In The Wild

Charva is a North East England working‑class club and street‑party micro‑scene that blends fast UK hard dance with shout‑along MCing in strong Geordie/Mackem dialects. It draws heavily from Spanish‑rooted makina, Scouse/bounce/donk and early‑2000s UK hardcore, favoring 150–165 BPM tempos, pounding 4/4 kicks, hoover leads, octave‑jumping bass stabs and big supersaw riffs. MCs deliver rapid, call‑and‑response bars about nightlife, bravado and local identity over continuous DJ blends. Rather than a formal industry genre, Charva is a vernacular sound tied to venues, crews and homemade tape/CD/YouTube rips from the New Monkey era, later resurfacing via social media nostalgia and car‑sound‑system culture.

UK DnB (United Kingdom drum and bass) is the British-born, high‑tempo breakbeat music that crystallized out of the early 1990s rave and jungle scenes. It is defined by rapid, syncopated breakbeats (typically around 170–176 BPM), deep sub‑bass rooted in sound‑system culture, and a production aesthetic that ranges from dark and industrial to soulful and melodic. The UK scene set the blueprint for the genre’s DJ culture, MC tradition, and label ecosystem, with seminal clubs, pirate radio stations, and independent labels shaping how drum and bass sounds and is performed. From the metallic futurism of techstep and neurofunk to the jazz‑infused smoothness of liquid funk, UK DnB remains the reference point for the genre’s sound design, energy, and innovation.

Liquid funk (often called liquid drum and bass) is a melodic, soulful offshoot of drum and bass that emphasizes musicality over aggression. It typically runs at 170–174 BPM and features rolling breakbeats, warm sub‑bass, lush pads, jazzy chords, and expressive vocals or instrumental leads. Drawing on soul, funk, jazz, house, and ambient textures, liquid funk trades distorted basslines and harsh sound design for smooth grooves, chordal richness, and emotionally resonant hooks. The result is a sound equally at home on late‑night dancefloors and headphones, balancing dancefloor energy with reflective, feel‑good atmospheres.

Drum and bass (DnB) is a fast, rhythmically intricate form of electronic dance music centered on breakbeats at roughly 160–180 BPM and powerful, sub‑heavy basslines. It grew out of the UK’s early ’90s rave and jungle scenes, combining chopped funk breaks (most famously the Amen break), dub and reggae sound‑system aesthetics, hip‑hop sampling, and techno’s futurist sound design. Across its many substyles—liquid funk’s soulful harmonies, techstep and neurofunk’s cold, machine‑like bass engineering, jump‑up’s hooky bass riffs, atmospheric DnB’s pads and space—drum and bass remains a DJ‑oriented, dancefloor‑driven genre that prizes tight drum programming, deep low end, and precise arrangement for mixing.