London is not just Sex Pistols and Rock and Roll. Over the years London's underground music scene gave birth to some of the most significant developments in Dance music. First there was Rave which emerged from Acid and House. Then there was Jungle (which became Drum & Bass) and in the mid 90's there was UK Garage which evolved into 2Step. But ever since 2Step emerged from the London underground, the former Dance capitol of the world turned silent.
Amsterdam, Berlin and Cologne took over. And then, totally unanticipated - something happened. Arising from the area of Croyden, putting London back on the map, Dubstep hit the surface of underground music as a complete new genre by Spring 2001.
Some might say Dubstep is just a mixture of Jamaican Dub and 2Step. It's all in the name, but that's too easy an assumption. Certainly, 2step and Jamaican Dub and Reggae are main influences. But taking a closer look, Dubstep turns out being much more. Jungle, Breakbeat and Grime (the harder variation of UK Garage) are also clearly present in Dubstep music, which therefore may better be seen as a mutated mashup of all British dance music after Rave.
Pirate radio stations have always played a major role in breaking new music. In case of Dubstep it was DJ Kode9's station Rinse FM supporting it from early 2003. Not only by putting Dubstep on air to reach for a bigger audience, but also by giving other DJ's the freedom to show off their skills behind the decks. Later it was DJ Hatcha giving Dubstep another push. Known for his club night 'Forward' he also made his appearance at Rinse FM. Caught by the Dubstep virus he mixed the dubstep with melodies and sounds from countries such as India and Pakistan. Because of his addition of Eastern sounds, Tabla and samples of Kung Fu movies are now common ingredients in Dubstep.
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