Funky Breaks

An amalgam of trance, hip-hop and jungle, Funky Breaks became one of the most widely heard styles in electronic music thanks to its popularity as the sound of choice for those wishing to make some noise on pop charts and television commercials during the late '90s. Pioneered by the Chemical Brothers plus James Lavelle's epic-stature Mo' Wax Records stable, funky breaks really came into the fore in 1997, the year music-industry experts predicted would finally break the new electronica in the mainstream. Of the artists picked to spearhead the revolution, almost all — the Prodigy, Death in Vegas, the Crystal Method, Propellerheads — had that sound. That's also a significant reason why the electronica revolution failed, at least commercially, since the highly-touted acts all sounded similar.

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