Silkie

Solomon Rose, more widely known as the London Grime turned Dubstep producer extraordinaire Silkie, is no new jack to the urban music scene. Around 1999 when Silkie was 13 years of age , he started listening to his sister’s Garage collection, then going to underaged raves just as the scene was changing to Grime. At 15 he produced his first track called ‘Dark Square’ alongside Harry Craze. At the time Heny G (Rinse FM) released the single even though Silkie was not old enough to even get into the raves that his track was been played in. As he had just turned 18 he was dropped onto the stage of the Kentish Town Forum to support none other than Hip hop stalwarts Mobb Deep. At that time he was producing beats as well as DJing for his brother Silva’s Grime crew Unorthodox. Some of the biggest tracks from this crew such as ‘No-Help or Hand-Outs’ was on heavy rotation on the likes of Channel U and pirate radio gathering them an instant following. Silkie honed his skills producing tracks for underground heavy weights in Grime scene however he was already beginning to change his sounds to a more bass driven instrumentals.

Anti Social Entertainment was formed during the movement from Grime to new musical thinking. A group of friends namely Silkie, Quest, Harry Craze, Razor Rekta , Jay 5ive and later on Mizz Beats banded together mainly for the love of music. All were producers/DJ’s, all unique with shared a progressive consciousness. There was a definite feeling amongst these cohorts at the time that they would be involved in a new melodious philosophy.
Heny G was to be the catalyst of Silkie’s already new mode of thinking. One night he took Silkie to one of the most influential ‘dubstep’ raves, the legendary ‘FWD>>’ circa 2002. At the time the coin of phrase ‘dubstep’ had not been tempered, this new instrumental dub infused electronica was called ‘Forward Music’. In contrast to Grime which still maintained lighter melodic elements, this fledgling music was often stark with darker tones and sparks of laser powered synths; soon the then impressionable Silkie was hooked. This was a transitional period for Silkie used to working with MC’s and singers; he was now on his own free from creative boundaries, able to reproduce the sounds he would hear at FWD>>, however in Silkie vision. Anti-social members Quest and Jay 5ive secured a show on the then pirate Rinse FM enabling the crew to have an outlet for their hypnotic concoctions. Soon Silkie and his comrades were receiving attention from the new ‘dubstep’ community resulting in their connection with Digital Mystikz. One day Quest dropped in on none other than the the dubstep don Mala (Digital Mystikz, DMZ, Deep Medi) to pick up some new tunesfor the show, as well as drop off some of the crew’s latest creations. Quest and Silkie received a call from Mala asking them to begin thinking of putting tracks together for an Album on Deep Medi, such was the strength of their music. Soon after this informal interest from Mala, both Silkie and Quest were signed to Deep Medi Musik.

Silkie started to release singles on Deep Medi, Skream’s Disfigured Dubz and Soul Jazz, releasing classic tracks like ‘Cyber Dub’ and ‘Skys the Limit’ alongside tunes like ‘Purple Love’ and ‘Head Butt Da Deck’ behind the boards with Anti Social members Mizz Beats and Harry Craze respectively. It took a further 2 years of constant releases to the enthusiastic masses before in 2009 the first of the ‘City Limits’ series ‘City Limits Vol 1’dropped receiving critical acclaim and the love of his underground followers. This was interstellar dub music forged in organic bio-chipped membrane of Silkie, a solid slice of what was to come. Silkie now had a long player to his name and was able to secure venues around the global to the those who needed to get a fix of this talented producer/DJ. From England to Japan, New Zealand to Croatia, Silkie was able to use his DJ presence as a test bed for new experiments in his sound arsenal; able to judge the reaction to his music and picking which ones hit the mark - as Silkie puts it “It’s my second Studio” . This ‘trail of fire’ led to the second instalment of the City Limits series ‘City Limits Vol 2’. This new supercharged feature has moved Silkie in to the higher echelons of dubstep folklore. Featuring collaborations with French producer Von D on ‘Snowed In’, dubstep supremo Skream on ‘Un-intitled’ and ‘Feel’ with the Kiwi Deep Medi label mate Truth. The new set is a deeper nod to the City Limits Vol 1, sonically more accomplished, bit crunching head nods with melodic jazz infused musings, it is a new shape and a very welcome addition that shows the boundless talents of its creator.

When a new form of music is formed we often ask the question, ‘where will it go next?’ Dubstep in its true identity is still Forward Music. Silkie as a part of this increasing landscape has truly cemented his presence and is spreading his viral sonic entities across the globe. Following the Anti Social mantra of pushing boundaries and experimentation, he is one of these individuals where one can actually begin to expect the unexpected.