Horsepower Productions

Active since the early 2000s in England, Horsepower Productions began as a collective before coalescing around the duo Benny Ill and Jay King. Their trajectory sits at the crossroads of UK garage, 2-step, dub, and the early forms of dubstep, with a sound marked by off-kilter rhythms, deep basslines, and a spare, stripped-back approach to production. In their early maxis released around the turn of the century, Horsepower Productions explores an instrumental, minimalist version of British garage circulating at the time in Croydon’s Big Apple environment and on labels connected to that scene such as Tempa and Turn U On. The project plays a central role in the emergence of dubstep with In Fine Style (2002), then To the Rescue (2004), before a late-2000s resurgence with the single Kingstep / Damn It (2009) and the album Quest for the Sonic Bounty (2010). Horsepower Productions’ discography also includes The Lost Tapes EP (2011) and Crooks, Crime & Corruption (2016). Between dub textures, a heritage of soundsystem and a slowed-down garage structure, Horsepower Productions has developed a sober and physical language, tied as much to London’s dancefloors as to the experimental fringes of British electronic music.