Jungle

The Jungle (sometimes called Oldschool jungle) is the name given to a style of Drum And Bass that incorporates influences from both early hardcore (known as breakbeat hardcore) and techno as well as the Jamaican scene existing in England in the 1980s. It takes elements of reggae and dub from sound system culture. There is an important debate about the differentiation between jungle and drum and bass, since both terms are used interchangeably on numerous occasions. Historically, the term drum and bass did not come into use until the mid-1990s, with compilation albums such as "The Dark Side - Hardcore Drum & Bass Style".

History

Historical origin of the term

The term jungle began to be used at first to refer in a derogatory way to black music with great rhythmic content. The use of terms such as "junglist" or "jungle music" in Jamaica since 1970 in the field of reggae, dub and dancehall music.

The first documented use of the term is in a song by jungle lyricist and producer Rebel MC. It is a song that takes a sample of a much older dancehall song that contains the lyrics "Rebel got this chant/alla the junglists". Towards the end of the 1980s, the group Shut Up and Dance relates the anecdote that on one occasion they were not allowed to enter a club, and as an explanation the door told them that "we don't play your jungle music here";, in relation to the classic hardcore that the group played.

Sound system

Sound system in Negril, Jamaica.

The roots of jungle can be found in the vibrant dancehall scene that existed in England in the 1980s thanks to the Jamaican sound system culture. The biggest sound systems in London between 1985 and 1990 were Saxon, Unity and Sir Coxon. There were also others of smaller size and popularity. All of them played primarily reggae and other styles of Jamaican music. But progressively they began to play new sounds. Thus PJ and Smiley, later known as Shut Up and Dance, along with their friend DJ Hype, began playing hip hop tracks on their small North London sound system after Smiley's trip to New York in 1985. Searching for rhythms that would allow the bboys to dance, they evolved their sound by starting to program something they called "fast hip hop". This type of sound, which to his surprise quickly caught on in the nascent rave scene, sowed the seeds of jungle.

The Jamaican origin is observed in many elements. Essential record labels in the 1990s for the birth and development of jungle, such as Fashion or Greensleeves, had dedicated the 1980s to publishing strictly Jamaican material. At the same time, an unknown number of toasters and dancehall singers began to dedicate themselves to jungle towards the end of the 1980s, such as Asher Senator, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man or Barrington Levy.

Oldschool jungle

The first sound unequivocally identifiable as jungle is directly related to hardcore, gaining popularity and growing thanks to the fast-paced rave scene that took place in England in the early 1990s. It is a type of multicultural music, which which manifests itself in the appropriation of elements from both the rave and reggae scenes. On a musical level, it is a music intensely linked to hip hop. Both styles use the same type of instrumentation and techniques, including samplers, drum machines, a microphone for the MC, and sequencers. In addition, both also share musical elements, such as the massive use of breaks taken from Afro-descendant traditions such as funk and soul for rhythmic construction, or the importance of bass lines. The most commonly used drum break in jungle is the amen break, which is taken from a Curtis Mayfield meddley and performed by soul group The Winstons. Unlike hip hop, jungle reaches speeds that normally double those of rap, ranging between 120 and 145 bpms. On the other hand, the importance of the bass also has a lot to do with the Jamaican sound, and the toasting that the MC performs is similar to that of a dancehall singer and does not rap like a rapper would.

4 Hero, classic jungle and dnb group (in Marc Mac image).

In the summer of 1992, a London club called "Rage" began changing its music programming in response to the commercialization of the rave sound. It can be said that classic hardcore starts to branch off in two directions, on the one hand that of happy hardcore and on the other the darker and broken rhythms of breakbeat. The club's residents, Fabio and Grooverider, among others, begin to play this type of hardcore faster, with dark samples and increasing rhythmic complexity. It is a sound that can be traced in productions up to 1990 with songs like "Mr Kirk Nightmare" from 4 Hero or the beginnings of Metalheads. This type of sound has been called darkcore, a hybrid between hardcore and jungle that will soon be defined thanks to its diffusion by DJs such as those mentioned above or DJ Hype. The "Rage" it closed in 1993, but a new legion of followers had established itself with this proposal. The style becomes more and more popular and its zenith comes with the song "Original Nutta" by Shy FX and UK Apachi, a true success on the British charts that reveals to the general public a music that until then had remained strictly underground.

Original Jungle Ending

In 1994 raves were banned in England through the Criminal Justice Bill. This fact joins the jump of the jungle to media popularity. A certain aura of illegality surrounds the genre, both due to the illegal parties in which it had been developing and due to the violence intrinsic to the areas in which it was most heard in England. The word "jungle" it is increasingly associated with tough guys, drugs and guns. It is the time when the genre is renamed drum and bass, an aseptic and almost scientific name intended to separate this music from violence. At the same time, the genre largely loses its Jamaican sound and becomes more sophisticated in intelligent jungle productions from labels like Good Looking Records.

The whole reggae feeling had gone and new styles began to emerge as the Hardstep, the Intelligent Drum and Bass and the Jazzy Drum and Bass; the scene seemed to have cleaned their consciousness.

Subgenres

There are several subgenres of jungle, some of which are sometimes confused with it:

• Darkcore: proto jungle, sound that is between the classic hardcore and the first jungle, with a dark sound and pronounced breaks.
• Hardcore Jungle: a more melodic and fast-paced subgender (1993-hoy).
• Intelligent jungle: a type of sophisticated and mental jungle, initiated by producers like LTJ Bukem or Goldie (1993-hoy).
• Ragga jungle: jungle crossing with dancehall sound (1989-hoy).

Significant artists