Two Decades of Dubstep
Twenty years ago, the last music genre to rise from the underground to become a global phenomenon took its first steps into the world.
Born in the thriving subculture of the South London club scene in the early 2000s, dubstep went on to become a defining sound signature a decade earlier, attracting all sorts of stars and reaching the top of the charts all around the world.
A contagious blend of styles with strong underground roots, dubstep took the music status quo by storm, and yet here we are 20 years later, and the once thriving dubstep scene seems to have evaporated. Mostly.
Today we’ll dive into the world of dubstep; how it started, its defining sound, the most important artists, and its evolution up to these days.
What defines Dubstep
Let’s start by defining the dubstep sound.
You can recognize this genre right away from its rhythm: a syncopated, half-time beat at roughly 140 BPM with a kick on the first beat and a snare on the third, hence the “dub” in dubstep.
We’ll talk more about this once we get to the history section, but for now, let’s just say that dubstep started as a reaction movement in London: an underground ecosystem driven by people unsatisfied by the commercial path most club genres took in the early 2000s, from UK garage to 2-step and beyond.
As a result, most of the early dubstep producers showed similar traits: a passion for raw and atmospheric sound, a love for dub rhythms and jungle bass, and music production skills that went well beyond sound sampling.
Although there are notable exceptions (like Burial), early dubstep producers focused on creating their own sounds for their tracks to develop unique bass lines, melodies, and pads.
Sub-bass frequencies are the secret ingredient of most of the early-days dubstep tunes. These low tones were created using heavy bass modulation and low-frequency oscillators, and the result was often an exciting, almost primeval low-frequency soundscape.
Aside from the syncopated rhythm, the overall pattern I dubstep is often simple: not much hi-hat or percussion, but the kick and snare very loud and with plenty of reverb. Sidechain compression played a huge role here, giving plenty of room to the galvanizing rhythms.
Modern dubstep tracks have a more commercial feel, but while club-oriented genres like techno tend to stick to the same pattern for long, today’s dubstep tunes usually alter the patterns every 4 bars or so, keeping listeners engaged with new melodies and sounds.
The Beginnings
How did it all start?
Early 2000s, Croydon, South London. A collective of producers from the local area and nearby started blending elements of UK garage, grime, dub reggae, and drum and bass.
After a couple of years of gaining traction in the local scene, this new sound began to become popular thanks to the pirate radio station Rinse FM, local record shops like Big Apple Records, and the club night FWD>>, which became dubstep’s first safe haven.
January 10th, 2006, is an unforgettable day for anyone who’s into dubstep. That was when Mary Anne Hobbs’ BBC Radio 1 special Dubstep Warz first aired. It featured all the best dubstep producers: Kode 9 & The Spaceape, Vex’d, Mala, Skream, Horsepower Productions, Benga, and many more. It literally blew up the scene in one night, and transformed the genre from a local underground movement to a global phenomenon.
The Mainstream Era
After that, dubstep became the trendiest music genre in electronic music, and once it reached the other side of the Atlantic, American producers started adapting its sound to make it more accessible and mainstream. Hence the birth of "brostep," an American version of dubstep that combined deep bass sounds, catchy beats, and a more galvanizing vibe to attract mainstream culture.
Skrillex, Rusko, and Bassnectar were the first to popularize brostep, which featured heavier and more aggressive bass drops, as well as a faster tempo compared to its UK counterpart.
Pop stars jumped on the bandwagon in no time. From Rihanna to Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, Taylor Swift, and countless others, iconic artists saw the opportunity to ride the dubstep wave, and integrated the genre into their production; often with mixed results, but sometimes creating timeless hits.
Shortly after dubstep’s rise to fame, artists started attempting to bring the genre back to its roots and evolve it in different directions. Those experiments usually fall into the category of "Riddim," and "post-dubstep," which became popular in the early-to-mid 2010s.
Riddim is an electronic genre that draws heavily from dub, reggae, and dancehall, with a repetitive pattern, a minimalist bassline and energizing production.
Post-dubstep is an umbrella genre that contains multitudes of experiments that vaguely fall into the dubstep category, from Mount Kimbie to James Blake, Chase & Status, Darkstar and so on, all blending dub rhythms with elements from other genres: soul, EDM, R&B and ambient.
Ramifications
Over the years, dubstep became the blueprint for artists willing to push the boundaries of electronic music. As a result, countless producers created their own sonic signature, drawing inspiration from other genres to explore the infinite possibilities of this new style.
Here are some of dubstep’s most popular subgenres:
Deep Dubstep
Sound: Subtle and meditative, this style is atmospheric and focuses on low-end frequencies, with dub-inspired delays and reverb.
Artists: Mala, Kryptic Minds, Distance
Darkstep
Sound: This is a more intense and menacing take on dubstep, with distorted basslines, dark textures, and industrial sounds.
Artists: TRG, Vex’d, Distance
Tearout Dubstep
Sound: An intense and chaotic offshoot of riddim and brostep.
Artists: SVDDEN DEATH, Infekt, TrollPhace
Deathstep
Sound: A fusion of dubstep and death metal, with cavernous basses and bleak atmospheres.
Artists: Code: Pandorum, Oolacile, PhaseOne
Trapstep
Sound: This style blends elements of dubstep and trap, with 808 kicks, hi-hat rolls, and vocal chops with heavy dubstep drops and bass.
Artists: Carnage, UZ, RL Grime (early work)
Melodic Dubstep
Sound: Melodic dubstep combines heavy drops with lush melodies and chord progressions.
Artists: Seven Lions, Illenium, Trivecta
Future Dubstep
Sound: This style merges future bass and dubstep, which creates a brighter sound that’s more accessible.
Artists: San Holo, Said the Sky, Dabin
Chillstep
Sound: Soft and ambient, chillstep leans towards mood and melody rather than intensity.
Artists: Blackmill, CMA, Sappheiros
Glitchstep
Sound: Glitchstep adds broken rhythms and stuttering effects to dubstep textures, making it sound quite experimental.
Artists: The Widdler, Mr. Bill, Freddy Todd
Neurostep
Sound: A mix of dubstep and neurofunk, it features futuristic textures and complex modulations.
Artists: Culprate, KOAN Sound, Reso
Drumstep
Sound: This hybrid genre combines dubstep and drum & bass, usually running at DnB tempos (170–180 BPM) with half-time dubstep-style drums and bass.
Artists: Noisia, Figure, Dirtyphonics
Garagestep
Sound: Strongly influenced by UK garage and 2-step, garagestep features shuffling rhythms and vocal samples, with less emphasis on harsh bass.
Artists: El-B, Horsepower Productions, Burial
11 Unmissable Dubstep Albums
Finally, here are some of my favorite dubstep albums, in chronological order:
Vex'd – Degenerate (2005)
A raw and industrial album that explores the darker side of dubstep. Released 20 years ago, Degenerate has aged like fine wine.
Kode9 & The Spaceape – Memories of the Future (2006)
A blend of dystopian dubstep and spoken word. Politically charged, ambitious, and timeless.
Skream – Skream! (2006)
A club-oriented album that enhanced the potential of dubstep as dancefloor material.
Burial – Untrue (2007)
What else can I say about Burial’s Untrue that hasn't already been said? It’s probably the most revolutionary album of the century so far. With Untrue, Burial took the art of sampling to a whole new level, and gave dubstep a soul.
Benga – Diary of an Afro Warrior (2008)
Dynamic and galvanizing, Benga’s Diary of an Afro Warrior transcends genres while maintaining its dubstep roots.
Shackleton – Three EPs (2009)
A deeply percussive, almost bass-free take on dubstep that expanded the genre’s spiritual depth.
Digital Mystikz – Return II Space (2010)
Hypnotic and immersive, Return II Space shows the calmer side of dubstep, with emotionally-charged and carefully-crafted tunes.
Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (2010)
The explosive EP that popularized brostep and redefined dubstep's global fame.
Mount Kimbie – Crooks & Lovers (2010)
A post-dubstep album that blurred the lines between dubstep, ambient, and indie electronica.
Clubroot – II – MMX (2010)
A cinematic and atmospheric album that draws inspiration from Burial’s industrial soundscapes but sends them into the stratosphere.
James Blake – James Blake (2011)
Blake’s debut is an introspective work that merges dubstep’s bass culture with minimalism and R'n'B.
Final Thoughts
Dubstep might not be as popular as it used to be, but there's no doubt it's the genre that more than any others changed the EDM culture of the past two decades. Many contemporary artists are reinventing dubstep, from Tape B to Ace Aura and countless others, so it might not be long before the genre takes over the world, once again.
Are you ready to be part of the dubstep revival? Then make sure you check out our immense library of sounds designed specifically for this iconic genre.
Have fun!