Drum & Bass / Jungle
This family is fast breakbeat music built on chopped funk breaks, heavy sub-bass, rave tension, and sound-system physicality. Depending on the branch it can be junglist and chaotic, liquid and soulful, neurotic and dystopian, or pop-facing and shiny, but the speed and bass pressure remain the common language.
History
Jungle emerged in the UK from rave, reggae sound-system culture, breakbeat hardcore, and Black British club innovation, then splintered into drum & bass’s many sub-styles through labels such as Metalheadz, Moving Shadow, RAM, Hospital, Virus, and countless pirate-radio networks. The family has repeatedly renewed itself—from jungle to techstep to liquid to neurofunk to dancefloor and jungle revival—without ever losing its breakbeat backbone.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Beatport’s Definitive History of Drum & Bass
- Bandcamp Daily’s jungle guide
- Insomniac’s DnB subgenre guide.