dnb, niskerone & it came from the jungle!

When I discovered drum 'n bass back in 2005/2006, my life was changed forever because it was my introduction to dance music culture and bass, which are now 'sacred' things to me.

I remember the night it struck me. It was like 2nd year of varsity...my friends and I were at the original Cool Runnings in Obs.

I was, naturally, quite tipsy.

I found myself alone on the dancefloor, ultraviolet lights glowing against the black walls of the room. I don't even think there was a DJ; just loud, oozing drum 'n bass.

And me.

Dancing, pretty much for the first time, proper. This is where I discovered my bodily alterego - my dancing spirit. A kind of timelessness took over...

I'm not sure how many minutes/hours passed before my housemate came over to drag me away.

I remember mumbling something like: "Finally, I've found real music."

I think dnb is like that: you either love it or hate it; it either gets you or it doesn't.

What followed this was a mad hunt for anything drum 'n bass related. I'd record the weekly Sublime Drum 'n Bass shows every Tuesday onto my tapedeck! Here, Hyphen introduced us to the soothing sounds of liquid drum n bass.

Slowly, I began recognising the rhythm, no longer a mish-mash of sounds, but the melody behind it. And so, the taste and hunger developed, to the point where I had to experience the real deal - a drum 'n bass gig.

So...we decided to hit the infamous Homegrown.

As we got there, I remember thinking, "Shit, are there only white people here?" HAHAHAHA. But, who cares any way? My mother is white after all.

Then came the appearance of Niskerone, a beacon of hope for the black folk of the dance culture scene. LOL. Ya, and sorry to all y'all who're getting uncomfortable reading this. It's true, this guy opened the doors of this 'elite' dance culture to the black folk of Cape Town. He brought a different sort of rhythm & style - as Jamie Foxx would put it: he brought swagger.

Bowing posture, much deserved.

Now this dude has done his job over the years. As he puts it: "to infuse a euphoric element to every dancefloor." I dig the fact that he has stayed true to his genre over the years and that he focuses on innovation in his mixing skills; probably up there with best in terms on technical ability.

Mark is a testament to the alter-ego 'theory' of this blog - Niskerone is the "evil twin", as the facebook page reveals. Evil is bit harsh - maybe mischievous is a better description.

Thank G-D for that shit - imagine a world without creative expression of self?

Niskerone's style of music is so different to the laidback fella that he is in "real-life", and it is this energy that takes over the dancefloor, like a fusion of oppositely charged magnetic forces.

Yeah, so in summation this guy has done loads for the scene in Cape Town.

Check out my official article on Niskerone & It Came From the Jungle! in the latest onesmallseed if you want to find out more.

Photography courtesy of the one-and-only Aiden David Hadfield.