Sweet Headache 056: “Exploring Drumstep” (by marvis)

A few weeks ago, I first heard about a musical genre called “Drumstep”. I heard it was somewhat similar to Drum&Bass and Dubstep, but was kinda in the middle of the two.
Being a DJ, the best way to get to know a new style is to play around with it and see which way it kicks you. So here’s my first Drumstep safari:
Talking about Drumstep to a few other DJs, many of them scoffed upon this style. For Drum&Bass-DJs, it sounded somewhat familiar, but some felt it lacked the ass-kicking drive of their preferred style. On the other hand, some Dubstep-DJs that I talked to complained that it was more or less the same as Dubstep, just a little faster.
I can understand those positions, but I decided to look at it from another way: With a tempo around 87 BPM, Drumstep should both mix with many HipHop tracks as well as Drum&Bass (if you count it as half-time).
This actually gives me a lot of flexibility as a DJ: I can mix different styles and thereby create a very dynamic set without having to change the global tempo.
As a result, this didn’t become a pure Drumstep set, but a short mix of many styles: Starting off with some remixed HipHop, we then come to a true banger by Tantrum Desire.
The two Aphrodite tracks after that are actually a bit older, but they nicely show how two different tempos can peacefully co-exist in one track – either in different parts (“Sometimes”) or layered (“Hoochie”).
“Lose Yourself” by Eminem is a classic HipHop track that simply had the kind of energy that I wanted here.
The mix ends with a funny little monster called “Panic Attack” that manages to alternate between melody and bassline attacks nicely.
All in all, I have to say that Drumstep seems to offer some interesting possibilities. I’ll certainly keep my eyes open for more. Suggestions are welcome!
Tracklist:
- Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – Boom Shake The Room (Kanji Kinetic Remix)
- DJ Zebra – Killing Boombastic
- Tantrum Desire ft. Youngman – Chill
- Aphrodite feat. Beverly Knight – Sometimes (Motion & Remedy Remix)
- Aphrodite feat. Schoolly D – Hoochie
- Eminem – Lose Yourself
- Diesel – Panic Attack
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexanderbohn/3308366016/ // CC-by-nc-nd
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