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 ARTISTS
BREAKBEAT SCIENCE
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So what is BREAKBEAT
exactly?
Well, in general music terms, breakbeat is defined as music
that doesn't follow the normal 4/4, four-on-the-floor tempo. The idea of
a breakbeat isn't entirely a new one. The early jazz pioneers are
probably the real old schoolers, but even before that there was the drum.
It all started with the drum. As poet Saul Williams stated in
"Coded Language," a collaboration with Bristol's DJ
Krust,
"Breakbeats have been the missing link connecting the diaspora community
to its drum woven past."
A
LITTLE BIT O' HISTORY:
The
science of the "break," and breakbeat music, got its
beginnings in the late 60's/early 70's - it was the part of the song
where all the instruments and vocals dropped out of the song and the
drummer broke it down some. Eventually, a Jamaican DJ from the
Bronx, DJ Cool Herc, got the idea of looping the "break" on
two turntables. When the break finished on one deck, he
would play it on the other one. This idea caught on and soon
innovators like Grandmaster
Flash
and
Afrika Bambataa and the Soul Sonic Force
were catching on, spawning the birth of Electro.
Breakbeat
is -- and always will be -- one of the most dominant forms of dance
music. You can trace the movement back to the days when James
Brown,
Curtis
Mayfield,
and Isaac
Hayes
ruled, through the electro explosion led by Afrika
Bambataa and the Soul Sonic Force,
up to the present day nu-breaks movement engineered by Adam
Freeland
et al. The early '90s rave boom in Europe was built on it, the West
Coast is obsessed with it, and drum and bass (to some extent) grew out
of it. Breakbeat gained popularity in the U.K. through seminal tracks
like "The Phantom" by Renegade Soundwave, "Papua New
Guinea" by Future Sound Of London, and later "Bombscare"
by 2 Bad Mice. In the late 90's the commercial success of bands like
Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, and The Prodigy
has both attracted the attention of the major labels and has made the
music available to a much wider audience. Many believe that it is this
genre that will break electronic music in the U.S.
THE SUB-GENRES IN A NUTSHELL
Nu-Skool:
Hybrid of Breakbeat with Drum & Bass and Jungle Influences.
Funky
Breaks: Hybrid of Breakbeat, Hip Hop, Funk, Soul, Electro
Big
Beat: Hybrid of Breakbeat, Rock, Hip Hop
Progressive
Breaks: Hybrid of Breakbeat & Trance
Two
Step: Hybrid of Breakbeat, Speed Garage, House, R & B
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