Name Benga Occupation DJ and producer who. alongside Tempa Iabelmate and childhood friend Skream. has been operating at the forefront of dubstep since the genre emerged.
Where's he from? Croydon. Greater London. where Benga started making a name for himself aged 15 with releases on DJ Hatcha's influential Big Apple label. Hatcha would regularly play Benga's material at Forward >>. the club which. alongside The Digital Mystikz's DMZ. performed a pivotal role in the development of the dubstep sound.
What next? In 2005 Skream's ‘Midnight Request Line' became the calling card that alerted many in the wider club music community to the existence of dubstep. but it was the release of Benga's 'Night‘ (recorded with Coki of Digital Mystikz) that gave dubstep its first bona fide smash.
What might I have heard? ‘Night’ was one of last year's defining club tracks. its distinctive. nagging refrain finding favour with innumerable DJs from across the club music spectrum. Diary of an Afro Warrior. the album from which ‘Night' was taken was also incredibly successful. featuring further club wreckers such as the awesome '26 Basslines'. while the album's compelling textures and persistent melodies hinted at the possible crossover potential of dubstep.
Any other business? Benga toured relentlessly throughout last year, playing dozens of solo shows. and performing with Skream as part of Magnetic Man. Having decided to take a break from DJing at the start of this year. Benga has used his time off to find fresh inspiration and record new material: ‘l've been listening to all sorts when l've been out raving. wandering into different rooms. picking up on little things that different people are doing; I've had time to sit down and do a few different sounding things, you know. experiment. I’m just trying to carry on being creative.’ (Colin McKean)
I Benga plays Volume! at Faith, Edinburgh. Sat 21 Feb.
32 1’“! LIS‘I’ 19 Feb-5 Mar 2009
ELECTBO HIP HOP
PLAYDOE
Mixed Bizness at the Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Thu 5 Mar
Playdoe: that squidgy stuff you tried to eat when you were a kid, or a fresh new electro rap duo from Johannesburg. Either way, it’s great fun. Former scratch champion Sibot and local rapper Spoek are the sound of modern Africa. A raucous mix of funk, grime and old skool hip hop, blasted out the atmosphere by a barrage of high flying electro bleeps and beeps, like a game of Asteroids on acid.
‘l’ve got a strong old skool element in the electro rap style,’ explains Sibot, ‘I like the technical aspect of glitch hop, and I like the song structures of early electro.’ Cruising along the same trails as Spank Rock,
ELECTRONICA RKGB/WRONG ISLAND The V Club, Glasgow, Fri 27 Feb
The debut of this monthly iomt reSidency came about by complete aCCident. but sometimes that's how the magic happens. ”We were promised the last Friday of the month by the V Club.' says BKGB's Dema. ‘and Wrong Island were promised the fourth Friday of the month. It turns out that's the same day most months. So rather than take turns. we Just thought we'd share the night over both floors. Both clubs will probably
complement each other anyway.’
Wrong Island's Teamy agrees: ‘There are places where each of us meet. and then other areas where we go off in our own direction. Like. we can all start off With dubstep and get to disco. but we'll take different routes to get there.‘ Where Wrong Island have a broad playlist of underground electronica. BKGB — it stands for Rich Kid Gang Bang — lean more towards hip hop. Baltimore and dubstep. Yet each night has proven previous in Glasgow: RKGB'S Dema and Mr Nice have been in charge of the Art School's Thursday night Freakmoves bash while Wrong Island‘s Teamy and Dirty Larry are still running a montth party under the same name at
Nice'n‘Sleazy's.
Both are impressed by what the V Club's new owners ithe people behind the Variety Bar along the road. who took over when the Beat Club closed its doors) are trying to do. Teamy and Dema are already planning a repertOire of monthly guests. starting here with Sleepless Crew's Bruno Beats. ‘He's created a whole new live set for the night.' says Dema. ‘I don‘t know what it‘ll be like. but he's promised something upbeat that'll keep the
dancefloor busy.‘ (DaVld Pollock)
www.list.co.uklclubs
Mantronix, Cool Kids and new up-comer Mumdance, Playdoe certainly seem to be making the moves towards the fast lane and their busy schedule doesn’t leave much time for recording. ‘We tend to do a lot on the fly, I usually make a home video of myself playing the drums and I try to get across how Spoek should rap, he then makes a video of himself rapping telling me how to rap.’
The self-styled Afrosonic technocraft is due for touch down in front of the savvy Mixed Bizness kids for what is sure to be a well matched encounter and one the boys are looking forward to: ‘l have so much fun in Scotland. Last time we were there we played on a beach and the locals burnt all the furniture. We can’t wait.’ (Richie Meldrum)