I was born on the 8th June 1993 and raised in Chapeltown, Leeds, UK which had a notorious reputation at time of being "the hood". I grew up listening to Reggae, Dub, Soul, Funky House, R&B and Hip Hop from my parents who are both black and used to be Rastafarian. When I hit high school I started to branch into my own genres such as UK Garage, Bassline, Grime and then eventually Dubstep. Before Dubstep came around I was heavily influenced by artists such as Dizzee Rascal, Devilman, Dexplicit, Dj Oddz, JME and a lot of underground Leeds groups/MCs/Producers such as LDC, Realist Gang, KG Crew, Korby etc. The list goes on. This resulted in an 8 Mile scenario at my school where we would gather in crowds and someone would beatbox or slam on an instrumental from a Sony Ericsson W800 (those were the days!) and we would just battle each other for laughs and then it emerged into clubs such as Pushers where everybody was chillin, beats was bangin, bud was burnin and bars were blazin! I built up a huge library of music from this period, with thanks to Limewire, and began start producing with help from my cousin. The stuff we were producing was a really unique sound and more of a fusion between all the prior genres but I can't slot in any genre by sound so I went by tempo (it was around 120-140BPM). At the time this was similar to Dexplicit, Dj Oddz and T2 but then came in the Bassline era.
Most people associated Bassline as chav music, but that was when it leaked out of the hood and onto the mainstream (remember T2 - Heartbroken) and by this point was old news to me and to those who knew. I knew T2 personally as he was part of LDC and they used to chill next door to my dads house all the time, anyway thats another story. Bassline was the ultimimately the sound of the youth as most of the big producers were aged like 12 to 25 and my parents along with many others hated it. To me Bassline is like a earlier verison of Dubstep as it started underground, ended up mainstream and eventually died due the evolution of itself. Lets take Burga Boy for example, it started as club banger then died as ringtone (phone speakers never to music justice!). My cousin, who I think is one of the best producers of all time, made some of the greatest bassline i've ever heard and was in the scene from the start to the finish. I stopped listening to Bassline at about 15 and got back into Hip Hop and Grime with the rise of 50 Cent (his old stuff was da shit!) and Skepta, Devilman (Lord of the Mics 2 was EPIC!!!), JME, Flirta D, Chipmunk (he used to be sick, check out Chipmunk - Who are you. The remix is even better!) etc.
This continued until about 15 and a half when I started smokin weed for the first time. I was at this girls party from my school, I was high as hell and the Dj was playing some stuff i've never heard before. After that night I was desperate to find this one tune that was running through my head non-stop, which happened to be J. Majik & Wickaman - Crazy World. To all those that know this is a great DnB tune which I also love. This opened my musical boundaries and I started to explore and embrace other genres such as DnB, Jungle, Dub and even Rock and some Heavy Metal believe it or not.
On my 16th Birthday my mum took me down Subdub for the first time and it was possibly one of the greatest experiences of my life. From the minute I walked in all I could feel was the raw bass pulsating through every inch my body. I was with my cousin (the one who produces - you wouldn't believe the amount of cousins I have!) and when we went into Room 1 it was like a dream come true for both of us. For any of you out there that have had the experience of Subdub or Exodus (when it was at the West Indian Centre) then you know just how immense the bass feels and how the vibes just flow throughout the whole building. Room 1 plays strictly Dub and is hosted by Iration Steppas and they occasionally have a sound clash with another set (thats two huge soundsystems in one room!) and then there's Room 2 which plays a mix of Dubstep and Drum & Bass and is always changing the line-up but Dj Steppa is resident and usually finishes the night. This was the line-up for that particular night...
SUBDUB
SATURDAY 7TH JUNE
ROOM 1: DUB
IRATION STEPPAS SOUND SYSTEM
THE SPIRITUAL STEPPIN' WARRIORS PLAYING DUBZ INNA YEAR 3000 STYLE
MEETS
FROM AMSTERDAM
KING SHILOH SOUND SYSTEM
FEAT BREDDA NEIL, RAS IYIAPO, RED LION & JAH ROOTZ
ROOM 2: DRUM & BASS / DUBSTEP
CASPA
RUSKO
STEPPA
ANT TC1
EXODUS
CENTRAL BEATZ - LD50 B2B DIRTY LE ROY
ANTIX
EARTHPIPE
MC'S TONN PIPER, ANDLAR, SKEEZ & PEAN
SWEET POTATO SOUND SYSTEM & DECOR
LEEDS WEST INDIAN CENTRE, LAYCOCK PLACE, LS7 3JA
DOORS 10PM-5AM...TICKETS £10 + BF FROM TRIBE, JUMBO & CRASH RECORDS
INFO: 01132433414 / 07764208202
...As you can probably guess I was definately a night to remember and from that point onwards started my love for both Dub and Dubstep. The reason I love Subdub so much is because the vibes are always good and its one of the only places where Dubstep is played right next door to it's roots. I attended pretty much every Subdub up until now (because it unfortunately changed venue) but in doing so I became a Dubstep Head
**Edit** I mentioned earlier about my cousin who produces. Put it this way, he's a diamond in the dirt. Trust me.
http://soundcloud.com/m-o-beatz/mo-uk-sound
still need to check out the new venue...
