Dubstep pioneers Skream & Benga will be touring India this month and we at The Bangin Beats have pulled up a little history on these Dubstep giants, that you may want to know ahead of their upcoming shows in Delhi & Mumbai.
Skream
Skream (born Oliver Dene Jones, 1 June 1986) is a British electronic record producer based in Croydon. One of dubstep’s first and most prominent producers, he has played an important role in the genre’s development. His debut album Skream! was released in 2006, and was followed up by Outside the Box in 2010. Skream is also a member of the Dubstep supergroup Magnetic Man, along with fellow producers Benga and Artwork. The group released their self-titled debut album on 8 October 2010.
Skream began producing music at the age of 15 (using FruityLoops) and claims to now have roughly 800 songs in varying stages of development, including a number of early disco and funk-inspired records. Jones would regularly ‘bunk’ school and spend the day at Big Apple Records through his teenage years. On various occasions he would also go to FWD, an “underground-sound” club night which was originally held in the Velvet Rooms but later moved to Plastic People in Shoreditch. DJs such as Hatcha would do live shows here. Skream’s early productions were often with another alumnus of Big Apple, Benga, and are of a decidedly darker and less melodic nature than later releases.
As Dubstep gained notice from conventional media such as The Guardian, Jones’ music started to take on a more melodic sound: less overtly influenced by the darker, UK garage influenced sounds of early dubstep. The 2005 Skream track “Midnight Request Line” has been described as “dubstep’s most recognizable crossover hit”.The key change in the chorus, has been credited as being a key factor in the evolution of a more melodic sound in the Dubstep genre.
Skream has released records on a variety of UK record labels, such as Tempa, Tectonic, and Big Apple Records, including a self-titled album on the Tempa label.He has performed throughout Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan,as well as the UK. From 2006, he hosted a weekly Rinse FM show called Stella Sessions. In 2010, Benga joined the broadcast, which was renamed The Skream and Benga Show.
In 2007, “Angry” and “Colourful” from Skream!, as well as an exclusive mix, were featured in the teen drama Skins. This marked the first instance dubstep was featured on television. Skream was also featured on BBC Radio 1′s Essential Mix that same year.
In 2009, he rose to further prominence when his remix of “In for the Kill” by La Roux helped propel the record to number two in the UK charts.
In 2010, Skream’s popular remix of “In for the Kill” by La Roux was featured in an episode titled “Hair” on the hit HBO series Entourage and “In the club” on the hit series Misfits.
In the summer of 2010, Skream released his second full-length album ‘Outside the Box’, which was also released on the seminal dubstep label, Tempa Records. The record earned a score of 7 out of 10 from SPIN magazine.
Jones has seen commercial success as part of Magnetic Man, a live electronic music project with fellow dubstep pioneers Benga and Artwork. Their debut album peaked at number 5 on the UK Albums Chart and its lead single, “I Need Air” reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
In January 2011, he and Benga left Rinse to replace Alex Metric in his ‘In New DJs We Trust‘ slot on BBC Radio 1. The duo was eventually given a weekly slot on Radio 1, which began in April 2012.
Jones has worked with many prominent pop artists. In addition to La Roux, he has produced for and collaborated with the likes of Kelis, Miles Kane, and Chromeo,as well as Katy B and John Legend as part of Magnetic Man.
In response to his success, Jones launched his Skreamizm tour to offer himself a change of pace from arena and festival performances, opting to play three hour sets in small clubs. These shows saw a greater incorporation of disco, house, and techno in his sets. His recent productions have increasingly veered away from dubstep into these various genres, seen in tracks such as songs such as “Sticky,” “Bang That” and “Kreepin‘”. He has addressed the change in direction on Twitter and in interviews, noting that he was inspired to do more varied sets by the likes of Jackmaster. In March 2013, he contributed a house mix Pete Tong’s All Gone Miami 2013 on Defected Records, a seminal house label that releases yearly compilations dedicated to Miami and Ibiza. Resident Advisor wrote that with the release, he gained “entry to one of the most established institutions in house music.”
Benga:
Benga (born Adegbenga Adejumo, 28 November 1986) is a Britishdubstep music producer from Croydon. As a boy he used to hang out at the Big Apple record shop in Croydon and make his own tunes at home on PlayStation. The tunes caught the attention of dubstep producer Hatcha, who worked at the shop, and by the age of 15 Benga had made his first record, “Skank“, released on Big Apple’s own record label. He was also one of the first dubstep producers when the style was emerging in the early 2000s. He has been featured on a variety of compilations including Mary Anne Hobbs’s Warrior Dubz, Tempa’s The Roots of Dubstep and the BBC Radio 1Xtra anniversary mix. Benga is also noted for using acoustic drums on some songs, including “Live Drums” and “Evolution“.
In 2007 Benga, along with fellow producers Skream and Artwork, formed the dubstep supergroup Magnetic Man.
Benga released the cross-over anthem “Night” with DMZ’s Coki in early 2008, followed by his second album, Diary of an Afro Warrior, both on Tempa. Resident Advisor described it as “one of the most anticipated LPs in dubstep yet.”
Since Night and his acclaimed 2008 album Diary Of An Afro Warrior, Benga has propelled club music in many directions. There’s always bass – plenty of it – but he refuses to be limited by a sound or scene. Benga has done big business with subterranean basslines, evocative instrumentation and undeniable choruses, placing him in the upper echelons of producer/ remixers working right now. “They can call it whatever they wanna call it, I’m not afraid to say that my music’s Dubstep.” he insists. “I’ve always made this mental music and I made music that’s accessible. I love to use hooks because I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, real music. That’s why I made music in the first place.”
From January 2011, Benga joined BBC Radio 1 with Skream as part of ‘In New DJs We Trust‘ and now they present a weekly show on Friday nights. Skream and Benga performed together at Field Day music festival in Sydney, Australia on New Years Day 2012.
Now signed as a solo artist to Sony/ Columbia, Benga is ready to take his sound even further with his new album, Chapter 2. At its core, Chapter 2 is electronic music with emotion. Making the skeleton of a beat in around an hour, Benga might be inspired by everything from moving house to taking over the world. “It all ends up in there somehow,” he nods.
“I don’t see myself as a producer anymore,” he states. “I see myself as a scientist.”
Skream & Benga India Dates:
11th May: Kitty Su, Delhi.
12th May: Sitara Studio, Mumbai.
For tickets, go here.