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Broken Beat

About Broken Beat (BRUK)

As with House Music, the origins of Broken Beat (also known as BRUK) and Nu-Jazz as a specific genre (or possibly genres, for reasons which will become clear in this piece) are debatable and somewhat tangled (not least because of the many and diverse influences that can be found or heard within!), but what is generally accepted is that Broken Beat was born as a “movement” within West London in the late 1990s.

Unlike House Music, there is no staple “sound”, but at its most basic level, Broken Beat consists of stuttered, “staccato” or “offbeat” (hence the term “broken”) rhythms, and the rhythms can be drawn from influences as diverse as house, hip-hop, soul, reggae, jazz, drum and bass, funk, Latin and Afro-beat. Like House, it remains non-mainstream and underground internationally, with the more well-known artists and producers within the genre including the likes of Bugz In The Attic (and their many alter-egos!), Domu, Colonel Red, 4Hero, Bembe Segue, Kay Suzuki and Phuturistix (UK), Mark de-Clive Lowe, Lanu, Nathan Haines (Aus/NZ), Vikter Duplaix, King Britt, Yellowtail, Jeremy Ellis (under the alter-ego “Ayro”) and Galaxy Group/Capitol A (US).   Broken Beat music has strong links to a genre called Nu Jazz Which you can read about by following the links below.

Now, I’m no authority, but what makes incorporating Broken Beat and Nu Jazz with House such an exciting and vibrant exercise for me personally, is that they draw on so many other influences for their sound and therefore bring an element of “freshness” and diversity to sets; unlike House Music, the rhythms are merely the starting point for musical and vocal experimentation and exploration, not the focal point. As mentioned at the beginning of the entire feature, House Music is a “feeling”, and while Broken Beat/Nu-Jazz shares that, to my mind, the genres add a “cerebral” element to the emotional connection – you may agree, you may not, but whatever, it WILL make you move!!
The Brother C.

Article By “The Brother C”   who you can catch live on Pressure Radio every Saturday 10am UK time playing the best in Broken Beat, Nu Jazz, Deep House and Soulful house.

…for further/more knowledgeable info, check out the article on http://www.factmag.com

Further info on house music genre’s click links below:-