A new religion has been forming for several years, whose size continues to grow and whose worshippers continue to increase in number at an alarming rate. It is known as Dubstep. Its altars are bass scoops, its preachers are DJs/MCs, its medium is bass.  And it is taking over. 

 

Permeating, infiltrating and absorbing on every level.  All who visit the sanctuaries of bass where the ceremonies are regularly held, are touched by something unexplainable, and become hooked on the feeling that they get from their first visit: to return time and time again.

 

We are blessed to be living in these times.

 

To refer to the arrival of a new genre of music as a new religion may seem a little exuberant (and to some people blasphemous!). Perhaps I should have used the word ‘cult’ instead. This would certainly apply to the cult-status that the Dubstep movement has developed, especially in 2007: some DJs and producers getting mainstream radio airtime, and many DJs slipping Dubstep tunes into their otherwise non-Dubstep sets. But there are negative connotations automatically associated with the word ‘cult’, that don’t apply to Dubstep.  More importantly, cults are generally started/run by an individual or group of people, whereas religions generally go beyond the individual, referring to something much greater.  The latter is Dubstep.

 

In a normal club environment, the DJ is generally the centre point of attention for the ravers in the club. In a Dubstep rave it’s the huge speakers pumping out rib-shaking bass lines. The DJ is merely the messenger, as a religious ‘leader’ should be. The message is what’s important to the people inside. And just like within a religious service, when you are part of a congregation who are all present for the same reason and experiencing the same thing, a euphoric shared consciousness develops.

 

As an ‘evolutionary genre’, a specific birthdate cannot be placed, but Dubstep’s origins lie firmly within the 21st Century, and it has had enough exposure recently in the media (RWD, Telegraph)for me not to give a history of it here (there is a surprisingly good synopsis available on Wikipedia). This mainstream exposure has done Dubstep the world of good. In the space of a year it went from a London based garage off-shoot, to an international phenomenon (there are regular raves held in the US, Australia, Brazil and across Europe).

 

A major player in the international success of Dubstep was Radio 1 DJ Mary-Ann Hobbs, who introduced the world to the sound in January 2006. Since then dubstep has been creeping onto the airwaves more and more.

 

While the positive effect of radio airplay to the scene cannot be denied, it brings with it a negative aspect too. The reason being is that Dubstep is as much about the physical experience as the sound.  It’s not supposed to be listened to on headphones, or played on the radio in your car, or listened to as an album on a stereo… it’s supposed to be felt! That too, in a room full of other people feeling the same thing. It’s like a man going to church one day and having a profound experience in front of the altar. Then another man comes along, buys a copy of the Bible, reads a few pages, and claims to understand what the first man was feeling.  People can never understand Dubstep by buying albums, listening to it on the radio or never stepping foot inside a rave… until they do, they don’t know Dubstep!

 

Now get out there and meditate on the bassweight!

 

Words by Faze Al