It's Monday, and so time for a new BBB! 🗞️✨
ENJOY 💙💙
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NEWS
Oliver Tree dies aged 32
In absolutely devastating news - not just for the Bass music scene, but music industry at large - singer, rapper, comedian and all-round performer-extraordinaire Oliver Tree passed away in a helicopter crash in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil yesterday. The artist, real name Oliver Tree Nickell, died along with 5 other people in the incident, which happened at around 9am local time. Nickell had just started a world tour, with his final show happening a week previously in São Paulo, Brazil. He had also just released his 4th album Love You Madly, Hate You Badly on April 24th through his own label Alien Boy Records. He leaves a legacy as one of the most unique figures in recent music history.
Unsurprisingly, social media was flooded with producers from the Bass scene paying their respects to Nickell. Most notable was Getter, a long-term friend of his having known each other since high school, with the pair collaborating together on multiple occasions too - 'Forget It', 'Weekend' and more. It's worth checking Getter's Instagram story today just to see his recounting of how they came up together in the music industry. You also had lengthy Instagram posts from the likes of Subtronics - who just released an official remix of Nickell's 'Fuck The Whole World' - as well as other artists from Levity to Kompany, beastboi. to Soltan and far beyond sending condolences on their stories. There was a lot of posting from SNEEK too, who also came up alongside Nickell and Getter through the 2010s as another close friend wanting to make it in music. You can find his Instagram story tributes @sneek_beats.
It's extremely tragic news, especially with him being just 32-years-old. I mentioned this earlier, but he really was one of the most unique characters to come out of the mainstream music scene over the last decade. He broke a Guinness World Record in 2020 for building the largest kick scooter at 4.16m and 3.13m tall, which just tells you how off-the-wall he was as a personality. And that's before going into the wealth of zany Vine / shorts content he made over the years. His was a voice that was instantly recognisable, whatever kind of instrumental he was rapping, singing or talking over. It's a significant loss for the music industry, and I get the feeling it'll take a lot people in the scene a while to process it properly. For now, all we can do is celebrate the incredible artist and person that he was.
On that note, please drop your favourite Oliver Tree tracks and moments of all kinds in the comments below 🕊️♥️
MUSIC
Skrillex goes B2B with ISOKNOCK
Legendary multi-genre festival Bonnaroo happened in Manchester, Tennessee over the weekend, and included in the event was a headline performance from Skrillex. However, no one was prepared for the surprise that the fan-favourite DJ / producer sprung on thousands of feverish attendees - a B2B with none other than ISOKNOCK, comprised of ISOxo and Knock2. The ISOxo link-up is of course hardly a shock by now, with them having performed together multiple times, and released 3 collaborations together. But bringing Knock2 into proceedings is a clear sign of Skrillex being just as aware of his talents as ISO's, and could well mean something is in the works between them.
Clip: https://x.com/teambandl/status/2065364090525286485?s=46&t=TEbbHyZ3OlICtgts4_3J0g
And funnily enough, to go with the B2B, a new Skrillex & Knock2 ID has started being shared and posted online. It has a clear Brostep leaning to it, which would be new territory for Knock2. Though get used to this collab at your peril, because it doesn't sound amazing from the clip, and so is very likely to change. I don't wanna see any 'I preferred the track when it had x' comments from any of you when this track drops at some point! But it's very cool to know that they have potentially been working on something together, it's a pairing that I think has to happen at some point.
Skrillex & Knock2 ID: https://youtu.be/Gc2f3GU00mo?is=1r5TtvhJdZOXqH23
Dodge shares new label updates
We're nearing an official announcement of this, for sure. Last week, Dodge - of Dodge & Fuski fame - gave the latest update on his exciting new label in collaboration with Virtual Riot and Dubloadz. The recent picture post, featuring the likes of Riot Ten, Pierce and AYDO8, starts by saying 'A******e week has been awesome' - the asterisk-laden word is very likely the name of the label itself. Dodge then proceeded to say 'we have a lot in the pipeline for this year', before ending by saying it will all kick off with Megacollab 4 - a direct follow-up to November 2020's 'How We Roll', which featured on Disciple Alliance Vol. 6. It's wild to think about how long it's been since the last one!
I think they're steadily building hype in the right way, and it's great to show a few of the artists who are gonna be involved in the project to help foster that community feeling again from the off. How highly are you guys anticipating this A******e announcement?
Lost Lands drop 2026 B2Bs
Okay, NOW I'm starting to get tempted. Last week, Excision's Lost Lands festival dropped a small handful of B2B shows for their 2026 event, featuring Eptic B2B LYNY, Blanke B2B Blossom and Calcium B2B Mad Dubz. This has always been a great way of bringing more people to the 5-day September event, conjoining names that aren't odd to link together, but which present a nice surprise within a lineup that, up to that point, is just individual artists. Eptic B2B LYNY will be a fantastic pairing off the back of their gargantuan 2025 single 'Light Up', whilst the other two B2Bs are likely to be Drum & Bass and Riddim bonanzas respectively.
As I mentioned in another recent BBB, I was pretty set on not going to Lost Lands this year, but thinking about Eptic B2B LYNY does tip it in the other direction a little bit, I have to say!
Phiso provides music update
Fresh off the back of his collaboration with Svdden Death for Never Say Die, fan favourite Dubstepper Phiso has given followers a brief update on where he's at with his project. In a short tweet, he wrote about having another tune coming out next month, before saying 'it is fully my intention to have another EP coming out not long after that'. He of course put a couple of multi-track projects on Soundcloud and Bandcamp last year, but a new EP from him would represent a first official Phiso collection of that kind since October 2018's Disrespect for Never Say Die: Black Label. However many tracks this upcoming batch will have, and whoever it's released with, it's sure to be a significant release for him, and I look forward to hearing it when it drops - hopefully later this year.
Big Bass releases of the week
It was a pretty big week for remixes last week, with remix projects for ISOxo's track 'FUCK THE SPEAKERZ UP', Seven Lions' most recent album Asleep In The Garden of Infernal Stars and Teminite & SLUGZ's track 'Underworld' hitting the Bass scene. Also of note was a new 4-track EP from underground sensation eccentric for Disciple Records, titled seeker. I'll also mention new big-name singles from MPH, Barely Alive & Edison Cole, EAZYBAKED & Richard Finger, Virus Syndicate, grape milk and MDK. Happy listening! 💙
DISCUSSION
Dubstep - the most wretched music of all time
It's been really interesting, in the wake of Never Say Die's Vol. 7 compilation dropping, to see people do bits of Dubstep revisionism. Some simply saying that the scene needed this project of music, but then others going further to talk about how some Dubstep is up there with the worst music of all time. Where has this sentiment come from? And why is it happening now?
It's important to note that both of the above examples from Digitist and MUST DIE! are highlighting the good of Dubstep, and how incredible it can be. Though it does feel like there's more emphasis on the opposite sentiment, doesn't it? The scene reached a collective high point with NSD Vol. 7 and all the fanfare surrounding it, so maybe it's only natural that a bit of context is gleaned for the scene and music at large. But to make a point of putting it in 'worst music of all time' conversations? Is it just me or is that a bit much? Is it needed, I suppose is my point. It's also the idea that people are ticking along in the scene, thinking this all along, but never really saying it. Also the fact that surely any genre can actually have potentially the worst music, so to make a point of it with Dubstep is an interesting step. Maybe it's the general abrasiveness of the sounds in the style - across its many sub-genres - that doesn't appeal to the average music listener in a unique way. It's an interesting discussion point, but it was good, at least, that SweetTooth was able to reign this rhetoric in with some positive comments on the community at large (pictured below).
What do you guys think as to why these things are being said all of a sudden, and by artists especially?
FUNNIES // COOL STUFF
The ISOxo story
Absolutely brilliant post here from Lucid Monday on ISOxo's journey and story, and all the significant moments that have led to him being one of the biggest Bass music artists today. Well worth a full look through this carousel post, for the names involved alongside ISO, but also as inspiration for a lot of you guys, who I know make music yourselves.
Post link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZi3Fxgggr3/?img_index=1&igsh=MXNzOG9ldTRxOXp2ZQ==
DJ ASMR
It's another HEYZ classic, straight up and 'nuff said.
Reel link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZafNxCSFJg/?igsh=c3l5bjlueWt3dzB6
Football crowd 🤝 Space Laces
Very nifty little bit of content from underground Dubstep producer LAZERBLUE - turning football crowd noise into a scratchy Space Laces-esque synth. Bravo!
Reel link: https://x.com/lazerbluemusic/status/2065928495255920738?s=46&t=TEbbHyZ3OlICtgts4_3J0g
It's 2026 ...
Here we have a label name that I stumbled across on Soundcloud over the weekend. I mean, seriously? Am I really expected to take something like this seriously?
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Did I miss anything from the last week in Bass music? Let me know below! 😌