Exodus/DMZ - Leeds tonight

A piece I did for Leeds Metro on Benga who plays at Exodus/DMZ, in Leeds tonight. Big up Benga, who actually said respect to me for being less than complimentary and critical (constructively) about Magnetic Man's first live show at Cargo earlier this year. I've got a lot of time for Benga as a person (he's straightforward, honest, what you see is what you get), producer and DJ.

BENGA

We’re approaching the halfway point of year but dubstep prodigy Benga’s done more in the first six months of 2008 than many producers and DJs achieve in a decade: the stocky 22-year-old’s debut LP, Diary Of An Afro Warrior (March) was critically acclaimed, his and Coki’s cascading bleep anthem Night pipped Burial to the honour of the first dubstep track to be playlisted on daytime Radio 1 (as well as being rotated on MTV), and also scooped single of the year at Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards.

And that’s not all: Benga’s been busy pioneering dubstep in a live format and toured the UK in March as super group Magnetic Man (with Skream and Artworks), which has secured the trio a main stage slot at Roskilde’s festival in June, to an audience of 70,000.

Benga might be one of the most in demand DJs and revered producers on the planet, but genial joker Benga has no airs or graces, loves to laugh and is disarmingly honest. ‘I had a late night so I’m walking around my room because if I stop moving my brain will stop working. Me and Skream have a Thursday Club, we meet up every Thursday, and sometimes Plastician as well, and go out and have a laugh. Last night we ended up staying in at mine and had a late, messy one – you got to have your jokes.’

Hanging out with his childhood mates like fellow Croydonite and baby-faced dubstep assassin Skream, keeps Benga grounded as he’s increasingly living a superstar DJ, jet-set lifestyle. ‘I’m travelling and DJing loads, I’m off to Israel in June and just got back from Japan which was wonderful, I’ve never met more friendly people in all my life,’ he says. ‘The soundsystems were amazing, everything was perfect the lighting, visuals, they brought in extra sound, so the whole dancefloor was surrounded by sound not just speaker stacks at the front. Whether it’s dubstep or any other music, the dancefloor should be surrounded by sound.’

Which brings us to the impeccable sonics of Iration Steppas’ soundsystem: Benga will be putting it through its paces on Saturday at Exodus/DMZ alongside Digital Mystikz and Loefah, Skream, Appleblim, amongst many other premier dubstep selectors.
Iration Steppas’ soundsystem is talked about in haloed terms by dubstep soundboys, obsessed with low-end frequencies that rattle your ribcage and shake your core.

‘For the size and space Subdub’s definitely the best soundsystem in the UK - I’m building really bass heavy tracks specifically to try out on it because it’s such a heavy system,’ says Benga who despite being sleep deprived cannot hide the excitement in his voice. ‘The vibe’s immense, everyone’s shocking out to the very end, even at 6am, when the lights are on, people are going mad – as a DJ you couldn’t ask for a better night.’

Tonight Exodus/DMZ, West India Centre, Laycock Place LS7, 9pm to 6am, £10.