Breakbeat hardcore
Subgenre of breakbeat and UK rave music genre

Breakbeat hardcore
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsLate 1980s – early 1990s, United Kingdom
Derivative forms

Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave, oldskool hardcore or simply hardcore) is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In addition to the inclusion of breakbeats, the genre also features shuffled drum machine patterns, hoover, and other noises originating from new beat and Belgian techno, sounds from acid house and bleep techno, and often upbeat house piano riffs and vocals.[1]

History

Early 1990s: origins

Fantazia Summertime rave, May 1992

The rave scene expanded rapidly in the early 1990s, both at clubs up and down the country including Labrynth, Shelley's Laserdome, The Eclipse, and Sanctuary Music Arena, and large raves in Warehouses and in the open air attracting 10–25,000 whether put on legally from promoters such as Fantazia, Dreamscape, and Raindance, or unlicensed by free party sound systems such as Spiral Tribe.[2] These events featured the popular rave DJs such as Fabio and Grooverider, Carl Cox, Top Buzz, and Slipmatt, as well as live PAs from rave acts including Shades of Rhythm and Bizarre Inc.[3] Breakbeat hardcore drew its melting pot of sound from a vast array of influences – from new beat and Belgian techno that had for a short period been prominent in the UK rave scene, to house and acid house, and furthermore drawing on hip hop and reggae culture.[4]

Amongst the influences from within the rave scene itself upon which this strain of hardcore drew were such acts as Manix, The Hypnotist, Ravesignal, and T99.[5] From outside of the rave scene, the sped-up breakbeats of UK rap acts such as Hardnoise, MC Duke, Demon Boyz, and Hijack were highly influential, with some of these including Duke, The Criminal Minds, and Liam Howlett (of Cut 2 Kill and who would go on to form the Prodigy), making the transition into hardcore. Pioneering the fusion of sounds from acid house, hip hop, and reggae were late 1980s UK hip house veterans like Double Trouble and Rebel MC, Blapps Posse, and Shut Up and Dance, becoming pivotal contributors to hardcore and its derivative genres like jungle.[6]

The huge increase in producers was also driven by the increasing availability of cheap home computer-based studio setups, particularly Cubase for the Atari ST.[7]

Mid-1990s: fragmentation

By late 1992, breakbeat hardcore started to fragment into a number of subsequent genres: darkcore (piano rolls giving way to dark-themed samples and stabs), hardcore jungle (where reggae basslines and samples became prominent), and happy hardcore (retaining piano rolls and more uplifting vocals).[8]

2000s: revival

In the 2000s, the style experienced a revival as part of the nu-rave scene in hardcore breaks. Hardcore breaks is inspired by the sound and characteristics of breakbeat hardcore, while being fused with modern production techniques that distinguish the genre from the classic hardcore breakbeat sound.[9] The music is composed of looped, edited and processed breakbeat samples, intense bassline sounds, melodic piano lines, staccato synthesizer riffs, and various vocal samples (mostly taken from old house records). The speed of this genre typically fell between the range of 145–155 bpm, while the speed may variate on live sets. Originally being produced by a small group of artists with the vision of carrying on where oldskool hardcore left off before the jungle and happy hardcore split using new production techniques and technology, its appeal has now expanded to include artists from the original breakbeat hardcore scene creating new productions.[10] By the late 2000s, hardcore breaks tend to be produced and played at a bit faster tempos, often between 160–180 bpm. Therefore, it is often played at UK hardcore, freeform hardcore and drum and bass events.

See also

References

  1. ^ Reynolds 1998, p. 96, "1990 also saw the genesis of a distinctively British rave sound, 'hard core', which decisively broke with the mould of Detroit and Chicago, and ended the dependency on American imports. By 1991 this underground sound – actually a confederacy of hybrid genres and regional styles – was assaulting the mainstream pop charts.".
  2. ^ Reynolds 1998, p. 118, "Between 1990 and 1992, a circuit of commercial mega-raves evolved: Amnesia, Raindance, Kaos, Eclipse, World Dance, Heaven on Earth, Elevation, Fantazia, Dreamscape, Vision, and many more. These massive events drew crowds ranging from 10-25,000 plus to dance all night inside giant hangars or under circus-sized tents in the open countryside.".
  3. ^ Reynolds 1998, p. 118, "At these multi-arena events, the line-up included not just the big name DJs - Top Buzz, Fabio and Grooverider, Carl Cox, Ratpacl, Ellis Dee, Slipmatt - but also artist PAs. The bands - N-Loi, Bizarre Inc, The Prodigy, Shades of Rhythm - had sets choc-a-bloc with crowd pleasing anthems.".
  4. ^ Reynolds 1998, pp. 96–97, "Between 1990 and 1993, hardcore in Britain referred by turns to the Northern bleep-and-bass sound of Warp and Unique 3, to the hip-house and ragga-techno sounds of the Shut Up And Dance label, to the anthemic pop-rave of acts like N-Joi and Shades of Rhythm, to Belgian and German brutalist techno, and, finally to the breakbeat-driven furore of hardcore jungle...Influenced by reggae and hip hop, hardcore producers intensified the sub-bass frequencies, used looped breakbeats to funk up house's four-to-the-floor machine-beat, and embraced sampling with deranged glee. Following the lead of the bombastic Belgians and Germans, UK producers deployed riff-like 'stabs' and bursts of glaring noise.".
  5. ^ Reynolds 1998, p. 120, "On the outskirts of the Top Forty, tracks by Manix, T99, the Hypnotist, Quadrophonia, Ravesignal, A Split Second, Congress and UHF exacerbated the sense of a barbarian horde waiting to overrun the pop citadel. In terms of hit rate, this 'golden age of hardcore' compares with the punk/New Wave period of the late seventies.".
  6. ^ Warwick 2020.
  7. ^ Reynolds 1998, p. 96, "The proliferation of cheap computer-based home-studio set-ups and sampler/sequencer programs like Cubase fomented a do-it-yourself revolution reminiscent of punk.".
  8. ^ Reynolds 1998, p. 266, "Back in 1993, when hardcore plunged into the 'darkside', a breakaway faction of DJ-producers like Seduction, Vibes and Slipmatt continued to make celebratory, upful tunes based around hectic breakbeats. By the end of 1994, happy hardcore had coalesced into a scene that operated in parallel with its estranged cousin, jungle.".
  9. ^ Hulyer 2016.
  10. ^ Rolt 2018.

Sources

  • Dummy Mag (2 June 2016). "The 10 best rave tracks, according to 2 Bad Mice". Dummy Mag.
  • Greenwood, Sam (10 May 2018). "The 50 greatest rave anthems of all time". Four Four.
  • Hulyer, Jake (20 July 2016). "Lone Resists the Rave Revivalist Title on "Levitate"". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  • If-Only (24 May 2017). "Adventurous Transmissions from the 12th Isle". If-Only UK. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021.
  • Larkin, Colin, ed. (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0252-6.
  • McCallum, Rob (24 August 2018). "10 ultimate rave anthems chosen by acid house heroes Altern-8". DJMag.
  • McQuaid, Ian (23 May 2019). "10 great lost rave anthems". RBMA.
  • Middleton, Tom; Pritchard, Mark (March 2012). "Global Communication". Red Bull Music Academy. Fuschl: Red Bull GmbH.
  • Reynolds, Simon (1998). Energy Flash: A Journey through Rave Music and Dance Culture. London: Picador. ISBN 0330350560.
  • Rolt, Stuart (24 October 2018). "Calling The Hardcore release first compilation". BN1 Magazine. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  • Warwick, Oli (19 November 2020). "Systems Overload: Britcore and the UK underground". International Orange.
  • Richard X (3 June 2012). "20 best: Hardcore records ever made". FACTmag.
  • Reynolds, Simon (January 2021). "Lunar personality: an interview with Acen - The Wire". The Wire. Retrieved 14 August 2025.

Further reading

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