A form of 20th-century club dance music. It is a fusion of the spartan, extremely low bass lines of dub reggae, the frantic, syncopated snare drum breakbeats of hardcore (themselves originally sampled from American hip hop and electro music) and, on occasion, rapping similar to that found on ragga records. However, it is defined by its rhythmic patterns coupled to an extremely fast tempo of around 160 beats per minute, a third faster than most house music. Jungle originated in the UK in the early 1990s at the Rage club with DJs including Grooverider and Fabio. The predominant rhythms of the original ‘hard jungle’ music were, in turn, the driving influence behind drum ’n’ bass, which on the surface sounds extremely similar. However, drum ’n’ bass is in fact a slightly less frenetic music still using complicated syncopated rhythms, but with a greater reliance on melody and an increased use of non-diatonic chordal washes similar to those found in some ambient techno music. By 1998, drum ’n’ bass had become more popular than jungle, with protagonists like Goldie and Reprazent attaining critical and commercial success with albums (Timeless and New Forms respectively) that crossed into the mainstream and cemented the style as more than just a passing fad.
WILL FULFORD-JONES