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Benga: Dubstcp for the Masses
r* en 9 a makes future music. The 25-year-old
^ Croydon, London native makes what most call
dubstep, but what you really hear is the sound
P 1 of bass against junk, pushing entropically
■ against even
the most mundane of fre
quencies. This is to say, in
most Benga songs, bass is
the melody, and sometimes
that's it. Moreover, what you
need to know about Benga,
ne Adegbenga Adejumo, is
that he pioneered the genre
that, along with electro
house, is helping electronic
dance music cross over in the
United States.
One of the first produc
ers heralding the new South
London sound, Benga mixed
grime, 2 step and ragga dub
to make dark, post-garage
hybrids. He was hardly alone,
or exactly the first, but the
minimal, post-apocalyptic
and off-kilter sounds that
Benga was making were
being played and blowing
minds on (influential pirate
radio station) RINSE FM and
at (underground club nights
like) F0RWARD»>, which
together served as a sort
of Cabaret Voltaire for the
burgeoning dub scene. Over
time, this sound would be
called "dubstep," and Benga would emerge as one of its central
characters.
Fast-forward a bit to 2010, and Benga started turning heads
with the announcement of what would be known as Magnetic
Man: a triple collaboration with fellow dub originators Artwork
and Skream. But what really ignited the message boards and
amassed the ire of cognoscenti was the bombshell that the
record would be released on a major label. The hugely success
ful Magnetic Man project, released on Columbia Records, would
be another first for an artist known for them. Becoming the
first dubstep artists to sign a major label contract, Magnetic
Man provided a sign that the underground genre was ready for
its close-up—-ready to make major bucks at major venues to
even more major crowds. Unsurprisingly, Benga is dismissive
about the whole Columbia deal.
"It opened the wave charts, but we never changed what we
were doing, Skream and I. It was still very much an indepen
dent record. We made the music we wanted and had complete
control," Benga says.
It may be hard to imagine now, with Skrillex on the cover of
Spin and with Britney Spears' dubstep breakdown on her old/
new single "Hold It Against Me" on mainstream radio, but just
two years ago, dubstep was more or less an obscure micro
genre mostly unknown to Stateside audiences. After Magnetic
Man, Benga again stirred controversy, this time working with
polarizing "pop star" Katy B, producing much of her Mercury
Prize-nominated debut. The music was good, but the excessive
radio play and chart success gave way to more calls of "selling
out."
This brings us to now. Benga remains at the forefront of the
still-evolving dubstep movement. Finishing a follow-up to the
now classic LP Diary of an Afro-Warrior, slated for April 2012,
Benga is in the United States playing to some of the largest
audiences of his career.
"Honestly, it's the best reaction I've ever seen. It's like a
rock concert. It's mosh music. And then there's so many girls—
beautiful, fit ones—that come out to shows now," Benga says.
Like a proud botanist, Benga appears to simply be happy
that the genre he helped cul
tivate is still growing, and at
an ever-rapid pace. Ask him
about the so-called tension
between arty "post-dubstep"
and the crowd-pleasing rock-
ist tendencies of the pejora
tive "bro-step," and he's
dodgy at best—and disinter
ested at worst.
"There's always another
term," Benga sneers. "Make
whatever you want. Look, in
two years, a lot has changed.
While the U.K. is still very
drug-esque, the music's a lot
harder. And in the U.S., the
music is even more hard."
Looking to the future,
Benga sees a lot of room
for growth and is especially
excited for two newer acts
that have been holding down
the U.K. dub scene as of late.
"Dismantle has the newest
sound. He's like me but dif
ferent. And another group,
Taiki & NuLight, are doing
it, too, pushing their own
style with a good variation of
beats, especially on this new
144 BPM track. It pushes me
to go in new directions, too. I got a new style on the raga-step
tip," Benga says, with a glance to the next level.
Always on the bleeding edge of the avant-garde, it seems
that for Benga, new is always the new black. And lucky for
you, he wants everyone to be in on it.
Christopher Benton
r
- ,v MMBa
WHO: Benga, Herobust, Isness, Trogdor
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WHERE: New Earth Music Halt
WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 2,9 p.rw.
HOW MUCH: $20 (adv.), $22 (door)
Plpl
STAY
Free Breakfast Weekends for your overnight guests at UGA’s Hotel!
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NOVEMBER 2, 2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 17