Sticky, Kele Le Roc Things We Do for Love (2002)
The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the rise of the rave scene in the UK, characterized by large, often illegal parties featuring house and techno music. A good part of that music was imported from the US. Eventually, in the early to mid-1990s, British DJs and producers began to infuse garage house, a particular style of house music, with elements from jungle, R’n’B and dancehall. And thus UK garage was born.
The genre, which is characterized by its distinctive syncopated rhythm, shuffled beats and chopped vocal samples, entered the mainstream just before the turn of the millennium with artists such as Craig David and Artful Dodger. In the noughties, UK garage gave way to grime, dubstep and other musical genres, only to resurface in recent years—for example in the video game Grand Theft Auto, which features UKG material on its in-game radio stations.
While there is a set of tunes that regularly pop up in UKG playlists and classic mixes, there is a whole bunch of tracks that remain underground hits and are not available on DSP. And probably keeping those tunes special is for the best.
Tubby T’s “Tales Of The Hood” is one of these underground anthems. “Just gimme the microphone, Tubby T was born to sing,” the MC spits in a sort of singjay style on a heavy rhythm and a bass line that keeps shifting.
The track was produced by UKG legend Sticky. While this one is not available on DSP, you can stream a whole bunch of Sticky’s other material—“Things We Do for Love” featuring singer Kyle Le Roc, for example. It is a massive tune, too, to use UKG parlance. And it is our track of the day.
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