Tonight battle will commence at the Red Bull Music Academy Culture Clash between four of the mightiest sound systems in the UK. Fighting tooth and nail with dubplate ammunition Channel One, Soul Jazz, Skream and Benga and last years winners Metalheadz will broach the decks once more for a five round beat down.
Over the last couple of days we’ve been exploring the ethos and musical tastes of two of the competing sound systems. Today marks the end of the exploration with a look at team Metalheadz talking to Goldie about his team of DnB legends Andy C, Shy FX, Storm (First Lady), MC Justyce and MC Go. In Goldie’s words these selectors and MCs are ‘the distillation of the drum and bass scene. They really symbolise historically what drum and bass is to me.’
From the days at the Blue Note in Camden to the arenas around the world the one word that Goldie frequently refers to when talking about DnB over the years is ‘family.’ ‘I’m a great believer in family, what the genre believes in and where it comes from – it’s really important.’ Finding a family in music is a big thing for Goldie who is candid about his upbringing and passion for musical creativity, cutting his hand as an graffiti artist and b-boy in his younger years Goldie partied to the sound of Wolverhampton’s Skippy and Lippy system as well as weighty boys Irration Steppers and celebrates the evolution of the Valve sound system that has ‘kinda taken on the whole culture of reggae and utilised it within drum and bass.’
In the Timeless album, released in 95, Goldie pays homage to his beloved sound systems in the tune Jah saying that, ‘Sound System culture is very amazing. It’s kept our country going when we are in a depression. When people are feeling down and low in life music is the one thing that picks you up.’
To get you in the mood Goldie has handpicked three tunes that sum up Metalheadz sound:
Goldie, Timeless:
“People thought Timeless was something really ridiculous as it was 22 minutes long. We had to take Inner City life out of Timeless to make it into a single. Timeless was about what was going on in the country – a feeling of non-time - the underground and the sound of struggle. The pressure of being in the city and going through all this stuff was what this record reflected."
Alex Reece, Pulp Fiction:
“It was in this tune that drum and bass switched from being big complicated drum rolls and loops into 2 step. If I had to pick one record that innovated the sound – this would be it.”
Adam F, Metropolis:
“Adam was doing some really commercial stuff at the time and I said to him ‘I want a 12’ from you and I want it to be the absolute nuts!’ He delivered the goods and Metropolis was unbelievable as it had the eclecticism and the style that you could not manage!”
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