Breakbeat hardcore

This article is about the UK 1990s rave genre. For the later European genre, see Breakcore.

Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave, oldskool hardcore or simply hardcore) is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled 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 and Belgian techno, sounds from acid house and bleep techno, and often upbeat house piano riffs and vocals.^[1]

Breakbeat hardcore
Stylistic origins	Breakbeat house new beat Belgian techno acid house hip hop hip house
Cultural origins	Late 1980s – early 1990s, United Kingdom
Derivative forms	Darkcore jungle drum and bass 4-beat happy hardcore big beat

History

Early 1990s: origins

Main article: Rave

Fantazia Summertime rave, May 1992

The rave scene expanded rapidly in the early 1990s, both at clubs up and down the country including Labrynth, Shelley's Laserdome, The Eclipse, and Sanctuary Music Arena, and large raves in Warehouses 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 sound systems such as Spiral Tribe. Breakbeat hardcore drew its melting pot of sound from a vast array of influences – from new beat and Belgian techno that had for a short period been prominent in the UK rave scene, to house and acid house, and furthermore drawing on hip hop and reggae culture.^[2]

Amongst the influences from within the rave scene itself upon which this strain of hardcore drew were such acts as Manix, The Hypnotist, CJ Bolland with his "Ravesignal" series, and T99.^[3] From outside of the rave scene, the sped-up breakbeats of Britcore acts like Hardnoise, MC Duke, Demon Boyz, and Hijack were highly influential. Members of the Britcore and UK hip hop scene quickly moved into hardcore themselves, like MC Duke and Leader One, The Criminal Minds, and Liam Howlett of Cut 2 Kill (who would go on to form the Prodigy). Pioneering the fusion of sounds from acid house, hip hop, and reggae were late '80s UK hip house veterans like Double Trouble, Rebel MC, Blapps Posse, and Shut Up and Dance, becoming pivotal contributors to hardcore and its derivative genres like jungle.^[4]

The huge increase in producers was also driven by the increasing availability of cheap home computer-based studio setups, particularly Cubase for the Atari ST.^[5]

Notable releases

Notable releases include "Baptised by Dub" by The Criminal Minds (White House, 1992), "Be Free" by Noise Factory (Ibiza, 1992), "Everybody in the Place" and "Experience" by The Prodigy (XL Recordings, 1991), "Trip II the Moon" by Acen (Production House Records, 1992), "Cookin Up Yah Brain" by 4hero (Reinforced Records, 1992), "On a Ragga Tip" by SL2 (XL Recordings, 1992), "Far Out" by Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era (Suburban Base, 1991), "Full On... Mask Hysteria" by Altern-8 (Network Records, 1991), "Frequency" by Shades of Rhythm (ZTT Records, 1991), "Hurt You So" by Jonny L (Yoyo, 1992), "I Want You (Forever)" by Carl Cox (Perfecto Records, 1991), "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" by Baby D (Production House, 1992), "Mohamed's Mind" by 2 Kilos (Radioactive Lamb, 1990), "Music Takes You" by Blame (Moving Shadow, 1991), "Some Justice" by Urban Shakedown (Urban Shakedown, 1992), "Spliffhead" by Ragga Twins (SUAD Records, 1991), "Sweet Harmony" by Liquid (XL Recordings, 1992), "The Bouncer" by Kicks Like a Mule (Tribal Base, 1992), "Raving I'm Raving" by Shut Up and Dance (SUAD Records, 1992), "The Wickedest Sound" by Rebel MC (Desire, 1991), "Bombscare" by 2 Bad Mice (Moving Shadow, 1992), and "We Are I.E." by Lennie De Ice (Reel 2 Reel, 1991).^[6]

Mid-1990s: fragmentation

By late 1992, breakbeat hardcore started to fragment into a number of subsequent genres: darkcore (piano rolls giving way to dark-themed samples and stabs), hardcore jungle (where reggae basslines and samples became prominent), and happy hardcore (retaining piano rolls and more uplifting vocals).^[7]

2000s: revival

In the 2000s, the style experienced a revival as part of the nu-rave scene in hardcore breaks. Hardcore breaks is inspired by the sound and characteristics of breakbeat hardcore, while being fused with modern production techniques that distinguish the genre from the classic hardcore breakbeat sound.^[8] 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 and happy hardcore split using new production techniques and technology, its appeal has now expanded to include artists from the original breakbeat hardcore scene creating new productions.^[9] 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 events.

See also

• Darkcore
• Jungle
• Happy hardcore