Bizzy B

One of the true pioneers of jungle, Bizzy B (Brian Johnson) represents the genre at its roughest, darkest, and most hardcore. Other than fellow innovator <a href="spotify:artist:0nCxyI85p7XgWv2LLv4S9d">Remarc</a>, very few producers have ever been able to match his skill at mashing up harsh breakbeats and creating dark atmospheres. Active since the early '90s, he founded <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Brain+Records%22">Brain Records</a>, which introduced the world to such notable drum'n'bass and hardcore producers as <a href="spotify:artist:07ogfrunSUmnsEsPQdRQUB">Peshay</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1cwlYsgHBYvLzT4C24AliQ">DJ Zinc</a>, Mark Caro (<a href="spotify:artist:0KRqdhJSmE5uVSJ2SyDpRZ">Technical Itch</a>), and Red Alert & Mike Slammer. Along with Pugwash, he formed <a href="spotify:artist:1BQXnCYdmTu5fuhLISQTk9">the Dream Team</a>, which released material on seminal jungle/hardcore label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Suburban+Base%22">Suburban Base</a>, as well as the duo's own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Joker+Records%22">Joker Records</a>. Bizzy B's tracks have been a formative influence on the more extreme side of breakbeat music, including digital hardcore, breakcore, and drill'n'bass producers such as <a href="spotify:artist:3YGigudQiWDb5NdJOC5StS">Alec Empire</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7eKIP3IoPoUAZgZuvMM6hf">Venetian Snares</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2bYCvT1nqpbbspU5DZG5nA">Bogdan Raczynski</a>.

Johnson founded <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Brain+Records%22">Brain Records</a> (not to be confused with seminal Krautrock label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Brain%22">Brain</a>) in 1991, and started releasing breakbeat hardcore, taking influence from house and techno but adding heavy breakbeats and ragga vocal samples. The highly prolific artist pumped out dozens of records, often under other monikers or in collaboration with other producers, and his sound quickly became faster and more chaotic. Tracks like 1993's "The Power" (as part of the duo Warped Kore) helped define darkside jungle, combining rave euphoria with darker themes and more aggressive beat programming. <a href="spotify:artist:1BQXnCYdmTu5fuhLISQTk9">The Dream Team</a> debuted in 1994 with "Stamina" on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Suburban+Base%22">Suburban Base</a>, forming <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Joker+Records%22">Joker Records</a> soon after, and keeping up a prolific release schedule throughout the decade. Their work was generally a bit more club-friendly and hip-hop-influenced than Bizzy B's darkside work, coming closer to the jump-up drum'n'bass style of <a href="spotify:artist:1SsdsVIIKLUe54OsHzm5uQ">Aphrodite</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2MnM5JbezlOuVYlfx61Qc6">DJ Hype</a>. They released the full-lengths The Drum'N'Bass World Series and The Trilogy in 1997.

Around the turn of the millennium, Johnson produced U.K. garage tracks as part of projects like the Beatfreaks and Second Protocol, maintaining the ragga toughness and heavy bass, but with more streamlined beats. He also produced drum'n'bass as Warped Science. Eventually a resurgence of interest in jungle's harder side led to Johnson's earlier material gaining a new audience, and his newer productions brought back the darkness and choppy Amen breaks. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Planet+Mu%22">Planet Mu</a>, who had released a <a href="spotify:artist:0nCxyI85p7XgWv2LLv4S9d">Remarc</a> compilation in 2003, issued Bizzy B's Science EP, Vol. 3 double 10", continuing a series initiated in 1993. Vol. 4 followed in 2005, and both volumes were issued on CD with a bonus track. Vol. 5 and Vol. 6 both followed in 2006, and Johnson's crucial early work was compiled on Retrospective in 2009. He also released two volumes of Dubplates on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Brain+Records%22">Brain Records</a> by the end of the decade. He remained highly active during the 2010s, releasing new productions (including Science, Vol. 7 in 2016) as well as collections of unreleased tunes from the '90s. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi