Skream

London-based producer and DJ Skream, born Ollie Jones, commands expertise across multiple bass-driven dance music styles. During the 2000s he helped shape dubstep’s rise and later expanded into techno, disco, drum’n’bass, and further directions. After initial joint projects with scene originators Benga and Loefah, he issued the instantly identifiable dubstep cut “Midnight Request Line” in 2005; the track later featured on his 2006 debut album Skream!, among the genre’s first full-length statements. Through his productions and remixes he moved dubstep away from its earlier dark, stripped-down club sound toward brighter, more melodic territory, opening the door to mainstream acceptance around 2010. His most prominent commercial achievement arrived via the dubstep supergroup Magnetic Man, completed by Benga and Artwork, whose self-titled first album topped the U.K. dance chart that same year. Although chiefly linked to dubstep, Skream has consistently worked beyond any single style, devoting much of his output since the mid-2010s to house and techno. Sets such as the 2018 mix Fabriclive 96 deliver fluid, driving blends of tech-house and electro, while tracks including 2014’s “Bang That” and 2021’s “Chester’s Groove” supply potent club tools. Issued in 2023, Skreamizm 8, the latest full-length installment of his long-running series, emphasizes breakbeat-driven progressive house. In 2024 he supplied remixes for Eliza Rose and Charli xcx.

Jones benefited from a position at the Big Apple record store when he began producing beats at age fifteen using a cracked copy of Fruity Loops. The shop stood at the heart of the early evolution of U.K. garage’s dark, half-speed offshoot that would become dubstep, and it was there that Jones, recording as Skream, encountered fellow producers Benga and Hatcha. As a resident at the influential Forward club, Hatcha regularly premiered dubplates of early Skream and Benga material. Their sound adapted dance music’s tension-and-release structure by removing the release and intensifying the tension, employing slow, heavy basslines and wavering treble to evoke urban anxiety in an appealing manner. The focus on sub-bass won club audiences, while online bloggers further amplified their reach; word-of-mouth circulation on the internet lifted Skream from local recognition in Croydon to international attention.

Once the Big Apple owner established a label to house dubstep output, Skream contributed releases to it; additional early singles appeared via Ital, Tectonic, and Tempa, the last of which issued his breakthrough “Midnight Request Line,” which earned notice well beyond dubstep circles. The track formed part of his debut album Skream!, released by Tempa in 2006. He began a weekly Rinse FM show (later co-hosted with Benga) and kept issuing well-received singles and EPs through the ongoing Skreamizm series. His first mix CD, Rinse: 02, surfaced in 2007, followed by Watch the Ride in 2008.

Skream extended his reach by remixing artists outside dubstep, among them David Gahan of Depeche Mode and Klaxons, widening the genre’s audience. His rave-flavored rework of La Roux’s “In for the Kill” notably supported the track’s global breakthrough. His second album, Outside the Box, arrived in 2010, displaying stronger pop leanings alongside several intense drum’n’bass cuts. That year also brought Magnetic Man’s debut, featuring the U.K. Top Ten single “I Need Air” and guest appearances by John Legend, Katy B, and Ms. Dynamite. Skream and Benga departed Rinse FM in 2011, securing a weekly BBC Radio 1 slot by April 2012.

Although he continued releasing dubstep 12"s on Deep Medi Musik and Nonplus Records, his DJ sets began folding in techno, house, and disco, a shift mirrored in his own productions. The disco-tinged “Rollercoaster” with Sam Frank emerged in 2013, alongside the double mix CD All Gone Miami 2013 shared with Pete Tong. The harder-edged techno cut “Bang That” followed on Boysnoize Records in 2014, with later material appearing on Crosstown Rebels and his own Of Unsound Mind label. Fabric issued the 2018 mix CD Fabriclive 96, a seamless selection of techno, house, and electro. Further club tracks arrived, including 2019’s “Otto’s Chant” with Michael Bibi and 2020’s “DUNNN,” together with the Unreleased Classics archival series.

In 2021 Skream teamed with MUST DIE! for “LOL OK,” collaborated with Japanese taiko ensemble Kodo on “Shinogi,” issued the EP Steel City Dance Discs, Vol. 23, and released several singles. The Attention Deficit EP, featuring a track co-produced with Jackmaster, appeared in 2022. The next year he delivered Skreamizm 8, a longer release leaning toward breakbeats and featuring Trim, Prospa, and Lagoon Wavey. Throughout 2024 his focus remained on remixes and joint projects, among them versions of Eliza Rose and Calvin Harris’s “Body Moving” and Charli xcx’s “Von Dutch,” plus the original track “Witching Hour” alongside AF13 and Jeff Kite.