Various DJs - The World Of Drum And Bass - Russia - Feb 2005 - Video

Biography of Various DJs

Dj SS
BIOGRAPHY
DJ SS played an important role in the early-'90s development of drum'n'bass, releasing a number of formative tracks beginning in 1990 on his co-owned Formation label before returning in the mid-'90s with a plethora of productions after a brief sabbatical. Born Leroy Small in Leicester, England, SS's involvement in the drum'n'bass scene predates its development, back in the days of hardcore. In the early '90s when hardcore began to morph into what would become known as drum'n'bass, he released a series of influential tracks on Formation, including 'Breakbeat Pressure,' one of the style's early classics. However, once drum'n'bass traded its hardcore roots for a more ragga-inflected sound around 1993, SS retired from production, not being interested in the ragga sound. He focused his efforts during this period on other labels that he ran. He returned to drum'n'bass a few years later, though, in a big way. Throughout the late '90s he released several records on different labels under a number of monikers (Keen, Tekniq), becoming one of the more recognized producers in the U.K. drum'n'bass scene. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
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[/B]Dj Hype[/B]
BIOGRAPHY
Although his Ganja Records label and tracks released under his own name and with the Ganja Kru have helped, it's the 'DJ' at the front of Hype's name that has proved most important in raising his profile to the level of the Grooverider's, Goldie's, and LTJ Bukem's of Drum'n'Bass. A battle DJ of renown (he represented England in the 1989 DMCs), Hype had a history of electrifying deckwork before moving on from his reggae and hip-hop roots in the late '80s and latching onto house and hardcore. He was an early force on one of London's most influential pirate stations, Fantasy FM, and since then he's consistently topped bills on the international DJ circuit, landing awards for Best Male DJ and Best Radio DJ (in 1994 and 1995, respectively) at the U.K.'s prestigious Hardcore Awards. He's also one of London's popular Kiss FM's biggest attractions and was the force behind Suburban Base's popular multi-volumed mixed compilation series, Drum and Bass Selection. A champion of jungle's dancefloor purity, Hype has also rallied consistently against jungle's compartmentalization into artificial 'scenes' such as ambient/intelligent and hip-hop/ragga. (Of course, his sets tend to consist almost exclusively of the latter, which somewhat undermines his argument.)
Hype began producing in 1990, engineering and co-producing tracks (including chart-toppers such as 'Exorcist' and 'The Bee') for hardcore staples Kickin', Strictly Underground, and Sub Base. Although he never lost touch with his breakbeat roots (even going so far as to spin hip-hop instrumentals over house tracks to add a bit of rhythmic flare), it wasn't until he launched his own Ganja label in 1994 (with 'Cops') that he began seriously focusing on the post-rave possibilities of sampled breaks. The Ganja label's almost immediate popularity -- primarily through floor-fillers such as DJ Krome & Time's 'Ganja Man' and DJ Zinc's penultimate 1995 anthem 'Super Sharp Shooter' -- peaked in late 1995 with Still Smokin', a combined-release label compilation between Ganja and cohort Pascal's Frontline imprint, which became one of the highest-selling independent jungle compilations. Re-pressed in 1997, that success also led to a major label deal with MCA's Parousia sublabel and the establishment of True Playaz Music, a Hype-led DJ and production unit also including Zinc, Pascal, and Rude Bwoy Monty. True Playaz the label has also come to the fore as one of the more consistent outlets for innovative hardstep, a style that all but disappeared during the jump-up- and techstep-dominated mid-'90s.
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Technical Itch
BIOGRAPHY
Bristol-based duo Technical Itch make leading-edge progressive drum'n'bass, incorporating the moodier elements of jump-up and techstep with a nod toward drum-twisting junglists such as Dom & Roland and the Penny Black label. Although Technical Itch's Darren Beale and Mark Caro (the latter originally of Birmingham) have deepest roots in the late-'80s hardcore breakbeat scene, their material both apart and together has tended toward the darkside, combining dense, unsetting atmospherics with complex, bruising drum patterns and deep subbass groans. The pair's most-used recording moniker derives (as does their home-run label) from their Bristol-based Tech Itch recording studio, but Caro and Beale have also recorded as Kutta (for Rough Tone), Decoder (for Tech Itch, Back2Basics, and Ruffneck Ting), T.I.C. (for Back2Basics), and Alpha Proxima (for Au Toi). The pair's earliest tracks came toward the peak end of the U.K. hardcore scene; both Beale and Caro were noted DJs, with Beale's recorded work as Orca adding to his notoriety. Introduced by a mutual friend, they released their first record together as Plasmic Life on Bizzy B's Brain Records, and by the early '90s were moving away from the conventions of hardcore, following breakbeat into the less static realms of darkside and hardstep jungle. Still only a part-time collaboration, the pair's partnership deepened after Omni Trio's Rob Haigh heard a Tech Itch track on Kenny Ken's Kiss FM show, leading to their signing with Haigh's home-base Moving Shadow in 1996. The pair produced a number of singles as Technical Itch for the label that same year, with scores of tracks as Decoder and T.I.C. continuing to appear on their own and other labels, marking the pair as one of the more prolific (and increasingly influential) of the new crop. Though a Decoder full-length was first out of the gate in late 1998, Tech Itch's Diagnostics followed in 1999 on Moving Shadow. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
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Killa Kela
BIOGRAPHY
Killa Kela is a well-known British beatboxer. His trademark sound incorporates drum & bass stylings, very realistic vocal scratching, and 'samples' of popular songs, which he verbally imitates.
He has collaborated and appeared with artists such as Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake, DJ Vadim , Busta Rhymes, Stereo MCs and Normski . His debut album The Permanent Marker (Jazz Fudge ) also features Akrobatik , Fallacy , and Mark Hype .
His most recent work incorporates The Elysian Quartet on strings, backing vocalists Rookwood and MC Trip , DJ Skeletrik and his producer Spider on keys and vocals. Kela's crew extends to multimedia with Mark SPLINTER creating his artwork and video, and the whole crew are known as Spit Kingdom .
He signed to BMG in 2004 and an album is due in 2005.