DJ Zinc | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Jammin, Jack Ruby, Dope Skillz, The Phantom |
| Born | Benjamin Pettit (1972-03-12)12 March 1972 (age 53) |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Formerly of |
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| Website | djzinc |
Benjamin Pettit[1] (born 12 March 1972), known professionally asDJ Zinc, is a BritishDJ andrecord producer. Zinc first became known for 1995's "Super Sharp Shooter", ahip hop/jungle fusion, notably one of the pioneering drum & bass anthems of its time. He went on to producedrum and bass,breakbeat and more recentlyUK garage andhouse.[2]
Zinc's career as a DJ and producer stretches the steady evolution ofhardcore from itshouse roots throughragga andhip hop-styledhardstep and beyond. In 1991, he began his radio show with then partner DJ Swift on London's Impact FM. He continued to DJ with Swift ontoEruption FM and later solo onRinse FM since it gained a license.[2]
He continued to DJ on a regular basis, and was one of the first drum and bass producers to score a hit in the2-step garage market courtesy of his 1999 single "138 Trek", which reached No. 27 on theUK Singles Chart in November 2000.[2]
His productions have been relatively popular outside the drum and bass scene, most notably in thebreaks genre under the pseudonym Jammin.
Zinc produced and DJ'd as part of the Ganja Kru and True Playaz collectives, often in association withDJ Hype from 1996 to 2002. He ran the Bingo Beats record label, which released both drum and bass and breaks records from 2002 to 2008. He has been known to release records under the alias of Dope Skillz, Jammin and Jelly Jams plus others.
In 2001, Zinc released aremixcompilation album of his own productions calledBeats by Design which included "138 Trek". By August 2004, he released his second album,Faster, aconcept album of sorts. The album, as the name suggests, ups thetempo little-by-little for each song. The title track and album opener, epitomises this and is a grimy crawl through bass and beat that speeds up from 40bpm into the early 100s by its end.[3]
In 2007, Zinc stopped making and playing drum and bass, citing "disenchantment with the scene". He started producing again in 2009 with a fusion ofdeep house,funky house andfidget house, which he believed did not fit into any of these subgenres. He later named his new sound "crack house".[4] This style developed alongsidebassline andbass house to evolve into the homogenizedUK Bass music of today.
In October 2009, DJ Zinc releasedCrack House EP encompassing his new sound of the crack house genre. A follow-up to this EP,Crack House Vol. 2 was released in July 2010.
In November 2009, DJ Zinc created a 2-hour mix for broadcasting onBBC Radio 1's essential mix.[5]
| Title | Release year | Label | Catalog # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beats by Design (EP) | 2000 | True Playaz | TPR 12 025 CD |
| Faster (LP) | 2003 | Polydor | 986 548–8 |
| Crack House (EP) | 2009 | Bingo Beats | ZINCEP001 |
| Crack House Vol. 2 (EP) | 2010 | Bingo Beats | East002 |
| Sprung (EP) | 2011 | Rinse | RINSE009A |
| Only for Tonight (EP) | 2013 | Rinse | RINSE020 |
| Crack House Vol. 3 (LP) | 2019 | Bingo Bass | BBASS063 |
| Friends And Fam (LP) | 2020 | Bingo Bass | BBASS098ISH |
| BASSLOVE (LP) | 2024 | Bingo Bass | BBASS200 |
| Title | Release year | Label | Catalog # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bingo Beats Volume 2 | 2001 | Bingo Beats | BINGOCD002 |
| Bingo Sessions Volume 1 | 2004 | Bingo Beats | BINGOCD004 |
| Drum & Bass Arena | 2005 | Resist Music | RESISTCD51 |
| Watch the Ride | 2007 | Harmless | HURTCD073 |
† – credited as 'DJ Zinc /DJ Hype'
‡ – credited as 'DJ Zinc featuring Eksman'[1]
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