why do you think us dnb/grime/dubstep producers never quite get it right?

spotrusha

Well-known member
i think the problem with both drum n bass AND dubstep grime producers in the states is they perceive the music as being extreme. it seemed like the drum n bass guys (like all the f-111 artsts) went too fast and hard to where it was almost gabber-like and the dubstep producers seem to go too crazy with the bass and maybe add too much spankrock-type irony to it, while ignoring/not getting the brittish urban style which makes garage so fresh in the first place.
thoughts? am i off base here?
 
Last edited:

shudder

Well-known member
I haven't really heard much US dubstep and grime (can this even exist for grime??)... Any examples?
 

UFO over easy

online mahjong
I'd say drop the lime, starkey, math-head etc are grime producers rather than dubstep producers. Some of those guys are doing it pretty well. Starkey especially seems to have a particularly individual take on things - his kinda skewed crunked up stuff can be amazing at times.

There's some great US-based drum and bass producers too. I thought we were past all this to be honest.
 

spotrusha

Well-known member
maybe i'm being to leisurely with the labels, but when i meant guys like drop the lime and starkey. i'm not saying that those artists in themselves are bad, i'm just sayin the feel of the brittish stuff can't be captured. i'm from the states and try producing as well, so i'm not putting anybody down, just thinkin aloud.
 

UFO over easy

online mahjong
I'd be interested to hear what place people think these kind of producers have in the hardcore continuum, seeing as that seems to be a bit of a hot topic at the moment. I don't really know much about it though so I'm not sure how relevant people think nationality is.
 

daddek

Well-known member
Matty G "50 000 watts" is one of the best beats out there right now. Spoonie G sample. His "Bitter Love" from last year, with the g funk hook, that was so fresh. There's a growing amount US producers who are bringing in a hip hop influence to halfstep, which i would love to see explored in 2007, rather than the pilled up rave direction, upon which the whole scene teeters at the moment.

If you're thinking of Drop The Lime or Mathhead though, i think you should lallow them have their space to have their fun. They're not claiming to rep dubstep at all, so there's no call to question their authenticity. They're music makes total sense in their native new york party environment.
 

daddek

Well-known member
i'm just sayin no garage producer would ever do this:
that's not grime to me. it's something else.

If you had a clip of Starkey saying "this is some real grime shit right now", alright, you'd have a reason to call him out. But he's not, so really you don't. So he's throwing some grime influence into his beats. Doesnt make him an imposter. It's unfair to criticise someone as misrepresentative if they're not claiming to rep.

But alot of international producers are portraying themselves on their myspaces as some kind of physical embodyment of dubstep, when they only jumped ship from DoA a couple months ago.
 
Last edited:

ripley

Well-known member
if "get it right" equals being english, then you've answered your own question

if "get it right" equals making good music, then many have (except new good dnb eludes me, with a few exceptions, regardless of origin)

if "get it right" equals sounding exactly like all british grime/dubstep producers, then I'm going to have to understand what it is they ALL have in common, and whether boxcutter, toasty, burial, and monkeysteak are all included, let alone the pretty wide range of other producers and sounds out there.

and I'd add Timeblind and Secret Agent Gel as some pretty great producers in whatever vein of music is implied by this thread. Math-head "stagger step" sounds pretty dubstep to me.

what is "right"? can you describe what you mean more clearly?
 

spotrusha

Well-known member
alot of good points. like i said, i'm not dissing starkey (i think his "grip riddim" is great and kano sounds right at home on it, so that's as authentic as you can get!) or drop the lime, i'm just putting it up for discussion. i remember blackdown saying something in his blog about how he was excited to hear different countries' take on dubstep and it just got me thinking. when i said drum n bass i wasn't really talking about now because i haven't followed that scene in some time (case in point, i referenced f-111 recs which has been discontinued for years now).
i guess what it comes down to is most us production i've heard is devoid of uk garage influence. i think the downfall of drum n bass started when it's original flavor was lost and i'm afraid to see that happen with dubstep.

and to answer the question of what sounds "right" to me... if i'm listening to the tune and i close my eyes and envision ear-stretched urb subscribers instead of stone island-clad rude boys texting a pirate dj for a rewind, that's "not right". in my opinion of course ;)
 
Last edited:

Logan Sama

BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
I don't think you have a direct grasp of the functionality of the music, which always makes it turn out a little bit off.

A lot of people trying to produce grime over here find that too actually.
 

spotrusha

Well-known member
now i don't understand the functionality of music? that's a bit harsh considering i'm asking to be proven wrong in this thread. i don't understand what is so wrong with what i'm saying
 
P

Parson

Guest
i say peep subhuman's recent mix for good north american shit and beyond
SubHuman said:
Brand new mix for 2007, massive respect to all the producers linking tunes. This year is going to be huge for dubstep, truss! PM me if I spelled anything wrong 😉

(((((( SubHuman - Under The Waves ))))))

Parson - Empty Houses [Dub]
Mutt - Face [Dub]
Sileni - Twitchy Droid Leg (Vex'd Remix) [Offshore]
RUF - Lovesick [Dub]
Parson & Innerlign - Outlawz [Dub]
Lurk & Gully - Crime Spree [Dub]
Lemiwinks - Ether Stroll [Dub]
Side9000 - Rekid [Dub]
TRG - Broken Heart [Dub]
Ekaj - Bioforge [Dub]
Goldfinger - Demolition [Dub]
SupaSummo - Fruit Machine [Dub]
Wubz - Boneflow [Dub]
Parson & Skint - The Key [Dub]
Oyaarss - Solaris [Dub]
 
Last edited:
P

Parson

Guest
Parson on here's got some good beats in that vein actually..

i got hip hop stuff, i got stuff with steel guitar, i got heavy dark stuff, i got moody deep stuff, i got tunes with half steps, fullsteps, swing-beats, you name it if i haven't done it i will do it
 

Chris

fractured oscillations
Regarding American drum 'n bass, I used to be really into dnb out here until a few years ago, when it just got beyond redundant for me.

I personally concluded that the problem with US dnb (produced out here on the west coast at least) is this American male obsession with machismo, competitiveness, and aggressiveness. Not that dnb from anywhere isn't filled with macho swagger, but the US stuff seems to be nothing but a dick size contest. I used to have this theory that the reason why Americans can't get over simple, dumb rockn'roll, and why our drum 'n bass is pretty much heavy metal made with breakbeats, is that we're a population rooted in the values of a mostly working class immigrant population, who have come to build a culture that values strength, machismo, stupidity, simplicity, speed, and straight-forwardness over anything we see as too intelligent, refined, "gay", or European... not that we're all that way, but it's definitely a big chunk of our culture. It's why we voted for Bush over Kerry, why we have to drive huge trucks, etc...

I'm sure there's decent stuff out there but I've moved on.
 
Last edited:

spotrusha

Well-known member
Chris, i'm not sure if i read the working class immigrant roots thing, but you're sort of on track with me. it seems that american producers are attracted to the extremities of the music like the kneckbreak-fast breaks and insane basslines and they don't really get the actual style and culture of it.
there's alot of things that drive the music/culture in uk that we don't have here. dubplates, pirate radio, etc. and they get replaced with this "extreme"ness. i dunno, like i said, someone prove me wrong. i hope there's loads of great us producers that i haven't discovered yet that will impress me. thanks for posting that mix, i'll definitely check it out.
 

Chris

fractured oscillations
Yeah, I don't mean to come across wrong with the working class idea, just that it seems that America is so low brow that we can take something that was already "street" in the UK, hardly some upper class thing there, and still have to try to make it even tougher, meaner, and IMO dumbed down.

I wouldn't say that I necessarilly believe anymore that it's simply because America's built on a culture that prizes a tougher, working class ideal; but maybe also because we're still a young country with a cocky, (teenager-like) aggressiveness that we feel we have to constantly prove or something, which comes out in our music a lot.
 
Top