What is jungle?

Jungle is where drum & bass comes from. It broke out of the UK rave scene in the early-to-mid ’90s: fast, syncopated breakbeats chopped over deep, dub-heavy basslines, with reggae, dancehall, and hip-hop running all through it. Ragga jungle, the most reggae-forward strain, peaked around 1994 and 1995.

Jungle and drum & bass get used to mean the same thing, but jungle is the older, more breakbeat-driven sound. The Amen break is its backbone. It runs a touch slower than modern dnb, usually 160 to 170 BPM.

Proper has always given jungle its own room. Jungle 101 filled the floor at Debonair, and Junglistic ran monthly at Emporium with Zebo holding it down.