The Beatdown

There used to be a jungle illuminati of sorts in the UK. No, really. In the late ’90s when D&B was crossing over and cheesing out some of the top UK jocks, including Fabio, Grooverider and Kenny Ken, these clowns thought themselves important enough to form the so-called Jungle Committee. Can you imagine how the minutes read at those meetings? At any rate, this D&B brain trust made a few control-freak decisions–they nixed the genre’s Ragga-influenced sound, which had been popular but was also blamed for violence in the scene. They ousted a DJ named General Levy for boasting about being the person who ran the world of jungle music. And at a later meeting, the clandestine collective decreed that none of the major jocks were to play the upcoming Jungle Soundclash event due to disagreements with the event’s promotions. But a twist by the name of DJ Rap (born Charissa Saverio) broke ranks, as the event’s promoter had always been good to her, and she signed on to spin at the big-time show. The “family” warned of repercussions and threats were issued, but the ballsy dame played anyway, garnering fame and indirectly convincing the rest of the D&B posse to sign on as well. The Jungle Committee may not be a big deal nearly a decade later, but the Teflon DJ herself was probably smart to go her own way, still pumping out mainstream-friendly D&B even here in the States.