A Grime Track From 1994 Has Just Been Discovered

Epic in every sense of the word.

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It turns out DJ and producer Sir Pixalot, besides producing simultaneously guttural and cerebral grime bangers, is also something of an internet sleuth. Up until a couple of days ago it was widely believed that Youngstar's "Pulse X" was the first (or the first big) grime production. Well, it has now emerged that everything we thought we knew was a lie. Back in 1994, Acclaim Entertainment released a game called Wolverine: Adamantium Rage, a charmingly '90s game that followed the X-Men character on various adventures. Even if you played the game, what you may not have noticed was the decidedly grimey soundtrack.

Composed by Dylan Beale of North London, the soundtrack featured one beat in particular, the track playing during the boss level. As you can hear above, there's a definite proto-grime sound coursing through it. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise since a lot of early grime (and much of today's productions) was heavily influenced by—and in some cases made using—video game samples and sound effects. As Beale explained to SBTV, he used to be involved in a jungle collective whilst working in a record shop and "was heavily influenced by reggae, hip-hop, jungle and then eventually techno and hardcore." He goes on to explain how he made the track: "I basically sampled an orchestral stab and the bass, a hi hat, snare, a few things like that, then I had to trim them down to minute sizes."

So there you have it: grime was invented in 1994. And the best bit of all? He's a born Geordie man. Sorry, London.

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