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52-444: So Solid Crew are a British UK garage and hip hop collective originating from Battersea , London, which achieved wide success in the early 2000s. The group consisted of many members, the most notable being Asher D (Ashley Walters), Lisa Maffia , Harvey and Romeo . So Solid have been credited for being pioneers in the UK music scene. By turning UK garage from a dancey-genre to one that

104-570: A 'So Solid Kids' show on Delight FM. Before breaking into the mainstream market, So Solid Crew were involved with many pirate radio stations in London, such as Supreme FM and Delight FM. It was at Delight where they made their name, occupying most of the Sunday schedule, the so-called "So Solid Sundays". From around lunchtime until 10 pm, there were shows from different members, where the various So Solid Crew DJs would play 2-step garage tracks. At times,

156-477: A Kind 's " Baby Cakes " which was a number one hit in August 2004. Notable early grime artists around 2001–03 include Ruff Sqwad , More Fire Crew , Dizzee Rascal (who released his debut album Boy in da Corner in 2003), Roll Deep , and Wiley . During this time, there was also a strong division of class in UK garage. In the heyday of garage, the late 1990s, it was a highly aspirational genre. When people went to

208-481: A Manchester-based producer, has been instrumental in this resurgence. His work blends traditional speed garage elements with contemporary sounds, appealing to both longtime fans and new listeners. In April 2020, he released "Pride (Speed Garage Mix)", which showcased his commitment to revitalising the genre. Collaborations have also played a significant role in the genre's revival. In November 2024, Interplanetary Criminal teamed up with Sammy Virji to release "Damager",

260-846: A darker direction called " grime ", now a genre in its own right. During this period, traditional UK garage was pushed back underground amongst the bad publicity emanating from the tougher side of the genre, and publicised violence surrounding members of the So Solid Crew . Nonetheless, several UK garage songs did appear on the charts from 2002 to 2004, including Heartless Crew 's "The Heartless Theme" (#21), Distant Soundz ' version of " Time After Time " (#20), So Solid Crew's "Ride wid Us" (#19) and " Haters " (#8), Ladies First 's version of " I Can't Wait " (#19), Pay As U Go 's " Champagne Dance " (#13), Mr Reds vs DJ Skribble 's " Everybody Come On (Can U Feel It) " (#13), Mis-Teeq 's " B with Me " (#5), Jaimeson 's " True " (#4) and "Take Control" (#16), and 3 of

312-465: A different drum pattern. The most radical change from speed garage to 2-step was the removal of the 2nd and 4th bass kick from each bar. Although tracks with only two kick drum beats to a bar are perceived as being slower than the traditional four-to-the-floor beat, the listener's interest is maintained by the introduction of syncopating bass lines and the percussive use of other instruments such as pads and strings. Speed garage tracks were characterised by

364-467: A fresh wave of productions and chart successes. A pivotal moment in this revival was the release of " B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All) " by Interplanetary Criminal and Eliza Rose in the summer of 2022. The track, featuring a Korg M1 organ bassline characteristic of speed garage, achieved the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart , underscoring the genre's renewed popularity. Interplanetary Criminal,

416-517: A gun. Eventually, when groups like So Solid Crew attracted more urban, lower-class audiences to raves because of their lyrics over the garage tracks, garage began to transition to grime because previous audiences were less likely to listen, so radios and clubs stopped giving garage opportunities. In 2007, several DJs helped promote and revive UK garage's popularity, with producers creating new UK garage, also known as "new skool" UK garage or " bassline ". The end of 2007 saw "new skool" UK garage push to

468-515: A mostly instrumental stripped down form of dark garage and with it bring in production values and influences from dub reggae . Some UK garage/dubstep/grime/bassline producers have moved to a different sound called UK funky , which takes production values from many different shades of soulful house music with elements of UK garage and blends them at a standard house music tempo, and soca with tribal style percussion from afrobeat . A contemporary offshoot of dubstep heavily influenced by UK garage

520-519: A record which had just been dropped into the mix. The MC would then instruct the DJ to immediately stop the tune, manually go back to the start and "come again". This active dialogue between the crowd and those involved in the performance of music embodies the interactive nature of UKG, and is further seen in other genres such as hip hop and reggae . In the United Kingdom, where jungle was very popular at

572-464: A return in a big way, with producers such as Moony, DJD and Tuff Culture paving the way. One of the genre's pioneering labels, Ice Cream Records, responsible for anthems such as " RipGroove ", True Steppers ' "Out of Your Mind", Kele Le Roc 's " My Love " and more, opened up their permanent roster for the first time to include DJs outside of the legendary trio that launched the label. AJ Tracey 's song " Ladbroke Grove " initially debuted at number 48 on

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624-426: A return to the scene, by producing tracks with more of a 2-step feel. Electronic music duos Disclosure and AlunaGeorge , both successful throughout 2012 and 2013, often use elements of UK garage in their music, and arguably, some of their biggest hits including " You & Me " and "We Are Chosen" respectively, are entirely 2-step with an updated cleaner sound. Shortly following this, "original" style garage had made

676-410: A slower and simpler R&B infused drum pattern can be heard. This was to allow for these tracks to be aimed at a more commercial scene rather than for the dance floor. Garage producers then proceeded to churn out UK versions of US contemporary R&B hits, notably with Brandy and Monica's " The Boy Is Mine ". The Architechs sped up the vocals through time-stretching and added sound effects to increase

728-589: A sped-up house-style beat, complemented by the rolling snares and reverse-warped basslines that were popular with drum and bass producers of the time. Among those credited with honing the speed garage sound, New Jersey producer Todd Edwards is often cited as a seminal influence on the UK garage sound for having introduced a new way of working with vocals. Instead of having full verses and choruses, he picked out vocal phrases and played them like an instrument, using sampling technology. Often, individual syllables were reversed or pitch-shifted. This type of vocal treatment

780-510: A stable fixture on the UK charts for the next couple of years. Debut singles of various UK garage artists were hitting the number one spot on the UK charts . Craig David 's debut solo single " Fill Me In ", a mix of R&B and 2-step , with single formats containing various garage remixes of the track, hit #1 in April 2000. A month later, Oxide & Neutrino 's " Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty) " debuted atop

832-510: A string of chart and underground hits in the late 1990s and early 2000s, most notably with " Sincere " and " Crazy Love ". MJ Cole has also won a BBC "Young Musician of the Year" award. R&B influences can be heard in early UK garage, the genre offered more complex drum beats, with heavy syncopation (swing) and a more energetic feel due to a higher tempo (normally between 130 and 138 BPM). However, in tracks like " Twentyfourseven " by Artful Dodger ,

884-548: A top 40 hit with "Vol. 1 (What You Want What You Need)" peaking at #34 in January 1998, and the 1997 XL Recordings release of Somore featuring Damon Trueitt's "I Refuse (What You Want)" reached #21 also in January 1998, containing mixes by Industry Standard, Ramsey & Fen, R.I.P. Productions and Serious Danger . Serious Danger obtained a chart hit in his own right with " Deeper " which debuted and peaked at #40 in December 1997, and

936-406: A track that fuses speed garage with donk influences, further highlighting the genre's evolving sound. This renewed interest in speed garage has been accompanied by a broader UK garage revival, with artists and producers drawing inspiration from the genre's classic sounds while infusing them with modern production techniques. The resurgence has been evident in clubs, festivals, and charts, indicating

988-413: Is future garage . Speed garage Speed garage (occasionally known as plus-8 ) is a genre of electronic dance music , associated with the UK garage scene, of which it is regarded as one of its subgenres. Speed garage features sped-up NY garage 4-to-the-floor rhythms that are combined with breakbeats . Snares are placed as over the 2nd and the 4th kickdrums , so in other places of

1040-536: Is heavily influenced by the British dance music scene, and specifically UK garage. Notable titles include " Frail State of Mind ", "Yeah I Know", "Shiny Collarbone", "Having No Head", and "I Think There's Something You Should Know". The dark garage sound that was being produced by the likes of Wookie , Zed Bias , Shy Cookie, El-B and Artwork (of DND) in the late 1990s would set the groundwork for both grime and dubstep . Developing in parallel to grime, dubstep would take

1092-740: Is still a key characteristic of the UK garage style. Armand van Helden 's speed garage remix of Sneaker Pimps ' " Spin Spin Sugar " in 1997 further popularized the genre and is sometimes credited with breaking speed garage into the mainstream. Another van Helden remix which also proved popular is his Drum 'n' Bass Mix of CJ Bolland 's "Sugar Is Sweeter". Huge club hits in 1997 came from speed garage duos Double 99 , 187 Lockdown and Industry Standard. The former two both scored UK top 20 hits in 1997 and 1998; Double 99's " RipGroove " reached #14 in its second release and 187 Lockdown's " Gunman " and " Kung-Fu " reached #16 and #9, respectively. Industry Standard scored

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1144-541: The Dreem Teem and Tuff Jam , and pirate radio stations such as London Underground , Magic FM, Upfront FM, and Freek FM. During its initial phase, the speed garage scene was also known as "the Sunday Scene", as initially speed garage promoters could only hire venues on Sunday evenings (venue owners preferred to save Friday and Saturday nights for more popular musical styles). Labels whose outputs would become synonymous with

1196-473: The UK Singles Chart in August 2001. Another hit, " They Don't Know ", reached number three in November 2001 and " Haters " got to number eight in January 2002. "Ride wid Us" was less successful (UK number 19 in April 2002). They released the single " Broken Silence " in 2003 which was their fourth and final top 10 hit. The song spoke out about government prejudice which they felt they had faced. In 2002, they were

1248-749: The UK Singles Chart in February 2019, then eventually peaked at number three in October 2019 following its release as a single. In September 2019, the British Phonographic Industry certified the song as platinum for exceeding chart sales of 600,000. It was one of the best-selling songs of 2019. Other hits in the 2010s include Toddla T 's " Take It Back ", All About She 's " Higher (Free) ", Naughty Boy 's " La La La ", Shift K3Y 's " Touch ", Chase & Status ' " Blk & Blu ", M.O 's " Dance On My Own ", Disclosure's " Omen " and Craig David 's " When

1300-413: The grime and UK hip hop scene. So Solid member Swiss released "Cry" featuring Sharifa. Trigger is now working with UK/US based producer Clyde Ward on his solo project JAX and featured on UK-based band The Fallen's debut album track, "Maybe". In February 2013, the group announced its 2013 tour. Also in 2013, Harvey and Asher D appeared alongside many other garage pioneers in a documentary exploring

1352-462: The 2-step scene, and got onto BBC's Top of the Pops . Other huge hits in 1999 include the #1 house/garage anthem " You Don't Know Me " by Armand van Helden . Although not UK garage, Mr. Oizo 's #1 single " Flat Beat " received extensive airplay on pirate radio stations upon release, becoming a staple for house , breakbeat and UK garage DJs; thus leading to numerous UK garage/2-step remixes/bootlegs of

1404-547: The Bassline Drops " and " One More Time ". The 2020s saw new releases such as " West Ten " by AJ Tracey and Mabel , " Don't Play " by Anne-Marie , KSI and Digital Farm Animals , " Just for Me ", " Pain " (which interpolates Sweet Female Attitude 's " Flowers " ) and " Where You Are " by PinkPantheress , "Grown Flex" by Chip and Bugzy Malone , "House & Garage" by Morrisson and Aitch , " Seven " by Jungkook and " Love Like This " by Zayn , all of which charted in

1456-557: The Fabulous Baker Boys scored a chart hit with "Oh Boy", which peaked at #34 in November 1997 and samples Jonny L 's 1992 rave track "Hurt You So". Arguably one of the earliest examples of a 2-step track is the 1997 Kelly G remix of " Never Gonna Let You Go " by Tina Moore , which peaked at #7 on the UK chart. Roy Davis Jr. was also influential in the UK garage scene, with the huge club hit " Gabriel " featuring Peven Everett, released in 1997 on XL Recordings , reaching #22 on

1508-484: The So Solid Crew emcees would rap on top of tracks for up to two hours each session. On Christmas Day in 2001, So Solid Crew performed their last Sunday show on the station. So Solid Crew's first album, They Don't Know , was released in October 2001, followed by a remix album entitled Fuck It in December 2001. Their hit singles include "Oh No (Sentimental Things)" and " 21 Seconds ", the latter reaching number one on

1560-474: The UK chart. Lovestation released their version of " Teardrops " which reached #14 in 1998. Doolally , the former name of Shanks & Bigfoot, scored a #20 hit in 1998 with " Straight from the Heart ". A re-release of this song the following year fared even better, peaking at #9, due to the success of their #1 single " Sweet Like Chocolate ". Jess Jackson was responsible for many garage records but one which stood out

1612-465: The UK. Kurupt FM released their debut album The Greatest Hits (Part 1) which charted at No. 8 on the UK Albums Chart . The album includes appearances by Craig David (who features on lead single "Summertime"), Mist , Jaykae , D Double E , MC Creed , Big Narstie and General Levy . In May 2020, English band the 1975 released their fourth studio album Notes on a Conditional Form which

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1664-559: The US. However, it was not until DJ EZ , the North London DJ, acquired one of Edwards' tracks and played it at a faster tempo in a nightclub in Greenwich in 1994 that the music genre really took off. MJ Cole once stated, "London is a multicultural city... it's like a melting pot of young people, and that's reflected in the music of UK garage." Thus, though UKG remains a distinctly British sound,

1716-465: The United Kingdom in the early to mid-1990s led to the term, as previously coined by the Paradise Garage DJs, being applied to a new form of music known as speed garage . In the early 1990s, American DJ Todd Edwards , a pioneer of the speed garage sound, began remixing more soulful house records and incorporating more time-shifts and vocal samples than normal house records, whilst still living in

1768-593: The charts. Other top 10 hits in 2000 include Artful Dodger's " Movin' Too Fast " (#2), " Woman Trouble " (#6) and " Please Don't Turn Me On " (#4), Sweet Female Attitude 's " Flowers " (#2), True Steppers ' " Buggin " (#6) and " Out of Your Mind " (#2), B-15 Project 's " Girls Like Us " (#7), DJ Luck & MC Neat's " Masterblaster 2000 " (#5) and " Ain't No Stoppin' Us " (#8), MJ Cole 's " Crazy Love " (#10), Wookie 's " Battle " (#10), Lonyo 's " Summer of Love " (#8), Architechs ' " Body Groove " (#3), and Oxide & Neutrino's " No Good 4 Me " (#6). Another huge hit in 2000

1820-484: The club to hear garage, they dressed stylish and smart. Clubs such as Twice as Nice enforced a dress code of no tennis shoes, jeans, or baseball caps. Having a formal dress code changed the importance placed on nice clothes from a style to excluding people. The dress codes were meant to "encourage people to make an effort", but also to "keep trouble out." In time, the club installed a metal detector, because "gangstas like to dress expensive," but theoretically could still carry

1872-401: The competitive nature. "B&M Remix" eventually sold twenty thousand copies as a bootleg. With the continued support of pirate radio stations such as Rinse FM , Ice FM, Deja Vu, and Flex FM , the soaring popularity of UK garage saw 1999 take the genre into the mainstream, breaking into the music charts . Production duos Shanks & Bigfoot and Artful Dodger were very successful with

1924-447: The drum pattern. Speed garage tunes have warped, heavy basslines , influenced by jungle and reggae . Sweeping bass is typical for speed garage. It is also typical for speed garage tunes to have a breakdown . Speed garage tunes sometimes featured time-stretched vocals. As it is heavily influenced by jungle , speed garage makes heavy use of jungle and dub sound effects, such as gunshots and sirens. A widely regarded pioneer of

1976-423: The emerging speed garage sound included Confetti, Public Demand, 500 Rekords, Spread Love and VIP. Speed garage already incorporated many aspects of today's UK garage sound like sub-bass lines, ragga vocals, spin backs and reversed drums. What changed over time, until the so-called 2-step sound emerged, was the addition of further funky elements like contemporary R&B styled vocals, more shuffled beats and

2028-699: The influences of black diaspora and especially the Caribbean on its development should not be ignored. The concept of the MC , which is a central figure in UKG, originates from the Jamaican dancehall tradition of ' toasting ' and its vibrant sound system culture. Before the emergence of UKG, ragga MCs had a difficult time in the music scene but found solid footing through garage. Reynolds writes in Energy Flash , "the rude-boy factor of

2080-428: The legacy of UK garage, Rewind 4Ever: The History of UK Garage . UK garage UK garage encompassed subgenres such as speed garage and 2-step , and was then largely subsumed into other styles of music and production in the mid-2000s, including bassline , grime , and dubstep . The decline of UK garage during the mid-2000s saw the birth of UK funky , which is closely related. The evolution of house music in

2132-577: The mainstream again with notable tracks such as T2 's " Heartbroken " and H "Two" O's " What's It Gonna Be " both reaching the mainstream charts. The revival was galvanised by DJ EZ releasing Pure Garage Rewind: Back to the Old Skool , which contained three CDs of "old skool" UK garage and a fourth CD with fresh "new skool" UK garage. Early 2011 saw the start of a gradual resurgence of 2-step garage. Producers such as Wookie , MJ Cole , Zed Bias and Mark Hill (formerly one half of Artful Dodger ) made

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2184-433: The ragga patois voice in speed garage anthems like Gant 's "Sound Bwoy Burial" probably acted to 'inoculate' against the 'effeminate' sensuality of house." Like the Jamaican dancehall toaster, the garage MC is a typically masculine and animated character which evokes responses from the crowd and engages their attention in a gritty, provocative manner. Reynolds provided an example of how the crowd would shout "Bo!" if they love

2236-494: The speed garage sound is record producer , DJ and remixer Armand van Helden , whose Dark Garage remix of the Sneaker Pimps ' " Spin Spin Sugar " in 1996 helped bring the style of speed garage into the mainstream arena. In the early 2020s, speed garage experienced a notable resurgence within the UK music scene. This revival was marked by a renewed interest in the genre's distinctive basslines and energetic rhythms, leading to

2288-636: The subject of the Channel 4 television documentary This Is So Solid directed and narrated by David Upshal , later released on DVD by Universal along with a live performance. Members Harvey , Romeo and Lisa Maffia have all appeared on the Channel 4 celebrity reality show The Games . In 2012, Romeo and Harvey each appeared in a separate series of Celebrity Big Brother , in the 9th and 10th series respectively; they both finished in sixth place in their respective series. The band's former producer, Carl Morgan ,

2340-469: The time, garage was played in a second room at jungle events. After jungle's peak in cultural significance, it had turned towards a harsher, more techstep influenced sound, driving away dancers, predominantly women. Escaping the 170bpm jungle basslines, the garage rooms had a much more sensual and soulful sound at 130bpm. Since then, MCs have become one of the vital aspects of speed and UK garage parties and records. Early promoters of speed garage included

2392-637: The top spot with their second single " 21 Seconds ". The end of 2001 saw yet another 2-step anthem top the UK charts, with Daniel Bedingfield 's debut single " Gotta Get Thru This ". Other top 10 hits in 2001 include the Sunship mixes of Mis-Teeq 's " Why " (#8), " All I Want " (#2) and " One Night Stand " (#5), Artful Dodger 's " TwentyFourSeven " (#6), Liberty 's " Thinking It Over " (#5), Oxide & Neutrino 's " Up Middle Finger " (#7), and So Solid Crew's " They Don't Know " (#3). 2002 saw an evolution as 2-step moved away from its funky and soul-oriented sound into

2444-490: The track. Da Click (Pied Piper, MC Creed, PSG, Unknown MC and singer Valerie M) had a #14 hit with " Good Rhymes ", while musical trio the Dreem Teem had a #15 hit with " Buddy X 99 ", a garage remix of Neneh Cherry 's 1992 song "Buddy X". DJ Luck & MC Neat also had a chart hit with " A Little Bit of Luck " in late 1999 into early 2000. Many more UK garage acts followed into the new millennium by releasing commercially successful singles, thus making UK garage and 2-step

2496-460: The tracks " Sweet Like Chocolate " (the first UK garage track to hit number one in the UK) and " Re-Rewind ", respectively. After the platinum-selling success of "Sweet Like Chocolate", the floodgates had opened. Although "Re-Rewind" was denied a #1 position by Cliff Richard and his song " The Millennium Prayer ", it was also a platinum seller, one of the garage scene's first and last. They became anthems for

2548-451: Was "Hobson's Choice". The B-side of this record changed the UK garage scene from funky and soulful to dark and bassy. Another example of the evolution in 2-step was the release of "Troublesome" in 1999 by Shy Cookie and DJ Luck , in which non-sampled 2-step beats were merged with a full ragga vocal (performed by ragga artist Troublesome). The UK's counterpart to Todd Edwards was MJ Cole , a classically trained oboe and piano player, who had

2600-466: Was convicted of murder in October 2005. Group member Dwayne Vincent (Megaman) was also accused but was cleared after a retrial. Harvey has gone solo and has produced tracks such as "We Ride" with Doom Man, Swiss, JME and Skepta . So Solid Crew MC Asher D went on to have an acting career appearing in 50 Cent 's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and in the British films Bullet Boy and Life and Lyrics , while still making independent mixtapes and albums in

2652-415: Was darker and more MC-oriented, and gaining mainstream success, they inspired London youth to experiment with their own darker sounds, leading to what would become known as grime music. So Solid Crew is a large group which has expanded from 19 initial members to 30. There was also a sub-group of So Solid called So Solid Kids, which contained members Samantha, Skip, Frost, and Thrust. Skip and Frost hosted

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2704-623: Was the Timo Maas remix of the song " Dooms Night " (#8) by German producer Azzido Da Bass , which was heavily associated with UK garage at the time, having become a major club hit and appearing on several UK garage compilations. It was also remixed by garage duo Stanton Warriors , titled "Dooms Night (Revisited)". 2001 gave DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies their sole number one hit record with " Do You Really Like It? ". Two months later in August 2001, South London collective So Solid Crew hit

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