Trillhouse
Well-known member
I recently rewatched that old Redbull lecture with Rashad and Spinn, they sang the praises of the various juke influenced producers out there, saying they found it flattering and liked the fact that they weren't just copying but trying to put their own spin on it. They also stated that, aside from the actual battles, they would only want to hear footwork in a club for a maximum of 2 hours. I think most can understand where they're coming from. And there's the rub really. In the UK we don't, and probably never will, have the footwork dancing side of things and that's essentially what this music is about.
So it has to in some way be recontextualised for a UK dancefloor, which is how you end up with the maligned sound of Adison Groove and the footwork jungle stuff, that some have claimed is too straight ahead. But it's hard to walk the line between avantgaurd and keeping the average dancefloor happy. Just as, besides the sub bass and 160bpm, putting Jungle and Juke together is like putting a round peg in a square hole. The whole rolling nature of dnb doesn't match the more scattered approach of footwork rhythms. The whole stop start, quiet chaotic, style of Chicago footwork is designed to give dancers something to to go in on and then a breather. None of which translates to a dancer in a UK club, who's more used a continuos repetitive beat and a relaxed form of dancing.
As for the whole MPC soul samples thing, I think that ish mainly comes down to quality control. It's fine for Rashad to be making four beats a day everyday, going back to back with another teklife member each taking 15-30 minutes to complete a track. That's part of what gives footwork it's rawness, but that style's bound to have elements that start grating after a while. And why someone like Jabba is refreshing, because he obviously puts a lot of time in to making each beat.
From a UK perspective it's strange to hear Rashad and Spinn longing for the call from some superstar rapper to do his production. I guess that's their ticket into the mainstream, along with the acceptance and acclaim that i get the impression they don't really seem to be getting stateside.
But there is a certain '93 till infinity' element to a lot of their sample choices, which I guess is understandable seeing as several of these cats are older and that music would've been the base for their formative years. But rawly chopped up Roy Ayers samples certainly wouldn't fly in hip hop in 2013, so looking at it through that prism of thought, it's understandable why some would dislike the sound.
So it has to in some way be recontextualised for a UK dancefloor, which is how you end up with the maligned sound of Adison Groove and the footwork jungle stuff, that some have claimed is too straight ahead. But it's hard to walk the line between avantgaurd and keeping the average dancefloor happy. Just as, besides the sub bass and 160bpm, putting Jungle and Juke together is like putting a round peg in a square hole. The whole rolling nature of dnb doesn't match the more scattered approach of footwork rhythms. The whole stop start, quiet chaotic, style of Chicago footwork is designed to give dancers something to to go in on and then a breather. None of which translates to a dancer in a UK club, who's more used a continuos repetitive beat and a relaxed form of dancing.
As for the whole MPC soul samples thing, I think that ish mainly comes down to quality control. It's fine for Rashad to be making four beats a day everyday, going back to back with another teklife member each taking 15-30 minutes to complete a track. That's part of what gives footwork it's rawness, but that style's bound to have elements that start grating after a while. And why someone like Jabba is refreshing, because he obviously puts a lot of time in to making each beat.
From a UK perspective it's strange to hear Rashad and Spinn longing for the call from some superstar rapper to do his production. I guess that's their ticket into the mainstream, along with the acceptance and acclaim that i get the impression they don't really seem to be getting stateside.
But there is a certain '93 till infinity' element to a lot of their sample choices, which I guess is understandable seeing as several of these cats are older and that music would've been the base for their formative years. But rawly chopped up Roy Ayers samples certainly wouldn't fly in hip hop in 2013, so looking at it through that prism of thought, it's understandable why some would dislike the sound.