Deekline is a British producer and DJ of dance, breakbeat, breakstep and garage music. He is the innovator of breakstep music which is bass-heavy, breakbeat-infused 2-step, first characterised in his 1999 hit "I Don't Smoke", which reached No. 11 on the UK charts. He is the owner of Rat Records, which has released material of such artists as DJ Fresh, Jack Beats, Stanton Warriors, Wiley, Skinny Man, Rennie Pilgrem, House Breakers and Freq Nasty. Annand has also had notable collaborations with British electronic music producers Ed Solo and Wizard. In 2011, he opened up his online clothing store, Bass Boutique.
Biography
Deekline began collecting records at the age of 10, inspired by early funk, electro and hip-hop scratch DJs. He began playing house parties and raves in the London underground electronic music scene before getting involved with pirate radio, first DJing drum and bass on Don FM with his longtime MC, Hyperactive.
Deekline became owner of London's biggest pirate radio station Flex FM which predominantly played UK garage music and other underground electronic music. In 1999, he set up Rat Records to release his track "I Don't Smoke". It sold 20,000 copies on Rat Records, and then it went on to sell another 150,000, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The bass-heavy, breakbeat-infused garage sound characterised on "I Don't Smoke" became known as breakstep. The song features a sample of comedian Marcus Brigstocke from the sketch showBarking, repeating the title phrase "I don't smoke the reefer" in a faux Rasta accent. Brigstocke is sampled on "I Don't Smoke" as saying, "I don't smoke cigarettes, I don't smoke cigars, I don't smoke a pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe..." followed by "I don't smoke the reefer!". He talked about it on the Graham Norton Show in 2010, where he explained that he was impersonating Jim Davidson's character Chalkie White for a sketch show, and that it was sampled into the track. Brigstocke said he was "delighted and mortified at the same time" when he heard the sample. The song also samples the guitar riff from the 1997 Skeewiff track "The Thin Line". Breakstep and "I Don't Smoke" were seminal in shaping the underground electronic music scene in London, paving the way for grime and dubstep. Deekline retired from Flex FM in 2002 to focus on his own music after "I Don't Smoke" was signed by East West Records.
2002–present
Deekline has remixed and collaborated with a variety of notable producers and has had international chart success with songs such as "The Mexican" with producer Tim Healey and "Shake the Pressure" with Florida booty bass pioneers Splack Pack. In addition to this, his collaborative projects with producer 'Wizard' on Deekline & Wizard's Breaks, Beats and Blondes and with Ed Solo on his Jungle Cakes EPs have received international success. He also collaborated with such artists as Luke from 2 Live Crew, Splack Pack, DJ Assault, DJ Fresh, Tim Healey, Stanton Warriors, Freestylers and Krafty Kuts. In 2009, Deekline founded the label Jungle Cakes with Ed Solo, a sublabel of Hot Cakes and one of the biggest-selling jungle labels to date; it cleared and signed Dawn Penn's "No No No" which was championed by Kissy Sell Out on Radio One, as well as Giant Pussy Records with Tim Healey. Deekline reworked "I Don't Smoke" in 2014 alongside trap producers Specimen A and added a new rap by Majestic, titled as "Don't Smoke 2014".
