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Drum and Bass

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Drum and Bass (Drum n Bass, DnB) is an electronic music style.

Drum and Bass, originally an offshoot of the United Kingdom breakbeat hardcore or Rave scene, came into existence when people mixed reggae basslines with sped-up hip hop breakbeats and influences from techno. Pioneers such as raggamuffin DJ General Levy[?] and other DJ's quickly became the stars of Drum and Bass, then still called Jungle. Producers such as Goldie and 4 Hero[?] transformed the current art and turned Drum and Bass in a less accessible and more instrumental direction, spawning sub-genres like tech-step[?] and moving the genre closer to techno.

Drum and Bass is also known as Jungle[?], a moniker stemming from a rough area in Kingston, Jamaica originally known as Concrete Jungle. It was likely named after this area due to the harshness or roughness of the beats and rhythm. By the mid-1990s, the term Jungle on the British scene had come to refer to a rougher, darker style of Drum and Bass influenced by the raggamuffin dance hall tradition and favouring ragga-style MCs, repetitive sampled drum loops and distorted bass (rather than the melodic vocals, programmed drums and floaty synthesizer ambience common in so-called 'intelligent' Drum and Bass). Modern 'dark' Drum and Bass showcases highly programmed and complex beats running between 140 and 160 BPM, with synth leads that strongly emphasize the sub-bass frequencies, and frequently make use of various cuts and breaks in order to keep the dancing audience from becoming bored and losing energy.

Good examples of Jungle are provided by Shy FX or Aphrodite, while LTJ Bukem, Goldie, Roni Size and Aphex Twin (a versatile musician who has experimented with several forms) are probably Drum and Bass rather than Jungle. The fusion of techno music with Jungle does not necessarily lead to the intellectualisations of Goldie et al., as evidenced by DJs on the New York scene of the late '90s such as the highly danceable DJ Soulslinger[?]. In general, Jungle is simpler, sweatier, dirtier and (in terms of paying audience) more working-class than Drum and Bass.

Intelligent Dance Music (also known as IDM), popularized by Aphex Twin, features many of the same types of rhythms used in Drum and Bass but is generally focused on complexity in programming and instrumentation as opposed to the more simplistic styles in modern drum and bass. Interestingly, some IDM is considered minimalist and experimental[?] by many casual listeners, despite the complexity involved in it. Its main proponents include Squarepusher.

Important Artists:

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Important MCs:


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