Dubstep Canada

Ever since Snoop Dogg’s infamous Twittering of his love for dubstep, many hip hop enthusiasts have discovered that they feel the same way.  And it’s only natural, right?  The heavy bass, the half-time sultry beats, and the already existing integration with rappers and sampling make it a crossover no-brainer.

One recent convert is West Coast Canadian producer Stylust.  Already a success in the hip hop world, he’s best known for his work with high-profile artists like The Game, Freestyle (Arsonists), and Swollen Members.  More recently, he’s been bitten by the dubstep bug and has been churning out some quality bangers, and together with frequent collaborator Emotionz has founded a small but successful weekly dedicated to dubstep, glitch, and true to its name – “Whatever’s Dope.”

Stylust killing it at Shambhala

Stylust was inspired at an early age by the musicality of his older brother, who played in bands and introduced him to production software.  “Back then I was a DJ – playing everything from hip hop to breaks to German trance – but I always wanted to create my own music rather than just spin other people’s records.”

And hip hop resonated a particular chord with Stylust.  “Crazy records with amazing energy.. it was just the shit at the time!  So new and refreshing.  A lot like dubstep feels now.”

So how did you get from hip hop to dubstep?

“A little over a year ago some of my friends started bumping it when we were all chilin out.  I’d listen to some of the tracks and truthfully it took me awhile.  Possibly I wasn’t hearing the best representations of dubstep.  But then I started playing it out as a DJ and really got to experience the movement and energy.”

And how do you feel about the hip hop and dubstep scenes crossing over?

“There’s huge potential already.. A lot of the dubstep I’ve produced so far has been hip hop remixes, and I’ve seen first hand the hip hop cats slowly understanding the genre and really getting into it!  New people hit me up every day.  I only hope I can be a big part of crossing these genres.”

Stylust’s production is in mainstream demand, with his remix of “Gunz” by The Game feat. Freeway tracking over 98,000 downloads.  It’s his skillful beat crafting you’ll hear on the Joey Stylez current hit, “Kool Runnin”.  “It’s been a lifelong producer dream, to break top 40.. hearing it played in Subway is pretty funny!”

Simultaneously, the underground has been paying attention: Stylust dubstep is popping up in sets by everyone from Bassnectar to Mat the Alien.  And don’t forget the exhilarating, hip-hop-dubstep crossover work on the latest Emotionz album, “Kush”.  Tearing up Shambhala, the two are preparing for a Western Canada tour.  And Stylust’s ability to survive independently in this industry is poignantly obvious:

“I’m personally a big fan of the digitization of music.  Allthough music is definitely being pirated and artists are definitely losing money on music sales, as an independent artist we are able to reach a much larger audience than ever before through the Internet. We are also our own distribution companies and in full creative control of our product…receiving %100 of our digital sales.  which is an unheard of number when talking major label splits…So I am coping with this by focusing on internet presence and promotion and putting out the best original music possible!”

Although the genres cross quite admirably, there’s definitely some challenge going from hip hop to dubstep.  “The limited melodic aspects in dubstep are my biggest challenges.  I’m naturally a very melodic producer with many layers and elements contributing to each song, but in dubstep you don’t necessarily want that.   You want a few elements working amazingly together to create a musical energy.”

Although Stylust didn’t have the time to detail his exhaustive mixing rig, he did let us tech-geeks have a quick peek into his software list.  “My production laptop is a Macbook Pro with Pro Tools, Reason, Ableton, and Serato, with an AKAI MP49 MIDI controller.  Favourite plugins include Massive, Circle and Effectrix.”

With one foot stomping on the mainstream and the other firmly planted in the underground, it’s a wonder Stylust has so many more projects under his belt.  Besides his numerous production projects and weekly residency, he’s heavily involved in throwing underground bass parties.

“This mix I’m going to share with you is a 45 minute live DJ mix entitled DUBNEXT 2009.  I produced five of the songs.  With three of them being hip hop remixes, you can definitely see that influence throughout the mixtape.  It flows from smoother dub to harder, hip hop-influenced stuff and ends with some epic tunes!! Big shouts to Emotionz, Kian and Stan for help digging deep in the blogs and digital crates.”

Enjoy the mix and keep your eyes peeled for a new dubstep EP from Stylust. plenty of tour dates – and the inevitable sequel mix in 2010!

DUBNEXT 2009 - CLICK TO DOWNLOAD