Post underground music
It could be stated that the Amen break synthesised beats that were the backbone of the underground music genres Jungle and Drum 'N' Bass are now effectively..dead. The late 90's spin off known as UK Garage morphed into the known as Grime today which in it self has apparently died too. Dubstep hammering nails in music genre coffins could be claimed, in which, this genre too has now become known as "Post Dubstep" - an accurate analogy characterised by the loss of the elements which made Dubstep effectively.... Dubstep.
Much like the post human being soul-less, with its components replaced with microchips, clockwork, flashy lights and cheap plastic, the underground music scene has been infiltrated by those who wish to corrupt the sounds of the originators and implement the same technique in their music. From Jungle to Drum 'n' Bass, each year that past the millennium mark, the quality of the music took a massive tumble down the slippery slope that is...good music!
The once awe inspiring, invigorating sounds, vocals and bass lines became replaced with poorly executed high hats, overly abstract snare basses, nonsensical lyrics, and pan sounds taken from R2 D2's swan song.
The UK Garage DNA was manipulated by the once leading MC Wiley who added flairs of Ragga Jungle, Hip Hop and Dancehall to create Eskibeat, popular back in 2002. This then transformed into Grime which was not so much about the beats more about the MCs battling one another, either live on stage or sending for each other using "War Dubs". It was from this Grime sound such as the kicks and snares added with a Jungle baseline that Dubstep emerged...something that many Dubstep fan of this day and age will not be aware of.
Initially a very energetic, well made, well executed audio art piece, Dubstep slid down the same slope that its ancestor Drum n Bass did. The Dubstep and Drum n Bass of today are sounding very much alike, wishy washy baselines, no build up, no time delivery of the drops, no soul! Rumour has it that money is behind the downfall of the once kings of the underground sounds which sadly all evidence points to is true. With so many artists being signed, the fire and hunger to uphold their reputations of being the best has been dampened.
There are those who try to compare the original with the "post sounds" and claim that the post renders the original obsolete. This movement can be likened to a consumer prefers watered down E&J as opposed to a shot of real Courvoisier. As an underground music enthusiast and the 1000's of us out there, one can only feel like the scene has been let down and put to rest.
Will the Underground Music scene be revived by those artists with integrity, or will the sell outs continue to produce the same regurgitated trash that assaults the ear drums of the true underground music connoisseur and send the genres further round the U-bend.
Marlon Zenden - I'm a freelance writer in my spare time, I like to write about things that inspire me or have empathy for in some shape or form. Grew ...
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