It was around the mid-1990s that the jungle scene morphed into drum ‘n’ bass, as 2-step drum machine beats took over from edited breaks and producers began to explore synthesis and sampling to place the bass at the centre of their tunes.

Labels such as Suburban Base, S.O.U.R. and Labello Blanco led the way for early-‘90s jungle, releasing music that embraced new technology to twist reggae, techno, house and hip-hop influences into a sound the like of which had never been heard before.

Although arguments still rage as to whether DnB and jungle are indeed separate stylistic churches, one thing’s for sure: without jungle there would be no DnB.

J is also for:

Jump-up: Does exactly what it says on the tin - this sub-genre of DnB makes you wanna jump up and dance. Typified by 2-step drum patterns, huge basslines and, more recently, screeching, whistling mid-range layered subs, it’s the marmite of DnB, but also the biggest selling and most popular variant of it.