Drum and bass developed from jungle by emphasising speed and industrialism while shedding reggae influence, enabling mainstream crossover

By 1996–1997 the jungle sound moved away from reggae influence toward darker, grittier, hip-hop and jazz-influenced tracks. Key producers (Dillinja, Roni Size, Die, Alex Reece, Krust) drove the transition that became drum and bass. A false racial dichotomy was established: drum and bass for white ravers, jungle for Black ravers. Drum and bass was positioned as more ‘accessible and commercial’ (The Observer 1996). This was not neutral: Black jungle ravers reported venue exclusion and DJs were shadow-banned from playing jungle. Jungle retreated to the underground by end of 1998. The rebranding from ‘jungle’ to ‘drum and bass’ thus involved both sonic evolution and racial resignification.

Examples

Roni Size and 4hero crossover to drum and bass while releasing underground jungle under alias Tom & Jerry; Toppin’s analysis of the ‘act of resignifying the otherness’.

Assessment

Describe one sonic change and one social/racial mechanism that together explain how drum and bass diverged from jungle.