Jump-Up (electronic music)

Jump-Up is a subgenre of Drum and Bass that was first popular in the mid-1990s. Tunes typically were light-hearted, featuring hip hop samples and loud melodic basslines. The term is derived from the earlier use of "jump-up" to refer to tracks with often ambient intros which altered their style at the drop, often by breaking into amen breakbeats. This would make the crowd "jump up" and dance. Around 1994 it began to be more exclusively applied to records with hip hop samples and oscillating basslines, such as Suburban Bass artists Dream Team and DJ Hype, and by 1995 more specifically to the style associated with DJ Zinc and Ganja Records.

"New Dawn" - The X (Jump Up Records) (1995) and "Warhead" - DJ Krust are two good examples of the genre which would more specifically be called jump-up, though tunes did not necessarily use amen breaks. By this time it referred especially to the style recorded by artists such as DJ Zinc, Aphrodite and Dillinja (amongst many others), and this could include amens but more often had a step-break (see below) or only used an amen or other breakbeat as an additional dancefloor incentive later in the track.

There was a lot of crossover in styles produced by artists though, and one artist's style of jump-up could be quite different to another's. Aphrodite's jump-up records, for instance, are more rolling in style. "Drum and Bass" (see DJ Rush Puppy "Silencer – Drum and Bass Mix" 1995) would be used for records with more drum breaks or which were more electronic-sounding (such as the genre which would later be called tech-step).

There is even more crossover here, since there were records which were in this style before the term "drum and bass" even existed, and "jump-up jungle" previously was not a genre but referred to those jungle records which changed style mid-record. These records could now be called "drum and bass" instead, distinguishing them from more jungle-sounding gangster, rolling styles and jump-up styles. But since "drum and bass" was now more popular than "jungle" as the name for the whole style of music, any record could be called "drum and bass". In the late 2000s, newer tunes with a light-hearted feel have been increasingly been referred to as Jump Up.

Typical musical style

It is usually characterized by basslines that have a filter shaping LFO on them which gives the bass a ‘wobble’ sound accompanied by uptempo drum loops.

Most frequently in modern Jump-Up, an element of highly energetic ‘stabs’ are often heard. Jump-Up is closely related to the more popular 1996–1997 era of jungle-drum and bass, known for its 'warmth’ through beat and melody syncopation and simpler heavy basslines (as opposed to the lighter, more distorted basslines of the precise-sounding techier styles of Neurofunk & Techstep coming out around this time).

Examples include DJ Zinc's "Super Sharp Shooter" or his remix of the Fugees’ "Ready Or Not" (known at the time as "Fugees or Not"), which also samples Redman on the original version of his first collaboration with Method Man, "How High". Extensive use of hip hop samples was common in jump-up in the late 1990s.

Before 1997, Jump Up was not really established as a sub genre in Drum and Bass. Jump Up was made popular by Bristol's Full Cycle crew, with tracks such as "Warhead" by DJ Krust, and "Trouble" by Scorpio (Roni Size & Die).

Additionally, Jump Up is a clean beat not similar to the popular amen and Apache drum loops. Jump up is easy to distinguish from other jungle and D'n'B styles due to its simplicity, with 3-tier basslines (high, mid, low) that provide the thick and clean basslines so commonly associated with Jump Up, and Simple KickXXXSnareXXXXXKickXSnareXXX Pattern (sometimes referred to as a "step break"). Drum rolls are often long and composed mostly of kicks and often have some effect like flange thrown over them.

On a social level within the drum'n'bass community, Jump Up is primarily made up of wobble sounds and robot like noises. Jump Up is also very popular in certain clubs and raves such as Fabric in London, Lakota in Bristol and Custard Factory in Birmingham.

Artists

• Aphrodite
• Cabbie
• Callide
• Crissy Criss
• Cue
• Decimal Bass
• Digital Era
• Dino
• Dub Zero
• Erb N Dub
• Harvest
• Hazard
• Heist
• High Roller
• Hoogs
• G-Dub
• Guv
• Jayline
• Jaydan
• Konichi
• Levela
• Logan D
• Majistrate
• Manga
• Modified Motion
• Northern Lights/Steppa & Kitcha
• Nu Elementz
• Origin
• Original Sin
• Ozma
• Pacso
• Panik
• Pleasure
• Premium
• Prestige & Nik itch
• Raw Theory
• Rowney
• Ruffstuff
• Sensai
• Shifta
• Shufunk
• Sly
• Sub Zero
• Supreme Being
• Taxman
• Tantrum Desire
• Turno
• Twisted Individual
• Tyke
• Vital Elements
• Zen