Glossary

There’s been much discussion as to whether or not to include a glossary. Some find the whole idea very unnecessary and insulting saying, ‘Hip Hop never had no glossary’. To that others say, ‘I never understood Hip Hop’.

A&R People – ‘Artists and Repertoire’, music biz scouts.

Acid House – Music. 303-intensive House music with fewer vocals. The parent of Techno and Trance.

Ambient – Music. Similar to Trance but more esoteric and abstract. Huge soundscapes, often with minimal or no beats. Strictly for the chill-out rooms.

Amen break – A break characterised by driving cymbals.

Artcore – Music. The Artcore LP series featuring everyone from Foul Play and Aphrodite to Krust and Johnny L. Weird. Intelligent hybrid made from those producers’ influences.

Attitude – Usually prefixed by an unspoken ‘bad’.

‘Avin’ It (Large) – Having a totally wicked time.

Bad Bwoy– Ruffneck yout with too much attitude.

Balearic – Music. Commercial House music favoured by those that enjoy a good old-fashioned knees-up with a pint of beer and a couple of Es whilst on holiday in Ibiza.

Bar – Music. Four beats.

Big up – To exalt, to boast (of oneself).

Blagger – A practitioner of the ‘blag’.

To Blag – Charming your way to get what you want.

Break – Part of the record, usually eight to sixteen beats, often sampled and looped to create a beat for a tune.

Breakbeat – Music. Music with breaks. Anything that’s not a four to the floor kick drum pattern. The forerunner of Hardcore and ultimately JDB.

Breddah – Brother, bloke.

Brukin’ out – Adv. Breaking out, dancing madly.

Bussed it – Played it, play a tune, to recite a lyric.

To cane – Using it, taking it, playing it to the max and further.

To check – Seeing someone socially or sexually (usually past tense).

To chill – To relax.

Chill-Out – Music. Turn on, light up and chill out. Easy Listening with credibility.

“Choon!” (Tune!) – Excl. “What a good record, Mr.DJ!” Show some respect and shout it out! “Chooooooon!”

Clanged it out – Adv. Clashing beats in a mix. Worst possible insult to a DJ.

Coconut – Black on the outside, white on the inside. A racial slur, a black person with white pretensions (see ‘Wigger’).

Come-Down – The terrible effect felt when the drugs wear off. (Although the first few hours are quite nice really).

Cubase – Music software application, usually not paid for.

Crew – See Posse, De Man Dem.

Da lick – Adj. The best thing.

Darkcore – Music. Dark-sounding with low b-lines. Takes influences from Industrial, Rock and Gabba. Also from Chrome and DHR labels (eg. DJ Trace and Sonar).

Darkside – Music. Militant beats, angry JDB (eg. Ed Rush and Optical).

DAT – Digital Audio Tape, recording studio quality.

Deep House – Music. Pared-down house, minimalist, b-line intensive.

Detroit Techno – Music. The original Techno from Detroit. You can’t mention Detroit without mentioning Derrick May … or cars.

Dub – Music. Reggae of which lyrics and melodies are largely stripped out or ‘cut in’ with lots of digital delay (eg. Jah Shaka, King Tubby).

Dub Plate – The very latest records cut on acetate, initially only available to select DJs.

Draw – Weed.

The Drop – Wait for it. Whatfi When the bassline kicks in.

Electro – Music. Originally a form of Hip-Hop, Planet Rock and Wicky Wicky being two famous examples.

EP – Extended Play record, more tracks than a twelve-inch, less than an album.

To EQ – To tweak frequencies of the mix using an equaliser.

Euro – Music. European Techno similar to Gabba but not as hard and mad. Cheesy some might say.

Funki Dread – Not a total dread, a smiling face and a thumpin’ bass for a lovin’ race (eg. Jazzy B).

Gabba – Music. Just play any 33 rpm Techno tune at 78 rpm and you’ll get the picture. Popular in Rotterdam, allegedly (see also Nosebleed).

The Gaff – The place.

Garage – Music. House with lots of R ‘n’ B flavour, vocals and piano.

Going for bruck – Adv. Going for broke.

Gutted – Adv. Definitely not sorted, devastated.

Hardcore – Music. Predecessor of Jungle and harsh bastard child of Techno. Often uses breakbeats.

House – Music. 4-beats-to-the-bar dance music, originated in New York or Chicago (depending on who you believe).

Imprint – Sub-division of a larger record label.

Intelligent – Music. Originally lighter, spacy Sunday afternoon music, but still dancefloor D&B. Probably takes influences from The Orb (eg. LTJ Bukem). For some, a contentious term.

Jump-up – 1. adj. See ‘Tear-out’. / 2. Music. Party music with an upbeat springy flavour that makes you want to bruk out and jump like a maniac.

Knock back – 1. Turn down. / 2. To be turned down (see ‘Gutted’).

Kriss – Adj. Looking or sounding wicked.

Loop – Continually-repeated musical refrain.

Lovers’ Rock – Music. A ‘sweet’ kind of Reggae, always melodic, usually with love song vocals (eg. Gregory Issac).

The massive – The people, the followers.

Mashed it up – Adj. Of an artist’s performance – a very high accolade. See also ‘Rinse out’, rip it up, tear it up, also negatively in context of to destroy.

MCPS – Mechanical Copyright Protection Society.

‘Nuff – Adj. (E)nough, loads (see ‘X-amount’).

Old Skool – Adj. Music, graffiti art, trainers, mentality from a by-gone era. Nostalgia with attitude.

Phat – Adj. looks good, sounds wicked.

Pukka – Adj. Really rather good.

Proppa – Adj. Proper (see ‘Runnin’).

Punters – Customers, clientele.

Ragga – Music. Distinctly rude-sounding modern Reggae strand, with vocals from deep in the throat, generally lewd theme and grinding, aggressive rhythm.

Rare Groove – Music. Not-so-rare 70s funk tunes.

Representin’ – Keeping it real, representing what you believe in and living by those beliefs. or: Turning up and flashing your skills.

Rewind – Play it again DJ – now! (see “Choon!”).

Rinsin’ – Adj. See ‘Tearin’.

Rinse out 1. See ‘Cane’. / 2. A good hard party.

R ‘n’ B – Music. Some would say modern-day soul.

Runnin’ – Adj. Wicked (see ‘Pukka’).

Safe – Adj. Good [of a person], trustworthy, of good character. Feeling comfortable, everything going rather well.

Sample – Electronically recorded segment of sound.

Sampler – Equipment used to record pieces of sound.

To score – To achieve a positive result, usually sexually or pharmaceutically.

Shebeen – Back room drinking den.

Skank – 1. To cheat. / 2. A dance style.

Sorted – Adj. The bird’s in the hand: get it, got it, good (see ‘Score’).

Speed Garage – Music. JDB with ‘Garage style’ vocals, jerky drum patterns and b-lines (kinda Sweet like Chocolate).

Steamed – Go really quickly, sometimes through a crowd.

Suss out – Making your mind up, check out, investigate.

To be sussed – To be in the know.

Tear-out – Adj. Fast and furious (see ‘Jump-Up’).

Tearin’ – Adj. Of music or artists (see ‘Rinsin’).

Tech House – Music. Techno with no harshness but with housey b-lines.

Tech Steppin’ – Music. Generally metallic-sounding Drum & Bass. Techno-influenced. Darker, driving and laced with Sci-Fi samples.

Techno – Music. Faster, more aggressive and more experimental than House with few vocals and a generally ‘metallic’ sound. Pioneered in the ghettos of Detroit.

The one like – Title. Him, her, Ms, Mr etc. [Yer man – Irish].

Timberlands – Boots once fashionable and now available in your local Oxfam.

Tip – Direction of music. Mood, vibe.

Trance – Music. Less hard, spaced-out Techno. ‘Soundscapes’ with a driving rhythm to take you into the clouds.

VJ – Video jockey, TV presenter.

Wicked – Adj. Extremely good, simply marvellous.

Wigger – White person with black pretensions (eg. Ali G) (see ‘Coconut’).

X-amount – Adj. Loads and loads (see ‘Nuff’).

YTS – Abbr. Youth Training Scheme, though others called it a joke.