History of Dubstep (Part1)

1999–2002: origins

The sound of dubstep originally came out of productions by El-B,^[8] Steve Gurley,^[8] Oris Jay,^[12] and Zed Bias^[24][25] in 1999–2000. Ammunition Promotions, who run the influential club Forward>> and have managed many proto dubstep record labels (including Tempa, Soulja, Road, Vehicle, Shelflife, Texture, Lifestyle and Bingo),^[6][12] began to use the term "dubstep" to describe this style of music in around 2002. The term's use in a 2002 XLR8R cover story (featuring Horsepower Productions on the cover) contributed to it becoming established as the name of the genre.^[24][26]

The club Forward>> was originally held at the Velvet Rooms in London's Soho and is now running every Thursday at Plastic People in Shoreditch, east London.^[10] Founded in 2001, Forward>> was critical to the development of dubstep, providing the first venue devoted to the sound and an environment in which dubstep producers could premier new music.^[27] Around this time, Forward>> was also incubating several other strains of dark garage hybrids, so much so that in the early days of the club the coming together of these strains was referred to as the "Forward>> sound".^[28] An online flyer from around this time encapsulated the Forward>> sound as "b-lines to make your chest cavity shudder."^[29]

Forward>> also ran a radio show on east London pirate station Rinse FM, hosted by Kode9.^[30] The original Forward>> line ups included Hatcha, Youngsta, Kode9, Zed Bias, Oris Jay,^[12] Slaughter Mob, Jay Da Flex, Slimzee and others, plus regular guests. The line up of residents has changed over the years to include Youngsta, Hatcha, Geeneus andPlastician, with Crazy D as MC/host. Producers including D1, Skream and Benga make regular appearances.^[27]

Another crucial element in the early development of dubstep was the Big Apple Records record shop in Croydon.^[6] Key artists such as Hatcha and later Skream worked in the shop (which initially sold early UK Hardcore / Rave, Techno and House and later, garage and drum and bass, but evolved with the emerging dubstep scene in the area),^[8] while Digital Mystikz were frequent visitors. El-B, Zed Bias,Horsepower Productions, Plastician, N Type, Walsh and a young Loefah regularly visited the shop as well.^[6] The shop and its record label have since closed down^[24].