Aphrodite

Gavin King, recording as Aphrodite, ranks among the foremost exponents of jump-up jungle, the lean, high-octane variant of drum’n’bass engineered for maximum floor impact. His productions rely on straightforward rolling drum patterns, massive undulating basslines, and plentiful chopped hip-hop and ragga samples. Releases under the Aphrodite, Alladin, and Amazon II names—a joint venture with Tony B.—began dominating dancefloors in 1995 once top selectors such as Hype and Zinc gave them heavy rotation. Although his earliest material stayed rooted in ragga, the late-1995 and 1996 output started linking ragga’s flashy, sample-laden hooks to jump-up’s brisker, more agile step. The catalog includes numerous chart-topping jump-up cuts such as “King of the Beats,” “Woman That Rolls,” “Mash Up Your,” and “Dub Moods.” Most tracks appeared on his own Aphrodite Recordings imprint, yet in 1996 King teamed with DJ/producer Mickey Finn for several recordings, among them “Bad Ass” and “Big Time,” issued on their co-founded Urban Takeover label. He is also widely believed to be the producer behind numerous white-label-only bootleg jungle versions, including treatments of “Mission: Impossible,” “No Diggity,” and the Luniz’ “I Got Five on It,” in addition to official remixes for Dub War and Nine Inch Nails. The 1997 compilation Aphrodite Recordings remains the most complete introduction to his work, while the self-titled 1999 American debut gathered earlier tracks with several new remixes. King has likewise helmed mix albums including Full Force and 1998’s Takeover Bid: Round One, the latter reissued in 2001 as part of the Mixer “Rewind” series. In 2002 the first album under his V2 Records distribution deal, Aftershock, was released.