King Original, Vol. 2

If there were any doubt that grime production can stand on its own two feet without vocals, a huge wave in the early 2010s put paid to that. Footsie is best known as an MC himself, solo and with D Double E in Newham Generals, but his King Original series — named after his dad’s reggae soundsystem — shows him as a unique voice in British bass music too. The series launched with Vol 1 leaning towards his old school productions from the early 00s birth of grime, but these tracks were more contemporary and include instrumentals with vocals originally by the likes of Tempa T and Maverick Sabre. They range from the viciously sharp-edged (“You Can’t Tell Me Nuttin,” “Number 1”) to the good natured and dubwise (“Johnny 2 Bad,” “Congo”) to retro-rave dancefloor heat (“Funk it Up”), but are all bound together by his trippy morphing bass and endlessly inventive beat programming.