For my essay, I immediately thought of focusing on Drum and Bass and finding something specific within the genre to critically reflect on. I make a lot of Drum and Bass music and I am all too familiar with the common misconception that the culture is abrasive and unconcerned, and there is a real stigma around the genre that is perceived by those that don’t actively listen to it. My knowledge of the culture that surrounds Drum and Bass is pretty good but limited, and I feel like this essay could be an opportunity for me to dive really deep into the inner workings of the culture, the philosophies and its position in a broader context of UK music and sound. I would like to focus on D&B’s counter-cultural movement and its existence within a capitalist society, of which its framework can be critically assessed. There is also a potential to look into the techniques implemented in D&B production and the ever-present technological changes that have altered it’s perception and possibly even its definition. There are many subgenres that I could also focus on, whether that be focusing on one for the whole essay or touching on them during the essay. Exploring how these subgenres interact with one another and how they even came about could be interesting, but the only challenging thing will be figuring out what to title the essay and if I can form a strong and coherent enough argument about a facet of D&B for an entire essay. I feel as though there are limited things I could talk about, but that might be because I am simply thinking from the perspective of studying it from a social, or anthropological point of view as our recent lecture focused on that. I might be able to focus on techniques or experience but this is something that I will ultimately have to flesh out and again justify a compelling critical reflection.
