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EYESCREAM - CHOP SOUND: BUBBLING BATTLE PACK VOL. 1
SELEGNA RECORDS | [SEL012]

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This summer, the yearly carnaval in Rotterdam apparently tried to ban an entire genre due to it's "vulgar dance".

The genre they were talking about is Bubbling.

Initially the sped up Dancehall riddims by DJ Moortje, it inspired a whole generation of Surinamese and Antillean youths in Holland. Later they mixed it with electronic elements, until it became a somewhat uncredited source of inspiration in Dutch electronic music.

Fortunately there is finally a resurgence in the sound nowadays.

However, the most interesting part of Bubbling remains obscure. This was the soundtrack behind the Bubbling battles in the 90's. Dancers would face off 1-on-1 to these beats. By recontextualizing popular tracks, most got their own custom track for the occassion.

It's as slowed down as the Chopped and Screwed beats of DJ Screw, while equally having the fast chopped up processing of Jungle and the mashed up flair of Breakcore.

This hybrid sound which uses the riddims as breaks, is completely unique to Holland. Why is nobody making it?

Eyescream seemed to have that thought as well. After working on the concept for over a year, he presents his vision on Battle Bubbling. Without watering down the sound, he brought it back into 2023.

Involving Drill and Moombahton elements, while casually switching it up into Surinamese rhythms and Amen breaks - it's all in there. On one of the tracks you'll even hear DJ Blass styled Reggeton of the '00.

This is the first installment of the Chop Sound series. We hope you like it!