DJ Hype

Although his Ganja Records label and tracks released under his own name and with the Ganja Kru have helped, it's the "DJ" at the front of Hype's name that has proved most important in raising his profile to the level of the Grooverider's, Goldie's, and LTJ Bukem's of drum'n'bass. A battle DJ of renown (he represented England in the 1989 DMCs), Hype had a history of electrifying deckwork before moving on from his reggae and hip-hop roots in the late '80s and latching onto house and hardcore. He was an early force on one of London's most influential pirate stations, Fantasy FM, and since then he's consistently topped bills on the international DJ circuit, landing awards for Best Male DJ and Best Radio DJ (in 1994 and 1995, respectively) at the U.K.'s prestigious Hardcore Awards. He's also one of London's popular Kiss FM's biggest attractions and was the force behind Suburban Base's popular multi-volumed mixed compilation series, Drum and Bass Selection. A champion of jungle's dancefloor purity, Hype has also rallied consistently against jungle's compartmentalization into artificial "scenes" such as ambient/intelligent and hip-hop/ragga. (Of course, his sets tend to consist almost exclusively of the latter, which somewhat undermines his argument.)