Drum and Bass - The DJ Diaries

⏱ 2 min read

Jungle refined into sophistication: intricate break programming, rolling sub-bass, jazz samples.

What Drum and Bass sounds like

Fast, tight breakbeats and huge, round sub bass, less ragga than jungle and cleaner. Moody pads, jazz chords, strings and soulful vocals in the quiet parts. Hard rolling drums when it drops. The floor bounces at speed, and the rewinds keep it going all night.

What you would see

Metalheadz Sunday sessions at Blue Note, Bristol basements. Hoodies, puffer jackets, Goldie’s gold teeth, dark club lights and graffiti art on sleeves.

Where and when

Drum and Bass took shape around 1994 in London and Bristol, UK. Tracks usually run at 165 to 180 BPM. You will also see it called DnB, drum n bass.

Family tree

It grew out of Jungle and Breakbeat Hardcore. It led to Jump Up, Neurofunk, Liquid Funk and Dubstep.

Artists to start with

Goldie, Roni Size and Reprazent and LTJ Bukem.

Labels that carried it

Metalheadz (United Kingdom, 1994), Good Looking Records (United Kingdom, 1991), RAM Records (United Kingdom, 1992) and Hospital Records (United Kingdom, 1996).

One track to hear

Goldie, Inner City Life (1994). It is an official upload, and you can play it on this genre’s card in the Dance Music Timeline.

Where it stands in 2026

2020s youth boom, UK streams nearly doubled 2021 to 2024.

Want to hear how it connects to its neighbours? Plan a mix from here with Tempo Bridge, or see where it sits among 127 genres on the timeline.

From the booth

Drum and bass runs at 165 to 180 BPM, but the sub bass lets dancers move at half speed if they want to. It grew from Jungle and Breakbeat Hardcore, cleaner and less ragga than its parent, and it branched into Jump Up, Neurofunk, Liquid Funk and Dubstep.

Listen for the fast, tight breakbeats and the huge round sub. The quiet parts are full of moody pads, jazz chords and soulful vocals. I would give it its own block in a night rather than squeezing it between house records. One tip if you are starting out: learn to double drop only when you know both tracks well. Otherwise, a clean swap on the drop keeps the energy high without muddying the low end.

Sources

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