More old UKG/Grime.

Just felt like watching some of these classics. Most of it still sounds fresh today!

Platinum 45 feat. More Fire Crew.: OI! Is this the song that gave us OHOI!? According to a recent interview, it just might be. This is one of the first songs where it becomes very clear that something is happening with UKG. This is way more aggressive than your usual MJ Cole/Artful Dodger fare, the 2-step rythms have been thoroughly mangled and the bassline cuts through everything. Notice Lethal B, who would later go solo...

...with the even more aggressive POW! (Forward Riddim). This is of course the song that allegedly was banned from a large number of venues across the UK for causing fights wherever it was played. Still a good tune though.

Pay As U Go Cartel: Champagne Dance. A rare chance to see Wiley before he splintered off from the UKG scene, started Roll Deep and his solo career. He was on point back then already.

Wiley: Wot U Call It? asked the question on everybody's lips back then. Rephlex Records brought out the 2 Grime compilations, which were basically mostly dubstep, Wiley was trying to convince people it was called eski beat, and other people were talking about dark garage, breakstep, UKG, etc. Eventually grime stuck.

Sticky ft. Ms. Dynamite: Booo! This was just a massive anthem. Shame that Dynamite rarely flexes her toasting skills. Paved the way for Lady Sov, Shystie, No Lay, M.I.A. and a bunch of others.

So Solid Crew: 21 Seconds. Arguably the track that started it all by decidedly shifting the focus from the DJ/producer to the MC's. The Wu-tang of UKG that imploded in a flurry of violence allegations, halfbaked solo albums and the slow rise of dubstep and grime.

OMGWTFBBQ!!!!1111

Speaking of 2-step, here's a brand new mix by three of the most important pioneers of dubstep.

J-Da Flex was the man who first introduced me and many, many others to this world of bass through his weekly radioshow on BBC 1Xtra, which we followed almost religiously, nitpicking tracklists afterwards. OHOI! had him over for a party in 2003 or 2004, I forget, and it was just mental to have this hero of ours play to about 100-200 people in Basement next to Vega. For a while he drifted out of the scene, but has returned recently with his old partner: El-B. Together they ran the Ghost record label, which released some of the proto-dubstep stuff, a lot of it with El-B on production. El-B wandered off for a while too, but came back about the same time as J-Da. Hatcha hopefully needs no introduction. Let's just say that he was a massive influence on Benga & Skream and is still widely regarded as one of the very best DJ's in the genre. To have all three of them at once with good ol' Crazy D over the top is just too good. I haven't even listened to all of it and I'm just gushing. If this doesn't get you going, you're doing it wrong.

Get the goods here courtesy of Get Darker, which is a treasure trove of mixes and info, by the way.

Your chest!