MOOMBAHTON: THE NEXT GENRE TO RIVAL DUBSTEP?
There was a time when playing great records put you on the map. Nowadays, the proliferation of DJs has made producing essential to climbing the ladder. With this rationale, wouldn’t it be faster to leapfrog your peers by creating your own genre altogether?
In his 2002 essay entitled “Postproduction”, French curator and art critic, Nicolas Bourriaud stated, “The remixer has become more important than the instrumentalist…” Bourriaud’s quote seemed to bolster my hypothesis when a young New York DJ, Ear Thing, gave me a heads up about the sound of a relatively new genre called Moombahton, which was created not by an “instrumentalist” but by a “configurable musician”.
In 2009, DJ/Producer Dave Nada slowed down the Afrojack remix of the Silvio Ecomo & DJ Chuckie song “Moombah” to a mere 108 beats per minute, and the inspiration for this new genre was born. He proceeded to produce a 5 track EP titled “Moombahton” (The title and name of a new genre after the combination of the inspirational track and “Reggaeton”, the urban Latin musical style that evolved from Reggae) which was released on T&A Records in March 2010. This music, which began as Dutch House on Valium, has metamorphosized into a complex mix of the Baltimore Sound, Reggaeton, Dutch House, Glitch vocal cut ups, echoes, prolonged build ups and tropical drum rhythms.
Moombahton has since been recognized by numerous configurable musicians as a new genre, and is rapidly evolving into a movement that I believe will give Dubstep a run for it’s money. In all likelihood though, these two genres will get together and squeeze out a love child I am preemptively calling “Mumbstepatata”.
Some Moombahton pioneers include: DJ Sabo, Munchi, A-Mac, DJ Melo, Uncle Jesse, David Heartbreak, Philadelphyinz (DJ Apt One & Skinny Friedman), Sonido Rampage Y Nader, Billfold AKA Billy The Gent, Obeyah, Cam Jus, Steve Starks, Dillon Francis, Sabbo, Moombahtron and Doc Adam.
