on the emotional, euphoric, and melodic.
Post-Dubstep[]
A more experimental subgenre of Dubstep, it includes elements of other EDM genres and bans the aggressive aspect of dubstep.
Proto-Dubstep[]
A term used for the numerous early UK garage releases that began to shape the definitive early sound of dubstep, taking influence from drum and bass and dub.
Riddim[]
A style that uses complex sound design and layering in tandem with an emphasized flow to the bassline.
UK Dubstep[]
The original sound of dubstep which has carried on into the modern era. More recently, this style has been called 140 based on its BPM.
Artists[]
- Bassnectar
- Blackmill
- CMA
- Coki & Mala (Digital Mystikz, also independent artists.)
- Crystal Skies
- Desmeon
- EH!DE
- Excision
- Flux Pavilion
- Funtcase
- Loefah
- MitiS
- Modestep
- MRK1
- Noisa
- Paul Flint
- Phaeleh
- RIOT
- Rusko (Earlier work)
- Sappheiros
- Seven Lions
- Skream
- Virtual Riot
- Zomboy
Labels[]
- Big Apple (closed in 2004, and ended in 2007)
- DubstepGutter
- Monstercat (Generally EDM, but release a lot of Dubstep song)
- Ophelia Records (More Melodic Dubstep-oriented label)
- Owsla
- The Dub Rebellion
- UKF Dubstep
Resources[]
- Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubstep
- RYM listing https://rateyourmusic.com/genre/dubstep
- RYM ultimate box set listing https://rateyourmusic.com/list/nvandenh/rym-ultimate-boxset-dubstep