Breakbeat
Breakbeat is -- and always will be -- one of the most dominant forms of dance music. You can trace the movement back to the days when James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, and Isaac Hayes ruled, through the electro explosion led by Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force, up to the present day nu-breaks movement engineered by Adam Freeleand et al. The early '90s rave boom in Europe was built on it, the West Coast is obsessed with it, and drum and bass (to some extent) grew out of it. Breakbeat gained popularity in the U.K. through seminal tracks like "The Phantom" by Renegade Soundwave, "Papua New Guinea" by Future Sound Of London, and later "Bombscare" by 2 Bad Mice. In the late 90's the commercial success of bands like Fatboy Slim, Chemical
Brothers, The Crystal Method, and The Prodigy has both attracted the attention of the major labels and has made the music available to a much wider audience. Many believe that it is this genre that will break electronic music in the U.S.
