This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Maya Stokley. Find her on Instagram at @maya.aesthetic. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
“Take a look inside your heart. Is any room for me,” the legendary and iconic PinkPanthress sang through our Spotify playlists. I remember the first time I listened to her on YouTube, and it was with a Michael Jackson sample. Honestly, anything with Michael Jackson, I am on that song instantly. But”With a Waste” became a bona fide hit on my playlist, and I knew from the jump that PinkPanthress would be a star. With her resurgence of Y2K pop along with the UK garage genre, pop artists from NewJeans, Doja Cat, and LE SSERAFIRM now incorporate the sound into their music. But, we all know that Y2K pop sound but what is UK garage? What does the United Kingdom have going on over there?
UK Garage: What Is That Sound?
UK garage began in the mid to late 1990s as a subgenre under electronic dance music (EDM) that combines house, R&B, and the elements of hip-hop with a DJ as the center. Fun fact: the name was coined by Todd Edwards, an American DJ who pioneered the sound at Paradise Garage. However, a North London DJ, DJ EZ, used Edwards’ music and played it at the famous 130 BPM tempo, and the genre became a staple in UK nightlife. Then, the sound started using Jamaican influences, such as dancehall, to give the music a lively flavor with a call-and-response factor. Even with the DJ as the center, there would be MCs like the beginning of hip-hop that would command the DJ to control the music to their liking.
Once the genre reached its popularity, it started to transfer over to America with remixes of popular songs like “The Boy Is Mine,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” and “Just in Case.” Still, on the UK side, some artists were just releasing music with the sound from the iconic “Gotta Get Thru This” by Daniel Bedingfield and “TwentyFourSeven” by Artful Dodger. In the early 2000s, R&B artists like Craig David popularized the genre into mainstream R&B with his legendary debut album, “Born to Do It”. Check out some of these videos of the sound coming up from the underground!
2-Step Garage Sound!
I will talk about Craig David here because I am a massive Craig David fan! His influence is significant and prominent for the genre because he used a mix of Timbaland beats and merged it with the UK garage sound. For example, for “Fill Me In”, there is a signature R&B sound of the percussion carrying the melody by using slight kickdrum patterns to drive it home. David could tell his narrative throughout the song, making it catchy and fun! His sound derives from a subgenre called 2-step garage that uses accents that challenge the classic 4/4 time signature. As you can hear, the song may sound chaotic at first listen. But, you have to listen carefully to find the consistencies within it, that is what makes David’s contribution to the genre special!
Now What About Today’s UK Garage?
The UK garage resurged during the recession era (yes, all of the iconic dance music coming out) and into 2011. The rhythmic patterns started to become more popular with the introduction of Disclosure and AlunaGeorge, who used UK garage elements with a more distinct sound. Before, UK Garage had a grimmer tone that would make you want to dance. The UK garage sound would make you want to sway a bit in this era. For example, everyone has heard of “Latch” from Disclosure, which featured Sam Smith in 2013. That simple “ding” sound, along with the simple backbeat, is consistent throughout the track and easier to follow than “Fill Me In” by Craig David, which has a more chaotic, fast-paced backbeat. This was the sound for a while before the 2020s!
Now, let’s get into PinkPanthress! She elevated the sound using her Y2K aesthetic and iconic 2000s UK garage samples to create her sound. Since her introduction with Pain, more artists started using more UK garage elements, like Jungkook with his debut album and Zayn’s single, “Love Like This.” But let’s get into some UK garage artists today!
Who Is PinkPanthress?
PinkPanthress became an Internet sensation with her creative work with samples from the 1990s and 2000s. She started to use GarageBand to start her producing career and upload her music to Soundcloud (I still use Soundcloud, and I am on that). Then, during the pandemic, she became more popular on TikTok with her single, “Pain,” which peaked in the UK Singles Chart. Then, everything from there started to go uphill.
For Pain, PinkPanthress uses a bit of 2-step garage elements along with pop elements to create this bubblegum sound that resonates with her audiences. The song is simple in composition, but her vocals are what makes it very unique to her sound. The airiness of her vocals brings a sense of nostalgia for us, Zillennials!
Her “Picture In My Mind” and “I Must Apologise” singles charted well! Then, one of her most famous tracks, “Boy’s a Liar,” launched her into global stardom! Her collaboration with Ice Spice (who was becoming a global force within her own right) helped add rap elements to the track to bring the hip-hop community into it. Also, her music has become a dominating force and her sound is so uniquely hers that nobody can replicate it.
Brief Tonight Music Video Review
Her latest music video and single, “Tonight” resembles that same garage feeling of a bunch of people listening and dancing to music with a historical twist. Check out the video below!
With her soulful and honey-like vocals, that fast tempo from the original UK garage sound is present in the backbeat. In the pre-chorus, she uses a staccato vocal style for a causal conversational tone and then transition to a melodic tone for the chorus. The song is very easygoing and it makes you feel like you are floating on air!
What are your thoughts on UK garage? Share in the comments!
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