From the Annex

Sunday, August 26, 2012

RANDOMNESS: Ragga Jungle is a hard sound to love...

"I could knock out seventeen million jungle tracks a week just by getting all my old reggae seven inches and sticking them over an Amen break. I think people are more intelligent then that. I think people have got a lot more to offer." - L.T.J. Bukem

I've been reading the State of Bass, Jungle: The Story So Far, for the last few weeks. Learning more about the history behind the music I play. Its been very enlightening to me read about the contempt and internal issues brewing in the early years of the scene.

One part in particular is very interesting to me, that's the fall out between the Ragga MCs and the Jungle DJs. I've always gathered that something was amiss when I would get the cold shoulder in the UK record stores looking for "Ragga Jungle". (Over the years I will admit that I've got less and less of the cold shoulder), However now knowing about the "Committee" it totally makes sense.

Over the pond in Midwest America (where I'm from), their was little to no news coverage about this topic in 1997. Yes it was before the internet was really popular and before google was a verb.

So any education I got about Jungle music came from bootleg tapes of pirate radio shows from the UK my friends would send to me (or from my regional Jungle DJs). A lot of those tapers were of DJ Hype, who tracks resonated with my love for reggae and ska music. When "Incredible" got radio play on my college radio station my freshman year, I went mental. But now hearing about how he portrayed himself with in the Jungle scene letting the fame get to his head...its no real surprised that he was black listed by the Committee.

I do find it amusing that the UK Jungle scene had a committee, but I can also understand where it came from. Here is this idea that a community has grown and cultivated and then someone else comes in and perverts that original idea. yea I can see where it came from, was it the right idea. Who knows its not for me to judge.

I would love to hear a follow up with players in the Jungle / Drum & Bass community now as ragga jungle is enjoying a bit of a renascence right now.

Back to encoding new tracks.
-The Librarian