Hardstep is a subgenre of

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

which emerged in the mid-1990s. It is characterized by a gritty production style that consists of an inner-city feel. The breaks are less choppy than oldschool jungle, and have faster and harder simple electronic melodies. One characteristic is an accentuated, and yet sparse percussive beat. The

genre Genre () is any style or form 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 fo ...

found favor with junglists, and though it has been overtaken in popularity by techstep, the fans of the style still remain. Early hardstep

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

include DJ Hype, and

DJ Zinc Benjamin Pettit (born 12 March 1972), known professionally as DJ Zinc, is a British DJ and record producer. Zinc first became known for 1995's "Super Sharp Shooter", a hip hop music, hip hop/jungle music, jungle fusion, notably one of the pione ...

References

Drum and bass genres English styles of music {{DnB-stub