An introduction to Reggae, Dub, and Dubstep
Reggae is a legendary genre with a strong foothold still inspiring many people today. It derives from national pride, resilience, and great innovation by the Jamaican community.
Rich in history, Reggae is the voice of the Jamaican people oppressed by the after effects of colonization and British control. Originally, the island was inhabited by the Arawak people who called the land Xaymaca around 1,000 AD. Christopher Columbus brought in Spanish control when settling into the island along with captured Africans (1), but was then overrun by the British.
The British were known to not be so “tolerant” in terms of enslaved people expressing their traditions. This caused an even greater thirst for the Jamaican people to learn about their African roots, thus arising in the Rastafarian movement (2).
The Genre is built on national pride and Rastafarianism beliefs. It is a fusion of traditional African drumming, Caribbean music, and the Jamaican genres that came before them. The order of those genres was Mento, Ska, and Rocksteady. Each genre becomes slower than the previous with an added swing to highlight and give voice to the events and situations occurring on the Island. An example is the urban term of the RudeBoys (3).
There are a substantial amount of innovations that stem from reggae. Starting with the sound system (4), because of the British BBC radio in Jamaica, it had a strict hold over the island’s radio causing people to take their turntables and speakers up and on to trucks and out to the streets. This allowed music that had developed and become more explicit throughout the genres to be heard. It also gave the idea of removing the lyrics of a song and have a person “Toast” (vocalize) over it. Thus, arising in the beginnings of Rap music and MC’s.
The songs that gave reggae its spotlight are “Do the Reggae '', “54-46” (That's my number), and “One Love”. “Do the reggae” was created by the band Toots and Maytals, which ideas arose when the vocalist Toots was detained in Jail due to political protest. Also created by Toots and Maytals, “54-46” was the song that gave the genre popularity. So, when “One Love” by Bob Marley was released it brought the genre out even further into the world.
Instrumentation of reggae music usually consists of Drums, electric bass, electric acoustic guitars, keyboards, percussions, vocals, and a wide range of Caribbean instruments such as Jamaica’s sister Trinidad’s Steel Drums.
Dub was the genre of great infatuation on evolving technology. Soon after reggae, producers toyed with and intertwined audio effects such as Reverb, Delay, Equalizers, Chorus, essentially showing off their production skills. The genre was only first suggestive as an added bonus feature on the Flipside, named the B-Side, of a record. With this, they would also make instrumental versions for people to vocalize over, aka. “Toasting”. Legendary Artists of this Genre are King Tubby, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and Coxsone Dodd.
Further evolving into modern-day technology, Dubstep emerged by a group of innovations within a community of UK of artists mixing the predecessor genres of Dancehall, Dub, Grime, and two-step in South London. Both Ammunition Records and Big Apple Records are responsible for the upbringing of dubstep.
Starting with Ammunition Records, the company wanted to formulate a sound that would excite partygoers at a club. An ultimate marketing strategy that worked once the company opened their own “Club Forward”. This is what led to the genre being named “Forward Beats” but was then later Coined “Dubstep” after the influential genre Dub. The step came after the Londoners' infatuation and integration with 2-step, which is a genre of a tripped over take on American R&B.
Old Dubstep
Rusko
Passing the baton over onto Big Apple Records in Croydon, South London. This was where the genre started to take a more darker tone. Through the line of the shop owner wanting to bring in more minds for innovation due to competition, it led to the beginnings of young pioneers Skream and Benga who were just barely teenagers at the time. Skream ended up releasing “Midnight Request Line” essentially popularizing and bringing the genre momentum. While Benga's “Night” featuring Coki turned the snowball into an avalanche. It is without saying that once the genre hit the London night clubs that the genre became more bass heavy, which is what led Dubstep to be so popular in the States. However, if it wasn't for the radio waves such as Rinse FM and BBC’s Dubstep Warz, broadcasted by Mary Anne Hobbs that contributed to the spreading and exposure of dubstep in 2006. It was so much of a hit, the genre was part of the Sonar festival in Barcelona later that year in June.
More Older Dubstep
Newer Harder Dubstep
Dubstep continues to Evolve, and its evolved onto a subcategory that is harder and more Bass oriented like Tearout and harder Riddum.
“But wait! There's MORE!”. Dubstep is largely responsible for the increasing popularity of Electronic Dance music. It reached the admiration of pop artists such as Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna and even started to present itself in commercials for Internet Explorer with Alex Clares’s song “Too Close”. The genre even helped “Rave” festivals like the Electric Daisy Carnival to explode in sales. Eventually, one of Dubsteps well known artist, Excision, has even created his own festival “Lost Lands”, a huge theme park for your inner kid and music lover.
The arrival of Dubstep into the United States was in 2005. This was due to Dj Dave Q and Joe Nice organizing a Dubstep Themed club night at a Brooklyn bar. It didn’t take long for the genre to expand.
Five years after arriving at a Brooklyn bar across seas, Skrillex, a well known dubstep artist first released his EP “My Name is Skrillex”. This Ep along with along with “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” EP won the artist 3 Grammy awards.