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Purple

Also known as Purple Sound

2008 – 2012Bristol (UK)138–142 BPM

Bright, funky dubstep from Bristol around 2008 to 2011: G-funk synth leads, swung half-time beats and video game colours instead of darkness.

How to recognise it

  • Half-time 140 BPM beats with a hip hop bounce rather than a dread march.
  • Wide, bending synth leads that recall 1990s West Coast rap.
  • Rich chords and arpeggios; the bass is warm and funky, not distorted.
  • Bright, playful sounds borrowed from 8-bit and 16-bit video games.

Purple was a Bristol sound of the late 2000s, made by young producers who had grown up on grime, G-funk and video games. Joker, Guido and Gemmy took dubstep’s half-time beat and filled it with colour: long synth leads that bend like 1990s West Coast rap, rich chords, funky basslines and bright sounds lifted from the consoles of their childhood. Next to the dark minimalism of DMZ, it sounded almost cheerful.

The name was an accident. According to the music site Dummy, Gemmy’s Purple Moon was the first track to use the word, and it spread through interviews, artwork and titles such as Joker and Ginz’s Purple City. Joker and Gemmy later said it was never meant to be an official name.

Joker’s Digidesign came out on Hyperdub in 2009 and became the style’s anthem. Guido’s debut album Anidea followed in 2011 on Punch Drunk, the Bristol label run by Peverelist, and Joker released his album The Vision the same year. In Glasgow, Rustie and Hudson Mohawke were making a related, busier sound that writers called wonky; Rustie’s album Glass Swords came out on Warp in 2011.

By 2012 the name had largely dropped out of use, and the people who made it had moved on to other sounds.

Key records

  1. A1
    DigidesignJoker

    2009 · Hyperdub

    Joker’s best-known tune: a G-funk lead and a big, bright drop on Kode9’s label.

  2. A2
    Purple CityJoker & Ginz

    One of the tracks that spread the purple name through its title.

  1. B1
    Purple MoonGemmy

    The first track to put the word purple in its title, according to Dummy.

Titles open a YouTube search in a new tab.

Family tree

Dubstep family tree: which genre comes from whichUK DubstepDeep DubstepPurplePost-DubstepFuture GarageChillstepBrostepTearout / DeathstepDrumstepMelodic DubstepRiddimColour BassUK GarageDubDrum & BassHip HopR&BAmbientElectro HouseMetalTranceFuture Bass

Swipe sideways to see the whole tree. Solid boxes are dubstep genres, dashed ones are outside influences. Hover a genre to light up its family line, click it to open its page.

Sources and further reading