About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2011)
% « % « 1 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 . \ - V 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! Bh -H !< r.l is * it i us wfH’h you lOf.niV'* n room on I tkM ly < >i m itgrdvjy < il (J( 'A’\ I \< >\< -I < il ThcM k■* Hi mo ( * -f it' -i ' )ff<ii • j< .< i it if >ugh Jun© 30. 2012. Not y<ilk J < >rirh i gr<x ft n ih< »i i un« l l ioiii<-1< >ntlxil! Qdmo wookondv . j- UGAHOTEL.COM -W-_- THE GEORGIA CENTER I Ml UMIVI I'M! . < »l I •»« it** -I A \ i i Mjl I HI HI I < I Mil U \ MU Hi NOVEMBER 2, 2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 17
