Dubstep (/ˈdʌbstɛp/) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London, England. The music website Allmusic has described its overall sound as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals".^[1]

The earliest dubstep releases date back to 1998 and were darker, more experimental, instrumental dub remixes of 2-step garage tracks attempting to incorporate the funky elements of breakbeat, or the dark elements of drum and bass into 2-step, which featured as B-sides of single releases. In 2001, this and other strains of dark garage music began to be showcased and promoted at London's night club Plastic People, at the "Forward" night (sometimes stylized as FWD>>), which went on to be considerably influential to the development of dubstep. The term "dubstep" in reference to a genre of music began to be used by around 2002 by labels such as Big Apple, Ammunition and Tempa, by which time stylistic trends used in creating these remixes started to become more noticeable and distinct from 2-step and grime.^[2]

A very early supporter of the sound was BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who started playing it from 2003 onwards. In 2004, the last year of his show, his listeners voted Distance, Digital Mystikz and Plastician (formerly Plasticman) in their top 50 for the year.^[3] Dubstep started to spread beyond small local scenes in late 2005 and early 2006; many websites devoted to the genre appeared on the internet and aided the growth of the scene, such as dubstepforum, the download site Barefiles and blogs such as gutterbreakz.^[4] Simultaneously, the genre was receiving extensive coverage in music magazines such as The Wire and online publications such as Pitchfork Media, with a regular feature entitled The Month In: Grime/Dubstep. Interest in dubstep grew significantly after BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs started championing the genre, beginning with a show devoted to it (entitled "Dubstep Warz") in January 2006.^[5][6][7]

Towards the end of the decade the genre started to become more commercially successful in the UK, with more singles and remixes entering the music charts. Music journalists and critics also noticed a dubstep influence in several pop artists' work. Around this time, producers also began to fuse elements of the original dubstep sound with other influences, creating fusion genres including the slower and more experimental post-dubstep, and the harsher, electro house and heavy metal influenced brostep, the latter of which greatly contributed to dubstep's rising mainstream popularity in the United States.

Characteristics[link]

	4-bar example of a half-step drum pattern, corresponding to the image below.
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Musical score of the above recording

Blackleg – Smoke Test (2009) Excerpt from "Smoke Test" by Blackleg, demonstrating an example of rhythmic tension generated between the drum rhythm and bassline. This song features a very sparse rhythm almost entirely composed of kick drum, snare drum, and a sparse hi-hat, with a distinctly half time implied 71bpm tempo. The track is instead propelled by a sub-bass following a four-to-the-floor 142bpm pattern.

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	Shackleton – Naked (2006) noicon Excerpt from "Naked" by Shackleton, demonstrating an early bass drop.
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Dubstep's early roots are in the more experimental releases of UK garage producers, seeking to incorporate elements of drum and bass into the South London-based 2-step garage sound. These experiments often ended up on the B-side of a white label or commercial garage release.^[5][8][9] Dubstep is generally instrumental. Similar to a vocal garage hybrid – grime – the genre's feel is commonly dark; tracks frequently use a minor key and can feature dissonant harmonies such as the tritone interval within a riff. Other distinguishing features often found are the use of samples, a propulsive, sparse rhythm,^[10] and an almost omnipresent sub-bass. Some dubstep artists have also incorporated a variety of outside influences, from dub-influenced techno such as Basic Channel to classical music or heavy metal.^[10][11][12]

Rhythm[link]

Dubstep rhythms are usually syncopated, and often shuffled or incorporating tuplets. The tempo is nearly always in the range of 138–142 beats per minute, with a clap or snare usually inserted every third beat in a bar.^[10] In its early stages, dubstep was often more percussive, with more influences from 2-step drum patterns. A lot of producers were also experimenting with tribal drum samples, an example being Loefah's early release "Truly Dread".

In an Invisible Jukebox interview with The Wire, Kode9 commented on a DJ MRK1 (formerly Mark One) track, observing that listeners "have internalized the double-time rhythm" and the "track is so empty it makes [the listener] nervous, and you almost fill in the double time yourself, physically, to compensate".^[13]

Wobble bass[link]

One characteristic of certain strands of dubstep is the wobble bass, where an extended bass note is manipulated rhythmically. This style of bass is typically produced by using a low frequency oscillator to manipulate certain parameters of a synthesizer such as volume, distortion or filter cutoff. The resulting sound is a timbre that is punctuated by rhythmic variations in volume, filter cutoff, or distortion. This style of bass is a driving factor in some variations of dubstep, particularly at the more club-friendly end of the spectrum.^[14]

Structure, bass drops, rewinds and MCs[link]

Mala of Digital Mystikz

Originally, dubstep releases had some structural similarities to other genres like drum and bass and UK garage. Typically this would comprise an intro, a main section (often incorporating a bass drop), a midsection, a second main section similar to the first (often with another drop), and an outro.

Many early dubstep tracks incorporate one or more "bass drops", a characteristic inherited from drum and bass. Typically, the percussion will pause, often reducing the track to silence, and then resume with more intensity, accompanied by a dominant subbass (often passing portamento through an entire octave or more, as in the audio example). It is very common for the bass to drop at or very close to 55 seconds into the song, due to the fact that 55 seconds is just over 32 measures at the common tempo of 140 bpm. However, this (or the existence of a bass drop in general) is by no means a completely rigid characteristic, rather a trope; a large portion of seminal tunes from producers like Kode9 and Horsepower Productions have more experimental song structures which don't rely on a drop for a dynamic peak – and in some instances don't feature a bass drop at all.

Rewinds (or reloads)^[15] are another technique used by dubstep DJs. If a song seems to be especially popular, the DJ will 'spin back' the record by hand without lifting the stylus, and play the track in question again. Rewinds are also an important live element in many of dubstep's precursors; the technique originates in dub reggae soundsystems, is a standard of most pirate radio stations and is also used at UK garage and jungle nights.^[16]

Taking direct cues from Jamaica's lyrically sparse deejay and toasting mic styles in the vein of reggae pioneers like U-Roy, the MC's role in dubstep's live experience is critically important to its impact.^[17]

Notable mainstays in the live experience of the sound are MC Sgt Pokes and MC Crazy D from London, and Juakali from Trinidad.^{[18][19][20][21]} Production in a studio environment seems to lend itself to more experimentation. Kode9 has collaborated extensively with the Spaceape, who MCs in a dread poet style. Kevin Martin's experiments with the genre are almost exclusively collaborations with MCs such as Warrior Queen, Flowdan, and Tippa Irie. Skream has also featured Warrior Queen and grime artist JME on his debut album, Skream!. Plastician, who was one of the first DJ's to mix the sound of grime and dubstep together,^[11] has worked with notable grime setup Boy Better Know as well as renowned Grime MC's such as Wiley, Dizzee Rascal and Lethal Bizzle. He has also released tracks with a dubstep foundation and grime verses over the beats.^[22] Dubstep artist and label co-owner Sam Shackleton has moved toward productions which fall outside the usual dubstep tempo, and sometimes entirely lack most of the common tropes of the genre.^[23]

History[link]

1999–2002: origins[link]

The sound of dubstep originally came out of productions by El-B,^[8] Steve Gurley,^[8] Oris Jay,^[12] and Zed Bias^[24][25] in 1999–2000. Ammunition Promotions, who run the influential club Forward>> and have managed many proto dubstep record labels (including Tempa, Soulja, Road, Vehicle, Shelflife, Texture, Lifestyle and Bingo),^[6][12] began to use the term "dubstep" to describe this style of music in around 2002. The term's use in a 2002 XLR8R cover story (featuring Horsepower Productions on the cover) contributed to it becoming established as the name of the genre.^[24][26]

The club Forward>> was originally held at the Velvet Rooms in London's Soho and is now running every Thursday at Plastic People in Shoreditch, east London.^[10] Founded in 2001, Forward>> was critical to the development of dubstep, providing the first venue devoted to the sound and an environment in which dubstep producers could premier new music.^[27] Around this time, Forward>> was also incubating several other strains of dark garage hybrids, so much so that in the early days of the club the coming together of these strains was referred to as the "Forward>> sound".^[28] An online flyer from around this time encapsulated the Forward>> sound as "b-lines to make your chest cavity shudder."^[29]

Forward>> also ran a radio show on east London pirate station Rinse FM, hosted by Kode9.^[30] The original Forward>> line ups included Hatcha, Youngsta, Kode9, Zed Bias, Oris Jay,^[12] Slaughter Mob, Jay Da Flex, Slimzee and others, plus regular guests. The line up of residents has changed over the years to include Youngsta, Hatcha, Geeneus and Plastician, with Crazy D as MC/host. Producers including D1, Skream and Benga make regular appearances.^[27]

The Mixing Records record shop, formerly Big Apple Records, in Croydon, South London

Another crucial element in the early development of dubstep was the Big Apple Records record shop in Croydon.^[6] Key artists such as Hatcha and later Skream worked in the shop (which initially sold early UK Hardcore / Rave, Techno and House and later, garage and drum and bass, but evolved with the emerging dubstep scene in the area),^[8] while Digital Mystikz were frequent visitors. El-B, Zed Bias, Horsepower Productions, Plastician, N Type, Walsh and a young Loefah regularly visited the shop as well.^[6] The shop and its record label have since closed down^[24].

2002–2005: evolution[link]

Dubstep producer Skream, one of the most widely known names on the scene since the beginning of the Dubstep movement

Throughout 2003, DJ Hatcha pioneered a new direction for dubstep on Rinse FM and through his sets at Forward>>.^[6][25] Playing sets cut to 10" one-off reggae-style dubplates, he drew exclusively from a pool of new South London producers—first Benga and Skream,^[25] then also Digital Mystikz and Loefah—to begin a dark, clipped and minimal new direction in dubstep.^[31]

At the end of 2003, running independently from the pioneering FWD night, an event called Filthy Dub, co promoted by Plastician, and partner David Carlisle started happening regularly. It was there that Skream, Benga, N Type, Walsh, Chef, Loefah and Cyrus made their debuts as DJ's. South London collective Digital Mystikz (Mala and Coki), along with labelmates and collaborators Loefah and MC Sgt Pokes soon came into their own, bringing sound system thinking, dub values, and appreciation of jungle bass weight to the dubstep scene.^[24] Digital Mystikz brought an expanded palette of sounds and influences to the genre, most prominently reggae and dub, as well as orchestral melodies.^[32]

After releasing 12-inch singles on Big Apple, they founded DMZ Records, which has released fourteen 12"s to date. They also began their night DMZ, held every two months in Brixton,^[33] a part of London already strongly associated with reggae.^[34] DMZ has showcased new dubstep artists such as Skream, Kode 9, Benga, Pinch, DJ Youngsta, Hijak, Joe Nice and Vex'd. DMZ's first anniversary event (at the Mass venue, a converted church) saw fans attending from places as far away as Sweden, the U.S., and Australia, leading to a queue of 600 people^[35] at the event. This forced the club to move from its regular 400-capacity space^[7] to Mass' main room, an event cited as a pivotal moment in dubstep's history.^[12][36]

In 2004, Richard James' label, Rephlex, released two compilations that included dubstep tracks – the (perhaps misnamed) Grime and Grime 2. The first featured Plasticman, Mark One and Slaughter Mob,^[37] with Kode 9, Loefah and Digital Mystikz appearing on the second.^[38] These compilations helped to raise awareness of dubstep at a time when the grime sound was drawing more attention,^[24] and Digital Mystikz and Loefah's presence on the second release contributed to the success of their DMZ club night.^[39] Soon afterwards, the Independent on Sunday commented on "a whole new sound", at a time when both genres were becoming popular, stating that "grime" and "dubstep" were two names for the same style, which was also known as "sublow", "8-bar" and "eskibeat".^[40]

2005–2008: growth[link]

Dubstep Section at Black Market Records, Soho, London

In the summer of 2005, Forward>> brought grime DJs to the fore of the line up.^[41] Building on the success of Skream's grimey anthem "Midnight Request Line," the hype around the DMZ night and support from online forums (notably dubstepforum.com)^[10] and media,^[7] the scene gained prominence after former Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs gathered top figures from the scene for one show, entitled "Dubstep Warz", (later releasing the compilation album Warrior Dubz).^[35] The show created a new global audience for the scene, after years of exclusively UK underground buzz.^[10] Burial's self-titled album appearing in many critics' "Best of..." lists for the year, notably The Wire's Best Album of 2006.^[42] The sound was also featured prominently in the soundtrack for the 2006 sci-fi film Children of Men,^[43] which included Digital Mystikz, Random Trio, Kode 9, Pressure and DJ Pinch.^[44] Ammunition also released the first retrospective compilation of the 2000–2004 era of dubstep called The Roots of Dubstep, co-compiled by Ammunition and Blackdown on the Tempa Label.^[45]

The sound's first North American ambassador, Baltimore DJ Joe Nice helped kickstart its spread into the continent.^[10] Regular Dubstep club nights started appearing in cities like New York,^[46] San Francisco,^[26] Seattle, Montreal, Houston, and Denver,^[47] while Mary Anne Hobbs curated a Dubstep showcase at 2007's Sónar festival in Barcelona.^[12] Non-British artists have also won praise within the larger Dubstep community.^[12] The dynamic dubstep scene in Japan is growing quickly despite its cultural and geographical distance from the West. Such DJ/producers as Goth-Trad, Hyaku-mado, Ena and Doppelganger are major figures in the Tokyo scene.^[48] Joe Nice has played at DMZ,^[49] while the fifth installment of Tempa's "Dubstep Allstars" mix series (released in 2007) included tracks by Finnish producer Tes La Rok and Americans JuJu and Matty G.^[50]

BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs

Techno artists and DJs began assimilating dubstep into their sets and productions.^[12] Shackleton's "Blood On My Hands" was remixed by minimal techno producer Ricardo Villalobos (an act reciprocated when Villalobos included a Shackleton mix on his "Vasco" EP)^[51] and included on a mix CD by Panoramabar resident Cassy.^[12] Ellen Allien and Apparat's 2006 song "Metric" (from the Orchestra of Bubbles album),^[52][53] Modeselektor's "Godspeed" (from the 2007's Happy Birthday! album, among other tracks on that same album) and Roman Flugel's remix of Riton's "Hammer of Thor" are other examples of dubstep-influenced techno.^[12] Berlin's Hard Wax record store (operated by influential^[54] dub techno artists Basic Channel)^[55][56] has also championed Shackleton's Skull Disco label, later broadening its focus to include other dubstep releases.^[11]

The summer of 2007 saw dubstep's musical palette expand further, with Benga and Coki scoring a crossover hit (in a similar manner to Skream's "Midnight Request Line") with the track "Night", which gained widespread play from DJs in a diverse range of genres. BBC Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson named it his record of 2007, and it was also a massive hit in the equally bassline-orientated, but decidedly more four-to-the-floor genre of bassline house,^[57] whilst Burial's late 2007 release Untrue (which was nominated for the 2008 Nationwide Mercury Music Prize in the UK) incorporated extensive use of heavily manipulated, mostly female, 'girl next door' vocal samples.^[58] Burial has spoken at length regarding his intent to reincorporate elements of musical precursors such as 2-step garage and house into his sound.^[59]

Much like drum and bass before it, dubstep has started to become incorporated into other media, particularly in the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]} In 2007, Benga, Skream, and other dubstep producers provided the soundtrack to much of the second series of Dubplate Drama, which aired on Channel 4 with a soundtrack CD later released on Rinse Recordings. A track by Skream also featured in the second series of the teen drama Skins, which also aired on Channel 4 in early 2008.^[60]

In the summer of 2008, Mary Anne Hobbs invited Cyrus, Starkey, Oneman, DJ Chef, Silkie, Quest, Joker, Nomad, Kulture and MC Sgt Pokes to the BBC's Maida Vale studios for a show called Generation Bass. The show was the evolution from her seminal BBC Radio 1 Dubstepwarz Show in 2006, and further documented another set of dubstep's producers. ^{[61][62][63][64]}

In the autumn of 2008, a limited pressing 12" called "Iron Devil"^[65] was released featuring Lee Scratch Perry and Prince Far-I in a dubstep style, including a tune based on the Perry riddim used on reggae hits like "Disco Devil", "Chase The Devil", and "Croaking Lizard". This was the first recorded example of a founder of Jamaican dub style acknowledging dubstep and creating new music in the genre, reinforcing the connection of dubstep to its roots in Jamaican dub reggae at a time when it seemed dubstep was moving away from its reggae underpinnings.^{[citation needed]}

As the genre has spread to become an international rather than UK-centric scene, it has also seen a number of women making headway into the scene in a variety of ways. Alongside Soulja of Ammunition Promotions and Mary Anne Hobbs, an influx of female producers, writers, photographers and DJs all have broken through in the up-til-then male orientated scene. With key 12" releases on Hyperdub,Immigrant andHotflush Recordings, producers Vaccine, Subeena and Ikonika have introduced a palette of new sounds and influences to the genre, such as double-time bass drums, 8-bit video game samples, hand percussion and lushly arranged strings.^[66] Mary Anne Hobbs commented that the mood at dubstep nights is less aggressive, or more meditative, leading to a larger female attendance at events than with the genre's precursors, noting "Grime and drum 'n' bass raves tend to be quite aggy. People in dubstep clubs tend to have a more meditative approach, which is inviting to females. You see the female-to-male ratio constantly going up – it’s got the potential to be 40:60".^[66]

Journalists Melissa Bradshaw,^[67][68] Emma Warren,^[69][70] and dubstep documentarian and photographer Georgina Cook have all had an impact on the cultural importance of the music.^{[dubious – discuss]} Cook's Drumz of the South flickr page documents the evolution of the scene in a photographic timeline of sorts, and was for a time the only photographic archive of the key events such as the early FWD and DMZ nights in London.^{[citation needed]}

2009–present[link]

Mainstream influence[link]

Borgore performing for crowds on July 7, 2011 at the 10th Anniversary Camp Bisco Music Festival in Mariaville Lake, New York.

The influence of dubstep on more commercial or popular genres can be identified as far back as 2007, with artists such as Britney Spears using dubstep sounds; critics observed a dubstep influence in the song "Freakshow", from the 2007 album Blackout, which Tom Ewing described as "built around the 'wobbler' effect that's a genre standby."^[71][72] Benga and Coki's single "Night" still continued to be a popular track on the UK dance chart more than a year after its release in late 2007, still ranking in the top five at the start of April 2008 on Pete Tong's BBC Radio 1 dance chart list.^[73]

However the year 2009 saw the dubstep sound gaining further worldwide recognition, often through the assimilation of elements of the sound into other genres, in a manner similar to drum and bass before it. At the start of the year, UK electronic duo La Roux put their single "In for the Kill" in the remix hands of Skream.^[74][75] They then gave remix duties of "I'm Not Your Toy" to Nero and then again with their single "Bulletproof" being remixed by Zinc. The same year, London producer Silkie released an influential album, City Limits Vol. 1, on the Deep Medi label, using 70s funk and soul reference points, a departure from the familiar strains of dub and UK garage.^[76] The sound also continued to interest the mainstream press with key articles in magazines like Interview, New York, and The Wire, which featured producer Kode9 on its May 2009 cover. XLR8R put Joker on the cover of its December 2009 issue.^{[18][77][78][79]}

In a move foreshadowed by endorsements of the sound from R&B, hip-hop and recently, mainstream figures such as Rihanna, or The Bomb Squad's Hank Shocklee^[80], Snoop Dogg collaborated with dubstep producers Chase & Status, providing a vocal for their "underground anthem", "Eastern Jam".^[81] The 2011 Britney Spears track "Hold It Against Me" was also responsible for promoting dubstep tropes within pop music.^[82] Rihanna's Rated R album released such content the very year dubstep saw a spike, containing three dubstep tracks.^[83] Such events propelled the genre into the biggest radio markets overnight, with considerable airplay.^[84] Other hip-hop artists like Xzibit added their vocals to dubstep instrumental tracks for the mixtape project Mr Grustle & Tha Russian Dubstep LA Embrace The Renaissance Vol. 1 Mixed by Plastician.^[84][85] In summer 2009, female rapper and actress Eve used Benga's "E Trips"; adding her own verses over the beat to create a new tune called "Me N My"; the first single on her album Flirt. The track was co-produced by Benga and hip hop producer Salaam Remi.^[86][87]

Throughout 2010, the presence of dubstep in the pop charts was notable, with "I Need Air" by Magnetic Man reaching number 10 in the UK singles chart. This presented a turning point in the popularity of mainstream dubstep amongst UK listeners as it was placed on rotation on BBC Radio 1.^[88] "Katy On a Mission" by Katy B (produced by Benga) followed, debuting at number 5 in the UK singles chart, and stayed in the top 10 for five more weeks.^[89] Also in 2010, American producer Skrillex achieved moderate commercial success in North America with a dubstep-influenced sound. By 2011 his EP Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites had peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Dance/Electronic album charts.^[90] In February 2011, Chase & Status's second album No More Idols reached No.2 in the UK album chart.^[91] On May 1, 2011, Nero's third single "Guilt" from their album reached number 8 in the Official UK Singles Chart.^[92] DJ Fresh and Nero both had number one singles in 2011 with "Louder" and "Promises".^[93]

Post-dubstep[link]

More recently the term post-dubstep has been used to describe music that combines stylistic features of dubstep with other musical influences. The breadth of styles that have come to be associated with the term post-dubstep preclude it from being a specific musical genre. Pitchfork writer Martin Clark has suggested that "well-meaning attempts to loosely define the ground we're covering here are somewhat futile and almost certainly flawed. This is not one genre. However, given the links, interaction, and free-flowing ideas...you can't dismiss all these acts as unrelated"^[94] Such music often references earlier dubstep productions as well as UK Garage, 2-step and other forms of underground electronic dance music.^[95][96][97] 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 three artists described as post-dubstep: Mount Kimbie, Fantastic Mr Fox and James Blake.^[98][99] The tempo of music typically characterised as post-dubstep is approximately 130 beats per minute.^[94]

The production duo Mount Kimbie is often associated with the origination of the term post-dubstep.^[100] The commercially popular band The xx's Jamie xx has released remixes which are considered post-dubstep, including a Gil Scott-Heron remix album.^[95] Other names frequently associated with post-dubstep are Ikonika, 2562, Cityscape, Deadboy, Martyn, Floating Points, Pangaea, Ramadanman, Sepalcure, FaltyDL, Pariah, Burial, Purity Ring, The Weeknd, SBTRKT, Lorena B, Scuba, Egyptrixx, Shackleton, Starkey, Matthew Thompson, Ital Tek, Ifan Dafydd, Guido, Four Tet and the U.K. labels Hotflush and Hyperdub.^[94]

Brostep and American developments[link]

In 2011, dubstep gained significant traction in the US market by way of a post-dubstep style known as brostep with the American producer Skrillex becoming something of a figurehead for the scene. In September 2011 a Spin Magazine EDM special referred to brostep as a "lurching and aggressive" variant of dubstep that has proven commercially successful in the United States.^[101] Unlike traditional dubstep production styles, that emphasize sub-bass content, brostep accentuates the middle register and features "robotic fluctuations and metal-esque aggression". According to Simon Reynolds, as dubstep gained larger audiences and moved from smaller club-based venues to larger outdoor events, sub-sonic content was gradually replaced by distorted bass riffs that function roughly in the same register as the electric guitar in heavy metal.^[102]

The term brostep has been used by some as a pejorative descriptor for a style of popular Americanised dubstep.^[103] Dubstep purists have leveled criticisms at brostep because of its preoccupation with "hard" and aggressive sounding timbres. In the UK, brostep has been jokingly called "bruvstep" and "mid-range cack". US and Canadian artists often drew inspiration from British producers who tended to work less with sub-bass and more with mid-range sounds such as Caspa and Rusko, and Vexd.^[104] Rusko himself has claimed in an interview on the BBC's 1Xtra radio show that "brostep is sort of my fault, but now I've started to hate it in a way...It's like someone screaming in your face for an hour...you don't want that."^[105] Commenting on the success of American producers such as Skrillex, Skream has stated: "I think it hurts a lot of people over here because it's a UK sound, but it's been someone with influences outside the original sound that has made it a lot bigger. The bad side of that is that a lot of people will just say 'dubstep equals Skrillex'. But in all honesty it genuinely doesn't bother me. I like the music he makes."^[106]

Other North American artists that have come to be associated with the brostep sound are Canadian producers Datsik and Excision. Their production style has been described by Mixmag as "a viciously harsh, yet brilliantly produced sound that appealed more to Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails fans than it did to lovers of UK garage." Other noted producers include 12th Planet and Bassnectar, who are considered by some to be early pioneers of the subgenre.^[107]

See also[link]

• List of dubstep musicians

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dubstep

• GetDarker An online magazine full of interviews, articles, photos from events and videos.
• 10 Years of... Dubstep A week dedicated to the movement by Drowned in Sound
• The Month In: Grime/Dubstep Columns by Martin Clark on Pitchfork Media
• BBC Collective dubstep documentary filmed at DMZ 1st Birthday, 2005. Interviews with Mala, Loefah, Skream, Kode9, Youngsta...

"Pumped Up Kicks" is a song by American indie pop band Foster the People. It was released as the group's debut single in September 2010, and the following year was included on their EP Foster the People and their debut album Torches. "Pumped Up Kicks" became the group's breakthrough hit and was one of the most popular songs of 2011. The song was written and recorded by frontman Mark Foster while he was working as a commercial jingle writer. Contrasting with the upbeat musical composition, the lyrics describe the homicidal thoughts of a troubled youth.

The track received considerable attention after it was posted online in 2010 as a free download, and it helped the group garner a multi-album record deal with Columbia Records imprint Startime International before they had issued a commercial release. The song became both a crossover hit and a sleeper hit in 2011, as it received significant airplay on modern rock and contemporary hit radio stations. The song spent eight consecutive weeks at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, making it the first Billboard Alternative Songs number-one single to crack the U.S. top 5 since Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" in 2009. The song was widely praised by critics, and it has been licensed for use in a wide range of popular media since its release. "Pumped Up Kicks" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Recording[link]

Soon after Mark Foster formed Foster the People in 2009, he wrote and recorded "Pumped Up Kicks" in five hours while working as a commercial jingle writer at Mophonics in Los Angeles.^[1][2] Thinking that he was just recording a demo, he played all of the instruments on the song. Ultimately, Foster's original version of the song is what ended up being released.^[3]

Composition and inspiration[link]

The lyrics to "Pumped Up Kicks" are written from the perspective of a troubled and delusional youth with homicidal thoughts.^[3] The lines in the chorus warn potential victims to "outrun my gun" and that they "better run, better run, faster than my bullet". Foster said, "I was trying to get inside the head of an isolated, psychotic kid."^[3] He wrote the lyrics in order to "bring awareness" to the issue of gun violence amongst youth, which he feels is an epidemic perpetuated by "lack of family, lack of love, and isolation".^[5][6] The song's title refers to shoes that the narrator's peers wear as a status symbol.^[7] The issue of youth violence is a matter close to the group. Foster was bullied in high school, while bassist Cubbie Fink has a cousin who survived the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. Fink said of his cousin's experience, "She was actually in the library when everything went down, so I actually flew out to be with her the day after it happened and experienced the trauma surrounding it and saw how affected she was by it. She is as close as a sister, so obviously, it affected me deeply. So to be able to have a song to create a platform to talk about this stuff has been good for us."^[4]

Contrasting with the dark lyrics of the song, the music, which was written first, is upbeat. Foster said, "It's a 'fuck you' song to the hipsters in a way—but it's a song the hipsters are going to want to dance to."^[3] Jeffery Berg of Frontier Psychiatrist said, "I was so engrossed with the cheery melody of its chorus that it took me a few listens to discover that the lyrics suggest dark, Columbine revenge."^[8]

Due to the opening lyrics, "Robert's got a quick hand," many have speculated that the song is a reference to Robert Hawkins, perpetrator of Omaha's Westroads Mall shooting. The band's publicist refutes this with "This is completely false. The character name in the song is just a coincidence."^[9] For play on the television channels MTV and MTVu, the words "gun" and "bullet" were removed from the song's chorus.^[10] Foster believes many have misinterpreted the song's meaning, and he has written letters to his record label and called radio stations to complain. He explained, "The song is not about condoning violence at all. It's the complete opposite. The song is an amazing platform to have a conversation with your kids about something that shouldn't be ignored, to talk about it in a loving way."^[2]

Release and promotion[link]

Initial attention[link]

"Pumped Up Kicks" was written by Mark Foster (pictured) while he was working as a jingle writer. Initially posted on his website as a free download, the song grew in popularity through viral outlets and earned the band a record deal.

"Pumped Up Kicks" drew considerable attention online after Foster posted the song on his website as a free download in early 2010; Nylon magazine used the track in an online advertising campaign,^[11] and through various blogs, it went viral.^[12] Foster the People first performed the song live at the Stand Up Charity Benefit in Venice in February.^[13] The group, yet to be signed, reached additional audiences with performances at the South by Southwest music festival in March 2010.^[14] Foster was emailed by many people about the song, and needing professional guidance, he contacted artist manager Brent Kredel at Monotone, Inc., saying, "Everyone is calling me and emailing me—what do I do? Who are the good guys, who are the bad guys?" Kredel recalled that "He went from the guy who couldn't get a hold of anyone to being the guy who had hundreds of emails in his inbox." Kredel and Brett Williams were subsequently hired to co-manage Foster the People, and they helped the group get a multi-album record deal with Columbia Records imprint Startime International in May 2010.^[11]

"Pumped Up Kicks" was licensed for use in a July 2010 episode of the TV series Entourage, the first of many instances in which Foster the People's music was licensed in popular media.^[11] Wishing to release a record that would back up the song's success, the group wrote new material between July–September 2010.^[11] The song received its first widespread radio play in July 2010 on Sirius XM's Alt Nation channel and the Australian radio station Triple J.^[15] The song was released as their debut single on September 14, 2010.^{[citation needed]} In November, the University of Maryland's radio station WMUC played the song, marking its debut on US terrestrial radio.^[16] The song placed at number 32 in the Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2010,^[17] a big achievement due to the band being relatively unknown in Australia. Still, the group was inexperienced as a live act, and as a result, their booking agent Tom Windish secured them several club shows "to help them get their sea legs." Foster the People promoted these concerts in January 2011 by emailing fans who had downloaded "Pumped Up Kicks" from their website, notifying them of the shows. The group continued to grow its fanbase with a month-long residency of concerts in January at The Echo nightclub in Los Angeles. By the group's third show at the venue, according to Windish, "there were hundreds of people trying to get in outside... It was an obvious turning point that could be measured in numbers." The residency also drew the attention of music supervisors in attendance who would later help the group license their music.^[11]

Commercial breakthrough[link]

In January 2011, the band issued their first commercial non-single release, a self-titled EP on which "Pumped Up Kicks" appeared. Around the same time, many alternative radio stations began playing "Pumped Up Kicks", including Los Angeles terrestrial stations KROQ-FM and KYSR, and it continued to gain popularity on Alt Nation.^[11] Mark Foster credits Sirius XM's airplay with the song's success, saying, "Alt Nation played our music before any other radio outlet in the country."^[18] On January 29, the song debuted on Billboard's Rock Songs chart and a week later, it debuted on the Alternative Songs chart. In May, the track debuted at number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100, and later that month, the group released their first full-length studio album, Torches, on which "Pumped Up Kicks" appears.^[11] On May 23, 2011, BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James selected the song as his Record of the Week, which ran until May 27. During this time, James released an accompanying video of him dancing to the song which he entitled and promoted "The Bum Dance".^[19]

The song proved to be a crossover hit, peaking at number three on the Rock Songs chart in July and number one on the Alternative Songs chart in June, while breaking into the top 40 of the Hot 100 in late July and appearing on the Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 charts. Columbia senior VP of promotion Lee Leipsner said, "It was one of the only alternative bands I remember in a while that you could actually dance to. And the fact that the record has a groove and rhythmic feel to it—not heavy guitar-based at all—gave us a wide opportunity to cross the record." He credits the song's crossover success and push into the top 40 to a June presentation of new music by Clear Channel president of national programming platforms Tom Poleman. According to Leipsner, "After we showed our presentation, we had so many Clear Channel major-market programmers come up to us and say, 'The record I want to play besides Adele is Foster the People.'" "Pumped Up Kicks" peaked at number three on the Hot 100, spending eight consecutive weeks at the position.^[11] It has been certified 3× platinum in the US, Canada,^[20][21] and Australia,^[22] while receiving a gold certification in Germany.^[23] The song ranked as the sixth-best-selling digital song of 2011, selling 3.61 million copies.^[24]

Music video[link]

The music video, directed by Josef Geiger, was filmed at multiple locations in Los Angeles with insert footage from San Francisco^{[citation needed]} and features the band playing a show. There are also cuts to band members doing other activities, such as playing frisbee and surfing. The video peaked at #21 on the MuchMusic Countdown in Canada.^[25] The video has received over 83 million views on YouTube.^[2]

Reception[link]

Critical reaction[link]

"Pumped Up Kicks" received positive reviews from critics. Barry Walters of Spin said that with the song as their debut single, Foster the People "announce themselves as major players".^[26] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone described the song as having a "slinky groove, misty guitar flange and delicious astral-wimp vocals".^[27] Rob Webb of NME drew some parallels between the song and other indie pop hits like "Young Folks", "Paris", and "Kids" describing its rise in popularity as thus: "artist writes (undeniably brilliant) pop song, makes it catchy as hell, but quirky enough for the 'cool' crowd, song subsequently gets some big pimping from every blog/radio station/Hype Machine user on the planet and, seemingly overnight, becomes utterly, irritatingly inescapable."^[28] August Brown of the Los Angeles Times called it a "reputation-making single" that "cakes Foster in Strokes-y vocal distortion atop a loping synth bass".^[29] Jon Pareles of The New York Times called it a "pop ditty with dazed, dweeby vocals and a handclapping chorus that warns, 'You better run, better run, outrun my gun'".^[30] BBC Music's Mark Beaumont called the song a "psychedelic block party skipping tune". Reflecting on the song's fusion of various musical elements, Beaumont said the song is a prime example of how they "adapt Animal Collective's art-tronic adventurousness to incorporate the funky danceability of Scissor Sisters, the fuzzy pop catchiness of 'Kids' and the knack of throwing in deceptively downbeat twists akin to Girls, Sleigh Bells or Smith Westerns".^[31] Matt Collar of Allmusic said the song, like other tracks from the album, is "catchy, electro-lite dance-pop that fits nicely next to such contemporaries as MGMT and Phoenix".^[32] The Guardian's Michael Hann was less receptive, saying it "amounts to little more than a bassline and a chorus" and that "It's as irresistible as it is infuriating".^[33]

Accolades[link]

A Rolling Stone readers poll named it the second-best song of summer 2011.^[34] Claire Suddath of Time magazine named "Pumped Up Kicks" one of the Top 10 Songs of 2011.^[35] In end-of-year polls, writers for Rolling Stone selected "Pumped Up Kicks" as the 11th-best song of 2011,^[36] while the publication's readers voted it the year's sixth-best song.^[37] A listeners poll by Toronto radio station CFNY-FM (102.1 The Edge) voted it #1 in a list of the top 102 new rock songs of 2011.^[38] Entertainment Weekly selected the song as the second-best single of 2011.^[39] NME ranked it number 21 on its list of the "50 Best Tracks of 2011", writing, "Unusually for a song so omnipresent, listening to its hyper-upbeat melodies about a psycho high-school kid-killer is still an enjoyable experience."^[40] The magazine's readers voted "Pumped Up Kicks" the year's eighth-best song.^[41] At the end of 2011, the song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.^[42]

Impact[link]

In an article for The Huffington Post, DJ Louie XIV singled out "Pumped Up Kicks" as one of several popular songs that helped usher in the return of commercially successful indie music. In discussing the growing acceptance of fringe cultures, he wrote, "It seems only fitting, then, that the soundtrack to this time period should be music that was itself once viewed as fringe culture."^[43] Reflecting on the song's success, Gary Trust, the associate director of charts/radio for Billboard, said, "They're walking a tightrope very well in terms of eras, formats and styles. When you mix all that together, it becomes a very good recipe for a hit that works on so many levels. It's the perfect song." Foster said of the song, "There's a spirit there and that's what people resonate with. 'Pumped Up Kicks' wasn't an accident."^[2]

Use in popular media[link]

The song was used in TV series such as Entourage,^[44] Gossip Girl, CSI:NY, Cougar Town, Homeland, Warehouse 13 and The Vampire Diaries and also in the 2011 films Friends with Benefits^[11] and Fright Night, as well as sampled in Shawn Chrystopher's song "All the Other Kids", from his 2010 hip-hop album You, and Only You. The whistling part of the song is part of the rotation of bumper music played on the Michael Medved syndicated radio program. The song is also used on the BBC programme Match of the Day. On October 8, 2011, Foster the People performed the song on Saturday Night Live. The song was also used in Australian beer XXXX's "XXXX Summer Bright Lager" television commercial.^[45]

Cover versions and remixes[link]

The official remix of the single was released by New York City-duo The Knocks in April 2011, under the name "Pumped Up Kicks (The Knocks Speeding Bullet Remix)", and was made available to subscribers to the band's email list. The song was covered by Weezer during their 2011 North American Tour, at the Orange County Fair on August 4, 2011. Weezer also played the song during their grandstand performance at the Minnesota State Fair on September 3, 2011.^[46] Mark Foster said in reaction, "Nine years ago, I met Rivers Cuomo at a party, and I had my acoustic guitar with me. He taught me how to play 'Say It Ain't So'. So nine years later, to watch him play one of my songs - it was wild. I can't wait to meet him and remind him of that story."^[47]

In 2011, The Kooks covered song in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.^[48] Australian musician Owl Eyes performed a version of "Pumped Up Kicks" for Triple J's Like a Version. In the Triple J Hottest 100, 2011, Owl Eyes' version came in at 28, four positions higher than the original did the previous year. Singer-songwriters Dani Shay and Justin Chase covered the song in a theatrical music video October 2011^[49] and released the single in November 2011.^[50] A parody of the song was performed by Taylor Swift and Zac Efron on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as a serenade to the host. Its lyrics were about how they felt weird when Ellen used to put them as a couple when they were not.^[51] On March 12, 2012 singers Lex Land and Charlotte Sometimes performed the song during the second "Battle Round" episode of The Voice.^[52]

Track listing[link]

Charts[link]