STEVIE HYPER D
It is ten years since arguably the most influential British MC to ever
grace a microphone passed away. Stevie Hyper D left a legacy that
will never be forgotten by the generation that was lucky enough to
see him in his prime. This is Kmag’s tribute to the man who changed
drum & bass forever.
Toronto, May 1998: Stevie Hyper D has just been awarded the prestigious Lyricist that much. When he saw what the Americans were doing with hip hop, he saw the
of the Year award at the World Hardcore Dance Awards. On accepting his award, he potential of what could be achieved in drum & bass.”
announces to the watching crowd “the future of jungle is gonna be about the vocals -
it’s all about the vocals”. Less than two months later, he was dead at the age of just 31. Having been introduced via mutual friend DJ Rizzla in 1996, Stevie and Jason began
working together in the studio with the aim of creating an outlet for Hyper D’s unique
Having signed a deal with Island Records 18 months previously, the future had indeed sound. “He had worked with a few people like Apollo 440 and Kenny Ken but it had
looked bright for Stephen Austin. Born in September 1966, he grew up as a dedicated never really worked out,” says Jason. “They used his voice in a sample or turned the
student of a ragga sound system in Fulham, southwest London before being enticed pitch down low but I wanted to feature an MC as the artist on a track. At first it was
into the exciting new world of hardcore and jungle in the early 1990s. With a unique just for one single but it turned into a whole album. I was only about 18 at the time
tongue-twisting ability and the versatility to jump from hip hop to ‘double time’ to and he had such an amazing star presence about him. He was so charismatic – the
ragga at the drop of the hat, Hyper D helped to increase the importance of the MC sort of person you respect straight away. When we started working it was once every
beyond recognition from the early acid house days. Where they had previously relied couple of weeks but gradually it became every day.”
on their ability to hype a crowd, Stevie challenged the status quo to come up with
innovative lyrics that not only fitted the music but carried a real message. In 1997, the duo were approached by Island Records with regard to producing an
album. As the label responsible for bringing stars such as Bob Marley to a worldwide
“Through the microphone I’m a slave - I’m never gonna stop ‘til I’m in a grave, audience, the signing was a crucial moment in the history of drum & bass and it
I ramp, me no ramp, me no skin, me no play, when me chant ‘pon microphone and me seemed that Stevie was all set to become a massive star. Then tragedy struck.
say with the DJ, Make you jump up and down now movin’ around and swing and sway,
lyrics out me mouth like a hose with the spray, Me say lyrics to make your bollock move! “We’d just recorded everything ready for the album and that’s when he passed away,”
Lyrics to make you say hey hey! Get ‘pon the dance floor move your body with no delay.” remembers Jason. “He’d literally finished the mission that he had always talked about
so the timing was crazy. We had so much material for the album so we started making
Unsurprisingly, his name soon became the hottest in town, with every promoter two completely different ones – the first was more street and the second was more
eager to feature him on their flyers. Legendary sets at Thunder & Joy with Nicky sophisticated and trying to push the boundaries. That was the one that we pushed
Blackmarket became a part of drum & bass folklore as fans flocked from all over the with Island and it was pretty successful - I don’t know exactly how many it sold but it
country to catch a glimpse of Hyper D. was in the tens of thousands.”
“I used to see him down at Thunder & Joy but it was at One Nation that he made a But while ‘The Next Step’ by Stevie Hyper D featuring Dfrnt Levels was well received,
really good impression on me,” remembers Jason Air, who went on to work with Stevie it almost didn’t see the light of day. “Island were quite prepared to forget about the
on his Diff’rent Levels project. “At the raves, some MCs can struggle to be heard but he album completely because their investment had just been burnt out of the water,”
never had that problem.” admits Jason. “They didn’t know how they were going to promote it but Darkus, the
guy who signed us up, persuaded them to do it. It would have been terrible to have
But while the adulation of the drum & bass fraternity was one thing, the chance not actually produced anything from all that hard work. It was all about breaking
to take the music to the next level was what represented the ultimate challenge. boundaries and that’s what we did. I still get people coming up to me telling me how
“Ultimately, Steve wanted to go out there and represent the scene as an artist,” Jason much they liked it – maybe the real headz didn’t like it because it was quite intelligent
explains, “it was tiring for him travelling all around the country and not getting paid but I was very happy with how it turned out.”
www.kmag.co.uk
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