I am pretty sure that I have alluded to my electronic music coming-of-age story in one of my previous bits here. With some imagination, more or less linearly: from David Guetta and Moonbootica, across Oliver Koletzki, Alle Farben, and N’to, all the way to artists like SPDFJ or Marlon Hoffstadt.
What I pretty sure did not mention along those lines, are genres like Drum’n’Bass or Jungle, despite them being ever present. Granted, often more on the sidelines, but there nonetheless.
My eldest cousin, in a conversation years (possibly closer to decades at this point) ago, pointed me to a movie that was important to his formative years and “you have probably not seen”: Human Traffic (1999). Somewhat of a cult film, following a group of friends through a raucous weekend of clubbing and youthful shenanigans.
The movie is quite ‘99, be sure of that – not exactly highbrow art – but it is a lot of fun, a real blast from the past. (If you are looking for something equally of the time, but more critically agreeable, check out 24 Hour Party People (2002).) And while it definitely still has some name recognition today, certain parts of it are more memorable than others.
For me personally, and apparently for enough other people to warrant it being on YouTube, one core memory of this movie has to do with a scene at the record shop. Flashy colored customers, center of frame, come in to get their fix of latest musical prowess – the MC making sure to keep them hooked up with and affixed to what’s good – and when the clerk spins up some Jungle a full on dance party breaks loose.
Throughout the years, I tend to think of this movie scene when I come across artists like Chase & Status, Sl8r, or PinkPatheress. Sure, the sound is different (please don’t denounce me on my conceptual blending of multiple distinct—though similar in many ways—genres), but the breakbeats and bass-lines are at the very least reminiscent.
Earlier this year, I came across an artist by the name of Nia Archives, when she released her debut album, Silence Is Loud (2024). Being born in 1999, Nia missed out on the heyday of the genre and is now one of the faces of its new generation. Inspired by the female representation in Jungle documentaries that she watched growing up, she decided to take matters in her own hand and create the music that they wouldn’t play at the parties she attended. Fiercely independent, she then went on to release her music sans label when no one would pick her up.
Now, she’s touring the world, helping bring the sound back to the front and center. (Fun sidebar: the image currently displayed on the English Wikipedia page is from her Amsterdam gig that I had the pleasure of attending earlier this month) You go, girl!
Coryphe 
