Raggacore
Hardcore · 1998 · 170 to 200 BPM · also known as Ragga Core, Ragga Hardcore
Raggacore is breakcore that chooses dancehall over dread: the Amen break and hard kicks driven under sped-up ragga toasts, sound-system culture run through a grinder with humor and speed intact. Aaron Spectre, Bong-Ra and FFF held the scene together across European squats and netlabels in the mid-2000s. It stands as ragga jungle's illegitimate, joyful offspring, where satire matters as much as studio precision.
9 reference tracks
- DJ Scud: Total Destruction (1998)
- Aaron Spectre: Look Out Fi Liar (2006)
- Bong-Ra: Suicide Speed Machine Girl (2005)
- FFF: 20000 Hardcore Members Can't Be Wrong (2008)
- Shitmat: Killababylonkutz (2004)
- Bong-Ra: 666 MPH
- Bong-Ra: Blood & Fire
- FFF: Babylon Bwoy
- Shitmat: rough babylon
At a glance
- Tempo: 170 to 200 BPM
- First appeared: around 1998
- Machines: Akai S950, FL Studio, Platines vinyle
- The sound: Accapellas ragga accélérées, Amen saturé, Kicks gabber ponctuels, Sirènes dancehall
- Labels: Death$ucker Records, PRSPCT Recordings, Peace Off, Sublight, Supertracks Records
- Key artists: Aaron Spectre, Bong-Ra, FFF, DJ Scud, Shitmat (frange)
Producing Raggacore
Raggacore runs between 160 and 220 BPM, usually 175 to 190, pushing ragga jungle's tempo further, the grid a chopped Amen breakbeat rather than a regular four-on-the-floor, with gabber kicks falling wherever the producer wants. The Amen is sped to tempo and reordered over two bars with displaced snare hits and sixteenth retrigs, then crushed gabber kicks replace the break's own kick on certain beats, sometimes bursting in fours like a punch, while dancehall rimshots sit on the offbeats and sections drop to half-tempo for the skank. The bass draws from dancehall and jungle, a sine sub or a Reese filtered around 300 Hz playing a short, syncopated minor-key motif on the offbeats, sidechained hard by the gabber kick so it can cut through. On top, sped-up ragga acapellas turn into a machine-gun toast, joined by sirens and dub delays.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Raggacore?
Raggacore is breakcore that chooses dancehall over dread: the Amen break and hard kicks driven under sped-up ragga toasts, sound-system culture run through a grinder with humor and speed intact. Aaron Spectre, Bong-Ra and FFF held the scene together across European squats and netlabels in the…
What tempo is Raggacore played at?
Between 170 and 200 BPM.
Who are the key Raggacore artists?
Aaron Spectre, Bong-Ra, FFF, DJ Scud, Shitmat (frange).
