2 Mixes

90s Breakbeat Hardcore

Hardcore

I started going to a club in London called Buzbies on Shaftesbury Avenue around 1991. In the main room the big name DJs predominantly who played US house whilst upstairs in the back room they let enthusiastic local DJs play, mainly for free. The DJ’s who played up there were dropping a new and raw London sound, It was a mashup of House and Hip Hop called Breakbeat House, later known as Hardcore.

Given my love of both Hip Hop and House, this sonic fusion instantly captured my imagination and I began a quest all over London to hoover up Breakbeat House tunes. I soon had a set, and managed to blag some sets at Buzbies. I called myself DJ Chops at that time, and together with my Neighbour, Elvis (EMC) we began to play more and more nights in and around London.

We soon bagged a residency at the Buzz Club at the Tudor Rose in Southhall, playing alongside Micky Fin, Nicky Blackmarket, and the Rat Pack to name just a few. There I performed a mix with the Housecrew’s ‘Got to Keep the Fires Burning’ and Desmond Dekker Israelites.

We later went on to record this mix and released it on Sony’s Phase Two label, roughly around the same time as SL2’s ‘On A Ragga Tip’. Both our records would herald the dawn of a new sub-genre, called jungle (Reggae infused Hardcore), which eventually morphed into Drum & Bass.

Related Albums