Deekline is a British producer and DJ of

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

breakstep Breakstep, or breakbeat garage, is a genre of music that evolved from the UK garage scene and influenced the emergence of dubstep. History Breakstep evolved from the 2-step garage sound. Moving away from the more soulful elements of garage, it i ...

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

and

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

music. He is the innovator of

music which is bass-heavy, breakbeat-infused 2-step, first characterised in his 1999 hit "

I Don't Smoke "I Don't Smoke" is a song by English breakbeat/UK garage musician DJ Dee Kline. Originally released in 1999 on Rat Records, the song became a major underground club hit and was rereleased on 22 May 2000 as a single on EastWest the following year. ...

", which reached No. 11 on the UK charts. He is the owner of Rat Records, which has released material of such artists as

DJ Fresh Daniel Edward Stein (born 11 April 1977), better known by his stage name DJ Fresh, is an English musician, DJ, record producer, best known for making electronic music. He is one of the principal members of the drum and bass group Bad Company, ...

Jack Beats Jack Beats is an English electronic music project from London, originally formed in 2007 by DJ Plus One (from the Scratch Perverts) and Beni G (from The Mixologists), both of which are multiple DJ champions and award-winning DJs. The Jack Beats ...

Stanton Warriors Stanton Warriors are a British DJ and production duo consisting of Dominic Butler and Mark Yardley. Originally from the West Country, the duo have performed internationally with their infamous Stanton Sessions parties in Europe, North Americ ...

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town *Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mill ...

, Skinny Man,

Rennie Pilgrem Rennie Pilgrem is an English electronic music producer. He is often considered responsible for the creation of the nu skool breaks genre. Before moving into breaks, Pilgrem was part of the influential rave group Rhythm Section along with Richie ...

, House Breakers and

Freq Nasty Darin McFadyen, better known by his stage name FreQ Nasty, is a DJ and producer of breakbeat electronic music, currently based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally from New Zealand, McFadyen's artistic career has taken him acros ...

. Deekline has also had notable collaborations with British electronic music producers

Ed Solo Ed Solo (born Ed Bickley) is a British disc jockey and record producer of electronic dance music. He has worked with artists including Blak Twang, Deekline, MC Det, Fatboy Slim, Roots Manuva, Shy FX, DJ Swift, DJ Trace and Elisabeth Troy. Car ...

and Wizard. In 2011, he opened up his online clothing store, Bass Boutique.

Biography

Deekline began collecting records at the age of 10, inspired by early funk, electro and hip-hop scratch DJs. He began playing house parties and raves in the London underground electronic music scene before getting involved with pirate radio, first DJing drum and bass on

Don FM Don FM was a 1990s London pirate radio station, influential in the development of breakbeat hardcore, jungle and drum and bass music. It was the first jungle pirate station granted a temporary legal license. Don first broadcast in November 199 ...

with his longtime MC, Hyperactive.

1998–2000: Flex FM and "I Don't Smoke"

Deekline became owner of London's biggest pirate radio station

Flex FM Flex FM is a London-based community radio station, which originally started life as a pirate radio station. Flex broadcasts house, drum and bass, dubstep, UK garage, old skool hardcore, reggae and soul to London and surrounding areas on 101.4F ...

which predominantly played UK garage music and other underground electronic music. In 1999, he set up Rat Records to release his track "

". It sold 20,000 copies on Rat Records, and then it went on to sell another 150,000, reaching number 11 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The bass-heavy, breakbeat-infused garage sound characterised on "I Don't Smoke" became known as

. The song features a sample of comedian

Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian, actor and satirist. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Early life Brigstocke is th ...

from the sketch show ''

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

'', repeating the title phrase "I don't smoke the reefer" in a faux Rasta accent. Brigstocke (possibly best known from the British TV show ''

Argumental ''Argumental'' (working title ''Whose Side Are You On?'') is a British improvised comedy panel game hosted originally by John Sergeant and later Sean Lock, alongside two teams captained by Marcus Brigstocke and Rufus Hound, followed by Robert We ...

'') is sampled on "I Don't Smoke" as saying, "I don't smoke cigarettes, I don't smoke cigars, I don't smoke a pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe..." followed by "I don't smoke the reefer!". He talked about it on the ''

Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...

'' in 2010, where he explained that he was impersonating Jim Davidson's character Chalkie White for a sketch show, and that it was sampled into the track. Brigstocke said he was "delighted and mortified at the same time" when he heard the sample. The song also samples the guitar riff from the 1997

Skeewiff Shaft are an English electronic music production duo, known for their covers and remixes of " (Mucho Mambo) Sway" and " Mambo Italiano". The former entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in August 1999, then reached number ...

track "The Thin Line". Breakstep and "I Don't Smoke" were seminal in shaping the underground electronic music scene in London, paving the way for

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Wood ...

and

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

. Deekline retired from Flex FM in 2002 to focus on his own music after "I Don't Smoke" was signed by

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with th ...

2002–present

Deekline has remixed and collaborated with a variety of notable producers and has had international chart success with songs such as "The Mexican" with producer Tim Healey and "Shake the Pressure" with Florida

booty bass The term booty bass can refer to several different, loosely related genres of music: *Miami bass – largely based in Miami, but also found throughout Florida and elsewhere in the south. It is essentially the second form of hip hop to come into exi ...

pioneers Splack Pack. In addition to this, his collaborative projects with producer 'Wizard' on Deekline & Wizard's ''Breaks, Beats and Blondes'' and with

on his ''Jungle Cakes'' EPs have received international success. He also collaborated with such artists as Luke from

2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop music, hip hop group from Miami, Florida, which had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's most well-known line up was composed of Luther Campbell, Luke Campbell, Fr ...

, Splack Pack, DJ Assault,

, Tim Healey,

Freestylers The Freestylers are a British electronic music group, consisting of producers Matt Cantor and Aston Harvey. They have released five studio albums and a number of mix compilations for, among others, Fabric and BBC Radio. The group took their ...

and

Krafty Kuts Krafty Kuts (real name Martin Reeves) is an English producer and DJ of electronic music and breakbeat. His first album, ''Freakshow'', was released in 2006 on his Against The Grain label and contains guest artists Tim Deluxe and Ashley Sla ...

. In 2009, Deekline founded the label Jungle Cakes with Ed Solo, a sublabel of Hot Cakes and one of the biggest-selling jungle labels to date; it cleared and signed

Dawn Penn Dawn Penn (born 11 January 1952) is a Jamaican reggae singer. She first had a short career during the rocksteady era, between 1967 and 1969, but is most known for her single "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)" which became a worldwide hit in 1994. ...

's "No No No" which was championed by

Kissy Sell Out Kissy Sell Out (born Thomas Bisdee on 18 June 1984 in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England) is a British/Canadian DJ, producer, graphic designer, label manager of San City High Records and Stepper Man, part-time astrophysicist and science column ...

on Radio One, as well as Giant Pussy Records with Tim Healey. Deekline reworked "I Don't Smoke" in 2014 alongside

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

producers Specimen A and added a new rap by Majestic, titled as "Don't Smoke 2014".

Discography

Singles, EPs and remixes

*2000: "

" – UK No. 11 *2000: "Sexy Cinderella" ( EastWest) *2001: ''Beat Freaks'' (compilation, Clockwork Recordings) *2002: ''Bush Pig'' (with

Phil K Phillip Krokidis (6 May 1969 – 1 November 2020), known professionally as Phil K, was an Australian electronic music DJ and record producer from Melbourne. He was a member of the "Aussie breaks" music scene which also includes other Melbourne ...

and DJ Ransom, Supercharger Records) *2004: ''Breaks, Beats and Blondes'' (collaboration with British producer Wizard on Botchit and Scarper Records) *2005: "Touch Your Toes" (featuring MC Darrison,

Southern Fried ''Southern Fried'' is a studio album by American country singer-songwriter Bill Anderson and his band "The Po' Folks". It was released in 1983 on Southern Tracks Records. It was co-produced by Anderson and Mike Johnson. The album marked Anderson' ...

) *2006: "Outta Space" (Super Star) *2007: "Boomblast" (Remix) –

*2007: "Steam (Rock Out)" (

vs DJ Deekline & Wizard on

Breakbeat Kaos Breakbeat Kaos is a British independent record label based in London, United Kingdom, UK that specialises in drum and bass. It is jointly owned by DJ Fresh, Fresh and Adam F, who founded the label in 2003 by merging Fresh's Breakbeat Punk with ...

) *2008: "Hands Up" (with Flipside) *2008: "Fame and the Money" (with

Skinnyman Skinnyman (born Alexander Graham Holland, 9 November 1974) is a British rapper who was born in Chapeltown Leeds, Yorkshire and moved to Finsbury Park, London at a young age. He grew up on the Six Acres Estate next to Andover Estate. Among his ...

and Hyperactive, Booty Bouncers) *2009: "Back Up Coming Through" (with Against the Grain, licensed by

DJ Craze DJ Craze (born Arist Delgado; November 19, 1977), is a Nicaraguan American DJ and record producer who plays hip hop, Miami bass, trap, breaks, dubstep, drum and bass, and practices turntablism. He was, until 2020, the only solo DJ in history to ...

Fabric Live From November 2001 to November 2018, the London nightclub fabric ran a monthly mix compilation series. Mixed by a variety of emerging and established DJs, the two series were entitled ''fabric'' and ''FABRICLIVE'' respectively. The compilation m ...

, also remixed by

Bassnectar Lorin Gabriel Ashton, better known under his stage name Bassnectar (born February 16, 1978), is an American DJ and record producer. Biography Ashton grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Bellarmine College Preparatory. He initiall ...

and

) *2009: ''Hardcore Beats'' (mix CD with

Ragga Twins The Ragga Twins, also known as RTC, are an English ragga and jungle MC duo of Deman Rocker (David Destouche) and Flinty Badman (Trevor Destouche). Originating from Hackney, England, they started out on London's Unity sound system, and are re ...

Black Butter Records Black Butter Records is a British record label based in London, England. It was founded in 2010 by Olly Wood, Henry Village and Joe Gossa, with an investment of £5,000, and was named after a brand of condiments that had the same name. It was ...

) *2009: "Dip and Get Low" –

*2009: "One in the Front" (with DJ Assault) *2010: "The Mexican" (with Tim Healey) *2010: "Yo Yo Get Funky" (Remix) – Fast Eddie (with Tim Healey) *2010: "My My My" (Remix) – Armand van Helden *2010: "Sound Clash" (Remix) –

Jessie Ware Jessica Lois Ware (born 15 October 1984) is an English singer, songwriter and broadcaster. Ware came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album, ''Devotion'' (2012), which peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart, produce ...

(with Ed Solo, Rack and Ruin) *2011: "The Bomb" (with

, Ivory and Wizard) *2011: "Shake the Pressure" (with Ed Solo featuring Splack Pack & Kidd Money on

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1979 births Living people Breakbeat musicians UK garage musicians English drum and bass musicians English record producers English DJs Musicians from London East West Records artists Electronic dance music DJs