# The 9 Best Dubstep Tracks of All Time UK garage stripped of its vocals, its swing and its optimism, rebuilt around a half-time beat and a sub-bass you feel before you hear. Made in South London from around 2002 for rooms with the right sound system. - **Origin:** Croydon, South London, 2002 - **Tempo:** 138–142 BPM - **Also known as:** dubstep music, bass music, croydon sound - **Tracks:** 9 - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/dubstep/ ## Curators on Dubstep - [The Waxonia Desk](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/): 5 picks. Five records from the January 2006 broadcast usually credited with taking dubstep national, and from the months either side of it. A few hundred people in a Brixton basement were given two hours of national radio. ## The list ### 1. [Skream](https://waxonia.com/artist/skream/) — [Midnight Request Line](https://waxonia.com/track/skream--midnight-request-line/) *2005 · Tempa* The crossover record, made by a teenager in his bedroom. A synth riff simple enough to hum and a bassline that only fully exists on a large rig, which is exactly why it converted so many people at once. Also on: [Bass Weight](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-bass-weight/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Night It Went National](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-dubstep-goes-national/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Skream%20Midnight%20Request%20Line) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=lcMAbnZy8l8) ### 2. [Digital Mystikz](https://waxonia.com/artist/digital-mystikz/) — [Anti-War Dub](https://waxonia.com/track/digital-mystikz--anti-war-dub/) *2006 · DMZ* Mala's meditative half of the genre. Almost nothing happens for long stretches, and the record is entirely dependent on the room — heard properly, the restraint is the payload. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Night It Went National](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-dubstep-goes-national/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Digital%20Mystikz%20Anti-War%20Dub) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=nhyOzIiBv-o) ### 3. [Burial](https://waxonia.com/artist/burial/) — [Archangel](https://waxonia.com/track/burial--archangel/) *2007 · Hyperdub* Rain, vinyl crackle and a pitched-up R&B vocal grieving over garage percussion that never quite lands on the grid. The record that made this music legible to people who would never enter the club. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — Ghosts](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-ghosts/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Night It Went National](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-dubstep-goes-national/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Burial%20Archangel) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=E2qLD9c3Gq4) ### 4. [Kode9 & The Spaceape](https://waxonia.com/artist/kode9-and-the-spaceape/) — [Sine of the Dub](https://waxonia.com/track/kode9-and-the-spaceape--sine-of-the-dub/) *2004 · Hyperdub* A Prince cover reduced to a sine wave and a monotone recitation. The founding statement of a label, and the clearest demonstration that this music was a set of ideas before it was a sound. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Night It Went National](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-dubstep-goes-national/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Kode9%20%26%20The%20Spaceape%20Sine%20of%20the%20Dub) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xATku5_RL9U) ### 5. [Benga & Coki](https://waxonia.com/artist/benga-and-coki/) — [Night](https://waxonia.com/track/benga-and-coki--night/) *2008 · Tempa* The other pole from Mala: a bassline that lurches sideways with a physical violence nobody had got out of a synthesiser before. The record that gave the American mutation its permission slip. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Night It Went National](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-dubstep-goes-national/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Benga%20%26%20Coki%20Night) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucr6nPQ3aYQ) ### 6. [Horsepower Productions](https://waxonia.com/artist/horsepower-productions/) — [Forgive](https://waxonia.com/track/horsepower-productions--forgive/) *2002 · Tempa* Before the genre had a name or a tempo convention, Horsepower were making garage records soaked in dub and Middle Eastern strings. Proto-dubstep, and still the eeriest thing in the catalogue. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Horsepower%20Productions%20Forgive) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mj2r2Ci533E) ### 7. [The Bug featuring Killa P & Flowdan](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-bug-featuring-killa-p-and-flowdan/) — [Skeng](https://waxonia.com/track/the-bug-featuring-killa-p-and-flowdan--skeng/) *2007 · Ninja Tune* Kevin Martin welds dancehall toasting to a bassline that sounds actively corroded. The point where dubstep stops being polite about its Jamaican inheritance and states it outright. Also on: [Bass Weight](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-bass-weight/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Bug%20featuring%20Killa%20P%20%26%20Flowdan%20Skeng) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zwmUOJR-GwA) ### 8. [Joy Orbison](https://waxonia.com/artist/joy-orbison/) — [Hyph Mngo](https://waxonia.com/track/joy-orbison--hyph-mngo/) *2009 · Hotflush* Euphoric, vocal, and unmistakably not dubstep any more. The record that ended the genre as a coherent thing by showing everyone what came after it. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Joy%20Orbison%20Hyph%20Mngo) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa_PDKKc2_A) ### 9. [Skrillex](https://waxonia.com/artist/skrillex/) — [Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites](https://waxonia.com/track/skrillex--scary-monsters-and-nice-sprites/) *2010 · Big Beat* Included because pretending otherwise is dishonest: this is what the word came to mean for most of the planet. The London original and the American mutation share a tempo and almost nothing else. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Skrillex%20Scary%20Monsters%20and%20Nice%20Sprites) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=WSeNSzJ2-Jw) --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.