Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken beat, grime, and drum and bass. In the United Kingdom, the origins of the genre can be traced back to the growth of the Jamaican sound system party scene in the early 1980s.
William Emmanuel Bevan, known by his recording alias Burial, is a British electronic musician from South London. Initially remaining anonymous, Burial became the first artist signed to Kode9's electronic label Hyperdub in 2005. He won acclaim the following year for his self-titled debut album, an influential release in the UK's dubstep scene which showcased a dark, emotive take on UK rave music styles such as UK garage and 2-step; it was named the album of the year by The Wire. Burial's second album, Untrue, was released to further critical acclaim in 2007.
Burial is the debut studio album by British electronic musician Burial, released on 15 May 2006 by Kode9's Hyperdub label. Considered a landmark of the mid-2000s dubstep scene, the album's sound features a dark, emotive take on the UK rave music that preoccupied Burial in his youth, including UK garage and 2-step. Critics have variously interpreted the release as an elegy for the dissipated rave movement and a sullen audio portrait of London.
Warrior Dubz is a dubstep compilation released in 2006 on the Planet Mu label. The album was compiled by Mary Anne Hobbs.
Steve Goodman, known as Kode9 is a Scottish electronic music artist, DJ, and founder of the Hyperdub record label. He was one of the founding members of the early dubstep scene with his late collaborator The Spaceape. He has released four full-length albums: 2006's Memories of the Future and 2011's Black Sun, Nothing (2015), Escapology and Astro-Darien (2022).
Zomby is a British electronic musician who began releasing music in 2007. He has released music on several labels, including Hyperdub, Werk Discs, and 4AD. Zomby's influences include oldschool jungle music and Wiley's eskibeat sound.
Darkstar are a British electronic music duo. Since 2007, they have released music on Hyperdub, Warp and 2010 Records.
Post-dubstep is an umbrella term applied to a range of musical styles that have been influenced by the sparse, syncopated rhythms and heavy sub-bass of the UK dubstep scene. The breadth of styles associated with the term post-dubstep precluded it from being a specific musical genre in the early 2010s. Such music often references earlier dubstep productions as well as UK garage, 2-step and other forms of underground electronic dance music. Artists producing music that has been described as post-dubstep have also incorporated elements of ambient music and early 2000s R&B. The latter in particular is heavily sampled by two artists described as post-dubstep, Mount Kimbie and James Blake. The tempo of music typically characterised as post-dubstep is approximately 130 beats per minute.
Street Halo is the fourth extended play by British electronic music producer Burial. It was released on 28 March 2011 by Hyperdub, who announced the release five days prior. The EP serves as Burial's first solo release since his second studio album Untrue (2007).
English electronic music producer Burial has released two studio albums, two compilation albums, one mix album, sixteen extended plays, and fourteen singles. Burial debuted in May 2005 with the release of his debut extended play South London Boroughs on the Hyperdub label. His eponymous debut studio album followed in May 2006 and was praised by music critics for its unique incorporation of 2-step garage, ambient, downtempo, dubstep, and trip hop styles. Following the releases of the extended plays Distant Lights (2006) and Ghost Hardware (2007), Burial released his second studio album Untrue in November 2007 to critical acclaim. It peaked at number 58 on the UK Albums Chart and at number 57 on the Ultratop 50 chart for the Belgian region of Flanders. Untrue later received nominations for the Mercury Prize and the Shortlist Music Prize, with the album experiencing a 1004% sales increase in the week following the Mercury Prize awards ceremony.
Laurel Anne Chartow, known professionally as Laurel Halo, is an American electronic musician currently based in Los Angeles, California. She released her debut album Quarantine on Hyperdub in 2012 to critical acclaim; it was named album of the year by The Wire.
Rashad Harden, known as DJ Rashad, was a Chicago-based electronic musician, producer and DJ known as a pioneer in the footwork genre and founder of the Teklife crew. He released his debut studio album Double Cup on Hyperdub in 2013 to critical praise. He died in April 2014 from a drug overdose.
Jessy Lanza is a Canadian electronic songwriter, producer, and vocalist from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She has released four albums, Pull My Hair Back (2013), Oh No (2016), All the Time (2020) and Love Hallucination (2023) to critical praise on UK label Hyperdub.
Scratcha DVA also known as DJ Scratcha, DVA [Hi; Emotions], Scratchclart and DVA is a British electronic musician, producer and DJ often associated with DVA Music, Hyperdub and Rinse FM. His debut album, Pretty Ugly (2012) and second album, Notu Uronlineu (2016) were both released on Hyperdub.
Stephen Samuel Gordon, known as The Spaceape, was a British poet and MC. He is known for his work on the electronic music label Hyperdub, and in particular for his frequent collaborations with labelmate Kode9. He was described by The Guardian as "a pioneering Hyperdub artist," while Pitchfork Media stated that "if first-wave UK dubstep had a voice, it belonged to Stephen Gordon."
Hype Williams is a music and art group best known for consisting of UK-born artist Dean Blunt and Russian-born artist Inga Copeland between 2007 and 2012. Supposedly founded in 2005 as a "relay" project passed between artists every five years, the group has given few interviews, leaving music journalists and the media in doubt as to the exact nature of the project.
Genre-Specific Xperience is a project by Kuwait musician Fatima Al Qadiri that serves as her second extended play in her discography. Its intention is to reinterpret five musical genres through audio and visuals: juke, hip hop, dubstep, electronic tropicalia, and what the press release labeled as "‘90s Gregorian trance." The main idea of the project regards what would happen if the "limitations" of a genre were bypassed or altered. The visuals for the tracks were produced by Tabor Robak, Sophia Al-Maria, Ryan Trecartin, Rhett LaRue, Kamau Patton, and production company Thunder Horse. The music videos premiered at New Museum on 21 October 2011, and the extended play itself was released by UNO Records on 25 October to favorable reviews from professional music journalists. A remix record titled GSX Remixes was released in May 2012 and features re-edits of tracks from Genre-Specific Xperience by acts such as Ikonika and DJ Rashad.
Asiatisch is the debut full-length studio album of Kuwaiti musician Fatima Al Qadiri, released by the label Hyperdub on 5 May 2014. The record is about what Qadiri called "Imagined China," an environment of stereotypes about East Asian nations and respective cultures formed in media of the Western world. Thus, it musically derives from sinogrime, a style of grime music that utilizes elements of East Asian music. In representing Asian stereotypes, the album includes digital traditional Chinese and Japanese-styled drum kits and synth presets alongside "scrambled" ancient Chinese poems. One of the main inspirations for Qadiri producing Asiatisch was the making of a "nonsense Mandarin" a cappella version of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U" that would later be the record's opening track.
Bicep is the self-titled debut album by electronic music duo Bicep, released on Ninja Tune on 1 September 2017.
Merrisa Campbell, known by her recording alias Cooly G, is a British singer, rapper, producer and DJ, living in London. She has released two albums of bass music on Hyperdub: Playin' Me (2012) and Wait 'Til Night (2014).
