Bass Boss: Reid Speed's Top 10 Drumstep DJs
When Reid Rosson stepped up to the decks on Monday nights to throw down sets throughout the '90s at NYC's Drum n Bass party "Konkrete Jungle", she didn't know this editor was watching. As the jump up party moved from now-defunct haunts Coney Island High and Pyramid and Acme Underground, etc., the DJ-producer known as Reid Speed moved with it. Today, she's the Play Me Records label boss (along with her husband Alexander Rosson), who may have traded the concrete of NYC for the sunshine of LA, but there's no denying a proper OJ (Original Jungalist).
Scroll through to get the 411 from Reid on some of the top "drumstep" artists, picking up the "speed" in BPMs and bass trends.
Intro by Sarah Polonsky, Compiled by Reid Rosson
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Figure
Discovered by Play Me Records at the start of 2010, it soon came to light that he had massive EP's worth of a terrifyingly new sound kicking around his studio. Monsters of Drumstep was the first EP to call itself as such and one that ignited the first wave of interest in the sound.
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Dirty Deeds
This Cali duo shook up the drum & bass underground with their "Captain Planet" VIP, which helped shape the early drumstep sound.
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Subfocus
His remix of Rusko's "Hold On" gave drumstep it's first superstar, throwing dancefloors everywhere into a frenzy and giving a legion of dubsteppers and drum & bass heads alike the first anthem of the new subgenre.
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Dirtyphonics
The fearsome French foursome burst on the scene with their tempo-twisting "Quarks" and were early adopters of the style, and remain one of the most consistent, longtime proponents thereof.
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Calvertron
This guy has done it all, from house (as half of Twocker) to a #1 glitch hop hit ("Dub Combination" with FS), but he really shines when his trademark high pitched synths roll out over a fast halftime kick/snare. His remix of FS & Reid Speed's "Bass Monster" is a Sirius & XFM favorite.
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Terravita
The trio from Boston made their name as drum & bass dons, but quickly embraced all forms of bass music and exploded to the top of the charts with their drumstep remix of J.Rabbit & Tremourz "Sexy Party" and solidified their place in drumstep history with their remix of Bassnectar's "Upside Down".
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Delta Heavy
From their early start on Viper & Raam to their genre-bending EPs, to remixing Nero, they consistently deliver some of the hardest half-time rinseout beats in the biz.
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Kill The Noise
A New York native, originally drum & bass's "Ewun", Kill The Noise has been kicking around EDM for a good amount of time, however it was his slammin' remix of Porter Robinson's "Spitfire" that forever connected him to dubstep's new love of the faster.
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Youngman & Crissy Criss
"Kick Snare VIP" became the crossover transition tune that helped a generation of dubsteppers embrace a slightly faster tempo.
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Honorable Mention: Danny Breaks
Such a pioneer of drum & bass + halftime from the earliest days of jungle...
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