Essential compilation alert!
The Ragga Twins are the link between UK dancehall reggae, jungle and hip-hop. This is a retrospective of their classic (and now very rare) early tracks produced by Shut Up and Dance at the start of the 1990s. The Ragga Twins (alongside producers PJ and Smiley, aka Shut Up and Dance) revolutionised UK dance music at the start of the 1990s bringing reggae and hip-hop styles together to create jungle. As drum and bass approaches its 20th anniversary and as new developments such as grime, UK garage, and most recently dubstep, create artists and producers who continue to cite jungle as a pivotal moment in the UKs musical history, Ragga Twins' Step Out chronicles one of the most important groups of this time. The Ragga Twins (Deman Rockers and Flinty Badman) began their careers as MCs for North London's legendary Unity reggae sound system. The Ragga Twins were born after Shut up and Dance sampled the pair's introduction on a dancehall mix-tape and then offered them a deal. At the height of rave culture, the Ragga Twins found themselves playing at raves up and down the country. With one album (Reggae Owes Me Money) and a steady stream of killer singles over the next couple of years the Ragga Twins' musical blueprint of basslines, breakbeats and ragga defined Jungle music in the years to come. As well as a serious overview of the Ragga Twins tracks with Shut Up and Dance, this album also features the super-rare bonus tracks 'Iron Lady' and 'Hard Drugs,' dating back to their pre-Ragga Twins, dancehall days with the Unity Soundsystem. The album comes with extensive sleeve notes, photographs and interviews. |
