Drum and Bass

Drum and Bass (often abbreviated to DnB, D'n'B, Drum&Bass or drum'n'bass) is a genre of Electronic Dance Music, characterised by its above average tempo of 165 to 185 beats per minute, deep sub-bass lines, sampled drums and synthesisers. It grew out of the underground UK Jungle scene in the early to mid-1990s. The genre's main peak in popularity coincided with various other styles of electronic music in the late 1990s. Drum and Bass' main original stylistic influences were the Reggae and Dub style basslines and sound-systems, and Jungle's fast, syncopated sampled drum rhythms.

While Drum and Bass is most popular in the United Kingdom, many other countries have produced Drum and Bass music, such as the Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. International record labels had initially shown little interest in Drum and Bass until BMG Rights Management bought RAM Records in 2016.

There are a large variety of styles of Drum and Bass including Neurofunk, Dancefloor, Techstep, Breakcore, Liquid Funk, Jump-Up, Hardstep, Drumfunk, Sambass, Ragga Jungle and Ambient DNB. Many other genres of EDM have been influenced by Drum and Bass, including Garage, Dubstep, Hip-Hop, Big Beat, House, among others.

History of Drum and Bass
In the late 1980s and early 1990s in the UK, rave culture stemming from acid house parties and outdoor events led to the creation of rave music, with subgenres including Hardcore, Breakbeat, Breakbeat Hardcore and Darkcore. These genres eventually evolved into Jungle in the early 1990s, through releases on labels such as XL Recordings and Reinforced Records. Artists that were instrumental in evolving the specific styles of Breakbeat Hardcore and Darkcore into Hardcore Jungle (later known simply as Jungle) include Doc Scott, Goldie (then under the alias Rufige Kru), 4Hero and 2 Bad Mice. This style of music became especially apparent between 1992 and 1993, through tracks like Rufige Kru's Terminator and Doc Scott's Dark Angel.

Jungle started to become popular in 1994, as many people within the scene (many of whom referred to themselves as 'Junglists') began adding various influences into the style, such as reggae and dub basslines, MC chanting and toasting, and edited and often more complex sampled drum patterns. The sound spread largely through pirate radio stations in London at the time, often operated from tower blocks, as a means of producers and DJs to spread their tracks through the scene. As the style was largely adjacent to the rave scene at the time and its use of the drug Ecstasy, the Jungle scene began to be affiliated with violence and criminal activity through association with the London Rap scene at the time. As the genre progressed through to 1995, producers began to turn away from the ragga-influenced sound and add outside influences into their music, the style of which would become conveniently-named Drum and Bass.

From 1996 through 1997, Drum and Bass producers began to add darker, techno-influenced sounds and samples, culminating in the style of Techstep, coined by producers Ed Rush and Nico in 1995, at No U-Turn Studios in West London. Techstep producers include Ed Rush, Nico, Optical, DJ Trace and Fierce. At around the same time, various producers were creating more melodic, atmospheric styles into their work, eventually creating the style of Liquid Funk, coined by Fabio in 1999. Liquid Funk producers from around this time included Seba, PFM, Blu Mar Ten and Blame.

While the genre continued to expand, many more producers stepped onto the scene in the early 2000s, such as Pendulum, Chase and Status, and Bad Company UK, among others. The style has managed to successfully develop over time, and is still enjoying moderate commercial success today, with recent hits from artists such as DJ Fresh, Sigma and Sub Focus.