The other day I wrote about Zinc's regular recording of videos to talk about his classic and upcoming tracks and it reminded me that DJ Rap does something similar. She's been putting out a digital reissue and remix series called Back To The Future and 'Rumble' recently dropped as the third part of the set. Originally out back in 1996 the track was the twelfth release on her own Proper Talent imprint and in an Instagram video to promote it she digs out her original dubplate copy and reminisces about the Music House days:
"It really brings back memories of being in Monroe Studios, cutting this to DAT, because that's what we did then, then stopping along the way to grannies getting a Guinness punch or some rice & peas and then off we go to Music House to meet all the other DJs and we'd all swap DATs like it was a poker game... Hype would be like what you got, or Fabio would be like what you got and I'd be like what you got Mickey and all of this, and we'd all be swapping these DATs and then we'd put them on to a dub and go play them out and see how it is"
Monroe Studios on Holloway Road, otherwise known as Monroe Production Company, was where Pete Parsons AKA Voyager was in-house engineer and producer and he regularly worked with Rap, including co-producing the Intelligence LP. Music House of course is the Tottenham cutting studio where everyone used to get their dubplates made.
'Rumble' has a chilled intro featuring ethereal vocals and pillowy synth, a common feature in Rap's tunes (see 'Spiritual Aura' and 'Hardstep' for other examples). It provides a nice contrast to the drop which brings in an extra bouncy bassline and a Think/Do The Do combo before Amen slams in. A typically exuberant tune from Rap which got a pair of remixes in '97 from Flapjack and Special K, the latter getting bonus points for the Blade Runner synth in the intro - listen to Rap's dubplate copy of that here.
Both of those remixes feature on the new package which also includes up-to-date interpretations from Rap herself, Hyde UK and Conrad Subs. It's available from all good download and streaming services, links here. If you missed the first two volumes of Back To The Future then they are also well worth checking as they feature 'Spiritual Aura' and 'Intelligent Woman' respectively. The Special K remix of 'Rumble' features as the last tune in last month's Jungle Classics Vinyl Mix from Rap below: