Shazam’s Tag Of The Day! Sub Focus – ‘Rock It’
Sub Focus may be a new name to grace commercial radio but he’s been grafting away on the underground Drum & Bass scene for some time. Early tracks like ‘X-Ray’ and ‘Strobe’ won Sub Focus accolades from Andy C, the boss of the hugely successful Ram Records and a man who is widely regarded as the best D&B DJ in the world. This helped the young producer muscle in to the notoriously tight-knit higher echelons of the Drum & Bass world; which in turn helped him gain the attention of Radio 1 tastemakers Annie Mac and Zane Lowe.
Last year Sub Focus gained his first taste of mainstream success with ‘Timewarp’, a Pendulum-esque stormer that brightened up daytime schedules on Radio 1 and late night sessions at The End. His latest track, ‘Rock It’, takes elements of Daft Punk’s ‘Robot Rock’ and fuses it to a stomping jungle break-beat and stomach churning doses of growling sub-bass. Like ‘Timewarp’, the record has a crossover appeal without being overtly cheesy or calculated. Of course, cynical D&B fans have already accused Sub Focus of selling out. However anyone who’s seen his recent sets at Matter would be able to testify that he’s very much in touch with the club rocking sensibilities that made his early records the toast of the Dee & Bee scene. If Sub Focus can continue to produce tracks that are capable of delivering a slice of lairy 180BPM spice amongst the swathes of faceless indie and R&B on daytime radio, it is something the music buying public in general should be thankful for.
This Friday sees Sub Focus take to the decks at Matter, as Ram once again take over one of London’s largest clubs for the evening. Headlining the night will be the aforementioned Andy C alongside a host of the genre’s premier DJs and MC talent including Goldie, DJ EZ and Chase & Status to name a few. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the night has now sold out. As the above video shows Ram’s line ups at Matter justifiably attract fever like levels of anticipation from the labels die hard following. While many have written off the genre in the past, the continued success of Sub Focus and Ram Records proves that interest in Drum & Bass is far from waning.
