England native and one of the original godfathers of dubstep, Rusko, has recently signed to Skrillex’s record label, OWSLA and attempts to hit the ground running with the release of his new Drum & Bass single, “Takeoff”. Claiming that he “grew up listening to drum-and-bass”, Rusko wanted to step away from his typical dubstep productions to make a track that he feels is “music from [his] heart”. Now, anyone with a decent amount of knowledge of the EDM scene acknowledges that dubstep’s overall popularity has been declining (Google Trends search “dubstep” if you want to a good idea of what I mean) and older acts like Caspa, Rusko and Skream haven’t exactly been making major well known bangers as of recent (Skream recently announcing he will no longer be DJing “until further notice”, following Feed Me’s DJ-retirement announcement about a week earlier). Assuming Rusko sticks with mostly dubstep productions, maybe his union with OWSLA, without a doubt one of the most well known EDM labels, is just what the dubstep needs to reclaim some of that fire it had a few years ago. But only time will tell.
When it comes to “Takeoff”, I enjoy the song for what it is; a danceable, fast-paced DnB tune with some neat Jay-Z vocal samples that can get a crowd excited. You can hear the “Skrillex Sound” influence in the track, being a completely different animal from older dubstep classics like “Cockney Thug” and “Woo Boost”. All in all, it’s a good track to ring in a fresh new start for the very talented producer and DJ. Let’s hope this marks the comeback Rusko’s working towards! Give “Takeoff” a listen below!
Listen to “Take Off” on Rolling Stones
