Aggressive wubbery, thick and on-the-beat rhythms, and easy-to-love, easier-to-hate hooks: these things and more constitute the stereotype of dubstep. Of course, this isn’t really representative of dubstep as a whole. It contains startlingly few of the elements that were present in the genre when it originally came into existence in the early 2000s, and those that remain have been twisted from their underground origins into an unrecognizably commercialized style. This has led to some major misconceptions as to what the term ‘dubstep’ actually means.
The term ‘dubstep’ hints at its own stylistic roots. Subgenres of UK garage and drum & bass such as 2-step and techstep provide the EDM base of the genre, while Jamaican dub music, a bass-heavy and atmospheric variant on reggae, informs the mood and stylistic touches. The original dub sound was pioneered back in the 1960s and 1970s, with musicians like Lee “Scratch” Perry, King Tubby, and Mad Professor experimenting with the range of effects that were becoming more easily available, using equalizers, delays, chorus effects, reverb, and other novel methods to rework reggae tracks. These elements would later be worked into other genres, such as punk (The Clash and Bad Brains) and trip hop (Massive Attack and early Gorillaz). Continue reading from Medium
The arrival of dubstep to America traces back to Dave Q and Joe Nice, DJs who followed the electronic music scene in the United Kingdom. Smitten with the sound, the pair organized a dubstep-themed club night entitled Dub War at a Brooklyn bar in June 2005. The event's success spawned more festivals in other American cities, like Smog in Los Angeles, as well as events in Miami, San Francisco and elsewhere. With the low cost and easy accessbility of recording software available to aspiring dubstep producers, the genre spread to places like Japan, Australia and Brazil.
Mainstream record producers latched onto the sound, as well. In the latter half of the 2000s, R&B singer Rihanna, rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West, and the heavy metal group Korn all assimilated dubstep into songs. Even pop star Britney Spears incorporated the genre's tropes into two of her singles. Big-name music festivals like Bonnaroo, Coachella and Burning Man host dubstep performances. In 2011, two gatherings devoted to electronic dance music -- Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and Ultra Music Festival in Miami -- drew more than 380,000 attendees combined [source: Mason]. And in 2012, dubstep producer DJ Skrillex received three Grammy Awards, as well as a nomination for Best New Artist -- the first time a DJ was nominated for the category [source: Sinha-Roy]. And since the tempos sync up nicely with hip-hop tracks, it is not uncommon to see dubstep remixes of rap songs. Continue reading from How Stuff Works
Resident Advisor Documentary "How Did UK Garage Become Dubstep?"
Skrillex "First of the Year (Equinox)"
