TOTD: Dopestyle – Fade Away

ganjaToday’s tune is possibly my favourite track on Hype’s Ganja Records alongside the Wu-Tang sampling ‘Tiger Style‘.

Very simple and quite minimal in comparison to some of Hype’s work around this time, the track’s focal point comes from a sampled vocal taken from the Junior Byles‘ roots reggae track of the same name.

Add into the mix an eerie atmosphere, a cut up ‘Think‘ break and huge sub bass line that bubbles beneath whilst threatening to consume the whole track. The obligatory amen break of the time livens things up a few minutes in.

Sampling was still very much the way to produce at this point in the jungle and drum & bass scene and Hype was no exception. You can clearly hear the influence that 80s and early 90s hip hop had on his production as he almost carelessly laid cuts, loops and samples over each other.
As such his tunes have that ruggedness / roughness about them, similar to the East Coast hip hop productions from producers like the RZA and The Beatminaz.

About Law

Main author and creator of Drumtrip. I have been listening to and mixing drum and bass in its various forms since 1998. Drumtrip was designed to celebrate the glory years between 1991 and 1997.