Beats on Top

For someone who has only been in the game a few short years,
Rusko (AKA Chris Mercer) has managed to land himself an impressive spot
on the cutting edge of the quickly evolving dubstep scene. Mercer has
done a remarkable job honing his countless associations to allow his
music widespread appeal. Remixes of artists like renowned turntablist
A-Trak, party rapper Kid Sister, British glitch-hoppers Audio Bullies,
and tech-house hotshot Claude VonStroke show depth in taste, and take
dubstep beyond its limited base of UK garage, grime, and drum ‘n’ bass
followers. The net was cast even further when the likes of Diplo, Drop
the Lime, and Buraka Som Sistema all personally expanded on Rusko’s
unique production work with their own remixes of his material.

Rusko’s style has everything to do with growing up in Leeds, where
the eminent Iration Steppas studio and accompanying SubDub club night
have drawn on the tradition of massive sound from Jamaica, and set the
bar for bass music throughout Europe. Mercer took direction from these
low-end experts early in his career, a move that lent his production a
highly sophisticated sound. He’s also been influenced a great deal by
fellow London-based dub-stepper, Caspa. The two have collaborated on
production, toured together extensively, and were chosen to co-produce
a mix for London’s prestigious Fabric club/label, the first dubstep mix
in the history of the trendsetting DJ series.

That they were selected for this mix probably had something to do
with Rusko’s instant anthem, “Cockney Thug,” which, when played by all
three of the headliners at a recent Fabric drum ‘n’ bass night,
resulted in the crowd going completely insane. The irresistible
combination of monstrous rolling bass, breaky high end, and a
ridiculously enticing British gangster vocal sample (“Fuck!”) make it
impossible to hear this song and not get some bounce on.

Dubstep has blown up bigger and faster than just about any other
recent genre of music, with elements fast finding their way into all
other styles of electronic music. That said, Rusko’s fresh production
ideas and ability to collaborate with a variety of unexpected artists
places him square on the frontline of the bass revolution. Not bad for
a cockney thug.