Jungle music


Jungle is a music genre that developed out of the UK rave scene and reggae sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterized by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesized effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Jungle was a predecessor to drum and bass, which saw success in the late 1990s.

Origin

The breakbeat hardcore scene of the early 1990s was beginning to fragment by 1992/1993, with different influences becoming less common together in tracks. The piano and uplifting vocal style that was prevalent in breakbeat hardcore started to lay down the foundations of 4-beat/happy hardcore, whilst tracks with dark-themed samples and industrial style stabs had emerged from late 1992 and named darkcore. Reggae samples and reggae influenced tracks had been a feature of many breakbeat hardcore tracks since 1990 particularly from producers such as Shut Up and Dance, however Ibiza Records, and the Rebel MC were arguably the first to bring the sound system influence solidly into releases. The track We Are I.E. by Lennie De-Ice is often credited as being the track that layed down the foundations for jungle with its ragga bassline.
During 1992 and 1993, the phrases jungle techno and hardcore jungle proliferated to describe that shift of the music from breakbeat hardcore to jungle. The sound was championed at clubs such as A.W.O.L., Roast, and Telepathy, by DJs such as DJ Ron, DJ Hype, Mickey Finn, DJ Dextrous, and Kenny Ken, record labels Moving Shadow, V Recordings, Suburban Base, and Renk, and on pirate radio stations such as Kool FM but also Don FM, Rush, and Rude FM.
Tracks would span breakbeat styles, particularly with darkcore, with notable releases including Darkage by DJ Solo, Valley of the Shadows by Origin Unknown, Set Me Free by Potential Bad Boy, 28 Gun Bad Boy by A Guy Called Gerald, Crackman by DJ Ron, A London Sumtin by Code 071, Learning From My Brother by Family of Intelligence, Lion of Judah by X Project, and Be Free by Noise Factory.
Techniques and styles could be traced to such a vast group of influencers, each adding their own little elements. According to Simon Reynolds, jungle was like: "Britain’s very own equivalent to US hip-hop. That said, you could equally make the case that jungle is a raved-up, digitized offshoot of Jamaican reggae. Musically, Jungle’s spatialized production, bass quake pressure and battery of extreme sonic effects, make it a sort of postmodern dub on steroids." This is an example of the effects of the sonic diaspora and the wide influence musical genres have; Jungle is where these different Black Atlantic genres converge. Reynolds noted the audience of the genre evolved alongside the music itself; going from a "sweaty, shirtless white teenager, grinning and gurning" to a "head nodding, stylishly dressed black twenty something with hooded-eyes, holding a spliff in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other." Jungle also served as "a site for a battle between contesting notions of blackness".

Etymology

The origin of the word jungle is one of discussion. Rebel MC is often noted for having popularised the term, and in the book Energy Flash, MC Navigator is quoted as attributing the word to him. Others such as MC Five-O attribute it to MC Moose, whilst Rob Playford attributes it to MC Mad P. Some thought of this term as empowering, an assertion of the blackness of the music and its subculture, inverting the racist history of the term "jungle music".

Sociocultural context

Jungle was a form of cultural expression for London's lower class urban youth. The post-Thatcherite United Kingdom of the early 1990s had left many young people disenfranchised and disillusioned with a seemingly crumbling societal structure. Jungle reflected these feelings; it was a notably more dark, less euphoric style of music than many of the other styles popular at raves. The music was much more popular with black British youths than other rave styles, such as techno, even though it was heavily influenced by these other rave styles, including those that emerged from the United States. Jungle was also seen as "England's answer to hip-hop", with the goal of breaking down racial boundaries and promoting unification through its multiculturalism—drawing from different cultures and attracting mixed crowds at raves. Jungle's rhythm-as-melody style overturned the dominance of melody-over-rhythm in the hierarchy of Western music, adding to its radical nature.
Characterized by the breakbeats and multi-tiered rhythms, Jungle drew support from British b-boys who got swept up into the rave scene, but also from reggae, dancehall, electro and rap fans alike. Reynolds described it as causing fear and “for many ravers, too funky to dance” yet the club scene enjoyed every second.

Rise and popularity

Jungle reached the peak of its popularity in 1994/1995. At this stage, the genre was spawning a number of UK Top 40 hits most notably Incredible by M-Beat featuring General Levy, and spawned a series of CD compilations such as Jungle Mania and Jungle Hits. A controversy raged over the success of Incredible when Levy reportedly made comments in the media that he was "running jungle at the moment". Although Levy always argued that his comments were misinterpreted, this did not fail to stop a boycott of the single amongst a group of DJs that were dubbed as the "Jungle Committee". Labels such Ibiza, 3rd Party and Kemet were prolific in their releases.
Having previously been confined to pirate radio, legal stations woke up to jungle from 1994. London's Kiss 100 launched its Givin' It Up show in early 1994 and featured DJs such as Kenny Ken, Jumpin Jack Frost, DJ Rap, and Mickey Finn. A year later, the UK's nationwide broadcaster BBC Radio 1 finally gave jungle a platform on its One In The Jungle weekly show.
Major labels such Sony and BMG were signing deals with artists including A Guy Called Gerald, Kemet, and DJ Ron. Of these, Roni Size and 4hero would achieve wider commercial success as drum and bass artists, but continue to release more underground jungle tracks - the latter adopting the alias "Tom & Jerry" to continue to release rare groove sampling dancefloor-oriented jungle. The underground classic Burial by Leviticus would see a major release on FFRR Records. Ragga jungle would become a major subgenre during 1994 and 1995, with Original Gangster / Nuttah by Shy FX, Sound Murderer / RIP by Remarc, Limb By Limb by Hitman featuring Cutty Ranks, and Code Red / Champion DJ by Conquering Lion. In 1995, 'jump-up' would also become a popular subgenre, borrowing from hip hop, and divided opinion.
Jungle music, as a scene, was unable to decide whether it wanted to be recognized in the mainstream or if it wanted to avoid misrepresentation. This manifested in the cooperation of jungle artists and small record labels. Small record labels work to provide more autonomy to the music artists in return for their business and jungle music was proliferated by pirate stations in underground networks and clubs. Whilst the media would in part feed of jungle music success, it also perpetuated negative stereotypes about the scene as being violent.
1996 and 1997 saw a less reggae influenced sound and a darker, grittier, and more sinister soundscape. Hip-hop and jazz influenced tracks dominated the clubs in this period. Dillinja, Roni Size, Die, Hype, Zinc, Alex Reece and Krust were instrumental in the transition of the jungle sound to drum and bass. By the end of 1998, the genre's sound had changed forms significantly from that heard earlier in the decade.

Notable releases

Notable releases include: Burial by Leviticus, Dangerous by DJ Ron, Lover to Lover / Maximum Style by Tom & Jerry, Original Nuttah by Shy FX, All The Crew Big Up by Roni Size & DJ Die, Incredible / Sweet Love by M-Beat, Super Sharp Shooter by DJ Zinc, Sovereign Melody / Lion Heart by Dillinja, Everyman by Kenny Ken, The Victory / Lovable by DJ Dextrous, Bad Ass by Aphrodite, The Lighter by DJ SS, and Tiger Style by DJ Hype.

Crossover with drum and bass

The term "jungle" is often used as a synonym for drum and bass, particularly in the United States. More commonly, jungle is viewed as the originating point for drum and bass, with the progressive changes brought by artists in the late 1990s serving as the point of diversion.

Re-emergent jungle scene

A thriving underground movement producing and developing tracks in the style of the 1990s and some original jungle producers have noticed this new enthusiasm for the original sound. Shy FX, for example, launched the Digital Soundboy label in 2005 to put out more jungle.
The ragga-jungle revival of 2001 in the US saw many new names emerge to carry the torch. Krinjah, RCola, and Chopstick Dubplate pushed things forward with junglized remixes of classic reggae tunes often produced with re-voicing done by the original singers. Canadian imprint JungleXpeditions features songs with the structure and production values of modern drum & bass mixed with ragga vocals, including reggae and oldskool elements from an international roster of nu-skool producers. In the UK, artists such as Tim Reaper and Sully have also released new jungle material.
In 2018, Chase & Status evoked the raw roots of jungle past in their new album RTRN II JUNGLE.