Biography
Kode9 sustains a leading role within underground dance music through his establishment of the pioneering Hyperdub imprint, his inventive DJ performances, and his ongoing output of productions plus remixes. As one of the creators behind the U.K. dubstep movement, he launched Hyperdub during 2004 and issued multiple singles featuring ragga vocalist Spaceape, together with the albums Memories of the Future (2006) and Black Sun (2011) plus the mix CD Dubstep Allstars, Vol. 3 (2006). He broadened his range by becoming an early supporter of the juke/footwork movement while incorporating broken beat, garage, and grime elements on projects such as the solo album Nothing (2015) and the mix-CD Fabriclive 100 (2018, with Burial). Escapology, tied to the larger Astro-Darien endeavor, surfaced in 2022. He blended jungle and footwork on "Infirmary," his contribution to a 2023 split single shared with Burial.
Born Steve Goodman in Glasgow, Scotland, he started DJ'ing during 1990 at the age of 16 and points to his initial exposure to drum'n'bass as a decisive factor shaping his subsequent path. During 1997 he relocated to London, where he kept performing as a DJ by blending breaks- and bass-driven approaches. In 2002 he issued his first productions under the name Kode9 on the Tempa label before establishing his own Hyperdub imprint shortly afterward. The label's inaugural release, Sine of the Dub (2004), reworks Prince's "Sign o' the Times" in dubstep style and credits Kode9 alongside vocalist Daddi Gee, later known as the Spaceape, whose partnership extended across following years. In 2005 Hyperdub put out South London Boroughs, the debut EP from Burial, whose subsequent albums Burial (2006) and Untrue (2007) received widespread praise and helped spread dubstep worldwide.
While overseeing the growing label, Kode9 kept issuing his own Hyperdub material, notably the debut full-length Memories of the Future (2006) recorded with the Spaceape. He delivered his first official mix album, Dubstep Allstars, Vol. 3 (2006), via Tempa and returned four years later with a volume in the !K7 label's DJ-Kicks series. He also authored the book Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear, released in 2009. The tense follow-up Black Sun (2011) marked Kode9's second album alongside the Spaceape. During 2013 he compiled Rinse, Vol. 22 for Rinse Recordings and released the solo 12" "Xingfu Lu" on Hyperdub; both reflected stronger Chicago footwork influences, the same year Hyperdub issued DJ Rashad's well-received Double Cup album. The year 2014 brought the losses of both DJ Rashad and the Spaceape, the latter succumbing to cancer in October just before the final Kode9 collaboration Killing Season appeared. Kode9's first solo full-length Nothing (2015) addressed those events.
He focused primarily on DJ work and Hyperdub operations over the next several years rather than new productions, yet in 2018 he joined Burial to create Fabriclive 100, concluding that long-running mix-CD series. The digital single "The Jackpot" arrived in 2021. The album Escapology, presented as the soundtrack to the sonic fiction Astro-Darien, followed in 2022. Kode9 additionally issued Astro-Darien itself, a 26-minute narrated piece on the break-up of Britain delivered through synthetic Scottish voices. The Fabric split single Infirmary/Unknown Summer with Burial appeared in 2023, Kode9's jittery side fusing footwork, jazz, and jungle.
Born Steve Goodman in Glasgow, Scotland, he started DJ'ing during 1990 at the age of 16 and points to his initial exposure to drum'n'bass as a decisive factor shaping his subsequent path. During 1997 he relocated to London, where he kept performing as a DJ by blending breaks- and bass-driven approaches. In 2002 he issued his first productions under the name Kode9 on the Tempa label before establishing his own Hyperdub imprint shortly afterward. The label's inaugural release, Sine of the Dub (2004), reworks Prince's "Sign o' the Times" in dubstep style and credits Kode9 alongside vocalist Daddi Gee, later known as the Spaceape, whose partnership extended across following years. In 2005 Hyperdub put out South London Boroughs, the debut EP from Burial, whose subsequent albums Burial (2006) and Untrue (2007) received widespread praise and helped spread dubstep worldwide.
While overseeing the growing label, Kode9 kept issuing his own Hyperdub material, notably the debut full-length Memories of the Future (2006) recorded with the Spaceape. He delivered his first official mix album, Dubstep Allstars, Vol. 3 (2006), via Tempa and returned four years later with a volume in the !K7 label's DJ-Kicks series. He also authored the book Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear, released in 2009. The tense follow-up Black Sun (2011) marked Kode9's second album alongside the Spaceape. During 2013 he compiled Rinse, Vol. 22 for Rinse Recordings and released the solo 12" "Xingfu Lu" on Hyperdub; both reflected stronger Chicago footwork influences, the same year Hyperdub issued DJ Rashad's well-received Double Cup album. The year 2014 brought the losses of both DJ Rashad and the Spaceape, the latter succumbing to cancer in October just before the final Kode9 collaboration Killing Season appeared. Kode9's first solo full-length Nothing (2015) addressed those events.
He focused primarily on DJ work and Hyperdub operations over the next several years rather than new productions, yet in 2018 he joined Burial to create Fabriclive 100, concluding that long-running mix-CD series. The digital single "The Jackpot" arrived in 2021. The album Escapology, presented as the soundtrack to the sonic fiction Astro-Darien, followed in 2022. Kode9 additionally issued Astro-Darien itself, a 26-minute narrated piece on the break-up of Britain delivered through synthetic Scottish voices. The Fabric split single Infirmary/Unknown Summer with Burial appeared in 2023, Kode9's jittery side fusing footwork, jazz, and jungle.
Singles
