Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a

music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from '' musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are som ...

of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines

four-on-the-floor Four-on-the-floor (or four-to-the-floor) is a rhythm pattern used primarily in dance genres such as disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat (1, 2, 3, 4)." ...

rhythms with

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and ...

s usually

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

from hip hop. In addition to the inclusion of breakbeats, the genre also features shuffled drum machine patterns, hoover, and other noises originating from

new beat New beat is a Belgian electronic dance music genre that fuses elements of new wave, hi-NRG,Simon Reynolds: ''Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture.'' Routledge 1999, , p. 124. EBM and hip hop (e.g. scratching).Tim ...

, sounds from

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthes ...

and bleep techno, and often upbeat

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air ...

piano riffs and vocals.

History

Early 1990s: origins

The rave scene expanded rapidly in the very early 1990s, both at clubs up and down the country including Labrynth,

Shelley's Laserdome Shelley's Laserdome was a night club in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was at the heart of the house and rave scene in the early 1990s, helping to launch the career of DJ Sasha and featuring regular appearances from Carl ...

, The Eclipse, and Sanctuary Music Arena, and large raves in

Warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...

s and in the open air attracting 20–50,000 whether put on legally from promoters such as Fantazia and Raindance, or unlicensed by

free party A free party is a party "free" from the restrictions of the legal club scene, similar to the Free festival, free festival movement. It typically involves a Sound system (DJ)#Free party, sound system playing electronic dance music from late at ...

sound systems In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...

such as

Spiral Tribe Spiral Tribe is an arts collective and free party sound system formed in 1990. It organised free parties, festivals and raves in the UK and later Europe in the 1990s. Spiral Tribe was involved in the Castlemorton Common Festival and members ...

. Breakbeat hardcore drew its melting pot of sound from a vast array of influences – from

and Belgian techno that had for a short period been prominent in the UK rave scene, to

and

, and furthermore drawing on hip hop and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...

culture.

Mid-1990s: fragmentation

By late 1992, breakbeat hardcore started to fragment into a number of subsequent

genres Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

darkcore Darkcore (also referred to as darkside hardcore) is a genre of electronic dance music, considered to be a subgenre of breakbeat hardcore, which came out from the UK rave scene of the early 1990s; this genre in particular emerged from late 19 ...

(piano rolls giving way to dark-themed samples and stabs), hardcore jungle (where reggae basslines and samples became prominent), and

happy hardcore Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or " hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990 ...

(retaining piano rolls and more uplifting vocals).

2000s: revival

In the 2000s, the style experienced a revival as part of the nu-rave scene. Hardcore breaks is a style of breakbeat hardcore that appeared in early-to-mid 2000s as part of growing nu-rave scene. The style is inspired by the sound and characteristics of old school breakbeat, while being fused with modern production techniques that distinguish the genre from the classic hardcore breakbeat sound. The music is composed of looped, edited and processed breakbeat samples, intense bassline sounds, melodic piano lines, staccato synthesizer riffs, and various vocal samples (mostly taken from old house records). The speed of this genre typically fell between the range of 145–155 bpm, while the speed may variate on live sets. Originally being produced by a small group of artists with the vision of carrying on where oldskool hardcore left off before the

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

and

split using new production techniques and technology, its appeal has now expanded to include artists from the original breakbeat hardcore scene creating new productions. By the late 2000s, hardcore breaks tend to be produced and played at a bit faster tempos, often between 160–180 bpm. Therefore, it is often played at UK hardcore, freeform hardcore and

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

events.

Notable releases

Notable releases include: * " A Trip to Trumpton" – Urban Hype (Faze 2, 1992) * "Baptised by Dub" –

The Criminal Minds The Criminal Minds are a British hip hop group first formed in Milton Keynes, UK in 1985, who would later have success with breakbeat hardcore music during the peak of the early-mid 1990s UK rave scene. History The Criminal Minds were first f ...

(White House, 1992) * "Be Free" / "Breakage #4" - Noise Factory (Ibiza, 1992) * "

Charly ''Charly'' (marketed and stylized as ''CHAЯLY'') is a 1968 American drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on '' Flowers for Algernon'', a science-fiction short story (1958) and subseq ...

" / "

Everybody in the Place "Everybody in the Place" is the second official single released by the British electronic dance band the Prodigy from their debut album, ''Experience'' (1992). It was released on 23 December 1991 through XL Recordings in the UK. The singl ...

" – The Prodigy (

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six alb ...

, 1992) * "Close Your Eyes" / "

Trip II the Moon "Trip II the Moon" also known as "Trip II the Moon (Part 1)" is a 1992 single by breakbeat hardcore musician Acen Razvi. It went on to become his signature song and only British top 40 single, reaching No. 38 on UK Singles Chart on 8 August 1992 ...

" – Acen (

Production House Records Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a st ...

, 1992) * "Cookin Up Yah Brain" –

4hero 4hero are an electronic music group from Dollis Hill, London, comprising producers Mark "Marc Mac" Clair & Denis "Dego" McFarlane. While the band is often cited as ''4 Hero'' or ''4-Hero'', the name is stylised as ''4hero'' on their albums and ...

( Reinforced Records, 1992) * "Dancehall Dangerous" - Hackney Hardcore (Strictly Underground, 1992) * "DJ's Take Control" / " On a Ragga Tip" – SL2 (XL Recordings, 1992) * "Far Out" – Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era ( Suburban Base, 1991) * "Frequency" / "Infiltrate 202" –

Altern-8 Altern 8 is a British electronic music act, comprising Mark Archer and Chris Peat, until Peat left the group in 1994. Best known in the early 1990s, their trademark was electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to ...

(

Network Records Network Records (formed out of Kool Kat Records) was an independent record label founded in Birmingham, England, in 1988 by Neil Rushton and Dave Barker. It was instrumental in first introducing Detroit techno to a British audience, through its ...

, 1991) * "Help Me" – Sly T & Ollie J (Blackmarket, 1992) * "Homicide" / "Exorcist" / "Frequency" – Shades of Rhythm (

ZTT Records ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by record producer Trevor Horn, Horn's wife and businesswoman Jill Sinclair, and ''NME, New Musical Express'' (NME) journalist Paul Morley. The label's name was also stylised as ZANG TUMB TUUM ...

, 1991) * "Hurt You So" – Jonny L (Yoyo, 1992) * "

I Feel Love "I Feel Love" is a song by American singer and songwriter Donna Summer. Produced and co-written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, it was recorded for Summer's fifth studio album, '' I Remember Yesterday'' (1977). The album concept was to ha ...

" –

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

(Kickin Records, 1992) * " Let Me Be Your Fantasy" – Baby D (Production House, 1992) * "Loves Got to Be Free" - Noise Factory (XL Recordings/Ibiza, 1992) * "Music Takes You" -

Blame Blame is the act of censuring, holding responsible, or making negative statements about an individual or group that their actions or inaction are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible for ...

(

Moving Shadow Moving Shadow is an English breakbeat hardcore, jungle and drum and bass record label which was founded in 1990 by Rob Playford. History The label began in 1990, operating from Playford's Stevenage home. Playford had become a focal point for ...

, 1991) * "NHS (Disco Remix)" –

Doc Scott Scott McIlroy (born 1971, Coventry, England), better known as Doc Scott or Nasty Habits, is a British drum and bass DJ and producer. Biography He originally started to DJ at clubs and raves such as Amnesia House and The Eclipse in 1989/1990, ...

(Absolute 2, 1992) * "

Sesame's Treet "Sesame's Treet" is a 1992 single by the English rave group Smart E's. Although it was a remix of "Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?", the song's title was a pun on "Sesame Street". The song reached 2 on the UK Singles Chart in Ju ...

" – Smart E's (Suburban Base/Atlantic, 1992) * "Some Justice" – Urban Shakedown (Urban Shakedown, 1992) * "Spliffhead" / "Hooligan 69" –

Ragga Twins The Ragga Twins, also known as RTC, are an English ragga and jungle MC duo of Deman Rocker (David Destouche) and Flinty Badman (Trevor Destouche). Originating from Hackney, England, they started out on London's Unity sound system, and are r ...

(SUAD Records, 1991) * "Summers Magic" –

Mark Summers Mark Summers is the English CEO, sound engineer and music producer of Scorccio, a music production company founded in the UK in 1996. A London DJ since 1979, he is a guest lecturer and masterclass presenter on sample replay production, sound ...

(4th & Broadway, 1990) * " Sweet Harmony" –

Liquid A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, an ...

(XL Recordings, 1992) * "Teach Me to Fly" - DJ Trace &

LTJ Bukem Daniel Williamson (born 20 September 1967), better known as LTJ Bukem (), is a British drum and bass musician, producer and DJ. He and his record label Good Looking are most associated with the jazzy, atmospheric side of drum and bass music. ...

(Out of Orbit, 1992) * " The Bouncer" – Kicks Like a Mule (Tribal Base, 1992) * "The Green Man" / "

Raving I'm Raving "Walking in Memphis" is a song composed and originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, for whom it remains his signature song. It received a Song of the Year nomination at the 34th Grammy Awards in 1992, the same year that the ...

" – Shut Up and Dance (SUAD Records, 1992) * "The Wickedest Sound" –

Rebel MC Michael Alec Anthony West (born 27 August 1964 in Islington, London, England), better known as Rebel MC and Congo Natty, is a British jungle producer and toaster. He has also gone by aliases including Conquering Lion, Blackstar, Tribe of Issach ...

(Desire, 1991) * "Waremouse" / " Bombscare" – 2 Bad Mice (Moving Shadow, 1992) * " We Are I.E." – Lennie De Ice (Reel 2 Reel, 1991)

History

Early 1990s: origins

Mid-1990s: fragmentation

2000s: revival

Notable releases

See also

References

Further reading