Once again, the Brits have beaten us to the punch with the next music craze: meet dubstep. This phenomenon, one that you don’t even know you’ve heard of, began in South London’s underground dance scene almost ten years ago. Since then, dubstep has been maturing outside the eye of the mainstream, only recently infiltrating the world of popular music.
Defined by a drum and bass-inspired sound, dubstep's dissonance is a bit off-putting at first. Many reviewers have described the genre as having a “dark” sound understandable considering minor chords define the essential ambiance associated with dubstep.
There are two approaches to the beat: predictably, fast or slow. The first strategy has a smoother sound – an acquired flavor that lasts and makes you want to sway and chill. It has a tendency to embody the “dark” mood more than its faster counterpart, but that doesn’t mean it’s depressing; it’s just more contemplative. The other approach is a rave-y and frantic sound that can overwhelm – that is, if you’re not already at a frat party.
Dubstep is poised to make a big mainstream splash with the help of a few friendly musical faces: recently popularized duo La Roux is helping to inspire the revolution. Dupstep giants Skream and Zinc remixed their "In for the Kill" and "Bulletproof," respectively, to massive acclaim from fans of all genre affiliations.
The appeal of so elusive a musical genre is certainly complex. However, if you want to figure it out for yourself or simply zone out for a while, tune into dubstep.fm, a website that allows you to continually stream dubstep tracks through your iTunes. You’ll be surprised to find yourself uncontrollably head-bobbing and swaying with the beat, regardless of how upbeat or slow it may be.
Another fun website to check out is soundcloud.com, where many dubstep tracks are featured for listeners to play at their leisure. Moreover, members leave comments that pop up at specific times during each track pointing out interesting facts or personal opinions about those moments.
Perhaps the best way to approach this novel genre is to just listen. If you're not into it at first, wait a few measures; many songs begin in a repetitive manner, but then progress and switch gears into an entirely new sound. A genre that has the ability to incorporate nearly any type of music needs to be given a closer listen. We just recommend taking it one (dub)step at a time.
