Youngstar

Youngstar is a British producer associated with the emergence of grime from UK garage. His Pulse X became a formative instrumental in the new sound, using a sparse arrangement of drums and bass with an eight-bar structure that gave MCs space to perform.

His other productions include Bongo, Formula and Revival; a version of Revival provided the basis for Dizzee Rascal’s Stand Up Tall. Youngstar’s accounts of making these tracks describe a practical process of programming, sampling and testing rhythms for their immediate impact. His work connects the white-label and pirate-radio culture of early grime with its subsequent presence in the pop charts.