Words: James Keith

Oliver Jones first came to prominence as Skream in the early 2000s, alongside Benga, Loefah, Caspa, Rusko and the rest, as part of the vanguard of dubstep that brought the sound to global mainstream attention. After a string of cult favourite 12”s, Skream’s self-titled debut album became a genre-defining classic almost immediately.

Just as dubstep was peaking in the UK and beginning to stretch out into the States, Skream teamed up with Benga and Artwork to form Magnetic Man. The super-trio was the first sign of Skream’s shift away from dubstep. The wobbly low-end and sawtooth mid-range remained but after the sole Magnetic Man album, Skream’s production would continue to move more and more into the realms of 4x4. Disco, house, techno, dub-techno would all follow and continue to this day.

Today, Skream belongs to no one scene. He still occasionally produces and DJs dubstep, but he’s become so known for his versatility that he can dip into anything he likes really; from house and disco to grime and techno. His appearance on Finn’s B2B series recently was a timely reminder of just how good he’s always been. In truth, 2019 could bring just about anything from Skream in just about any genre—only time will tell.

Here are 20 reasons to love Skream.