Tim Reaper Honors Jungle's Past—But He's More Interested in Its Future
a.k.a. An interview with the London artist about his place in the jungle scene, his upcoming album on Hyperdub and his desire to elevate as many other artists as possible.
If you’ve been paying any sort of attention to jungle and drum & bass during the past few years, you’ve almost surely come across the name Tim Reaper. The London-based artist is frequently touted as one of the leading figures of “new-school jungle,” despite the fact that he’s been involved in the genre since the late 2000s. (Fun fact: his passion was first ignited by an Andy C mix CD, which he came across while analyzing an issue of Mixmag for a Media Studies assignment he’d been given as a teenager.)
A dedicated student of the genre, he’s spent the past 15-plus years compiling an encyclopedia-like knowledge of jungle, and much of his craft—including his approach to DJing, production and his staggeringly prolific label, Future Retro London—has been heavily informed by those who came before him, particularly those who got started during the music’s golden era in the early to mid ’90s. That said, Reaper also has an irreverent streak. Alongside his friend and frequent collaborator Dwarde, he runs Globex Corp, a Simpsons-themed imprint devoted to ravey hybrids that bridge the gap between jungle and hardcore. Elsewhere in his catalog are forays into atmospheric, ragga and other variants of jungle; although he does seem himself as something of a jungle purist, he refuses to box himself in by committing to any one style or subgenre.
That hasn’t deterred the wider electronic world from taking notice of his talents, and once Reaper’s work started appearing on Lobster Theremin, Unknown to the Unknown, Sneaker Social Club and other outposts that don’t strictly reside in the jungle sphere, it wasn’t long before he was thrust into a kind of leadership role within the genre. Among journalists, industry types and fans, there are lots of people who don’t know much about jungle, but do know the name Tim Reaper, which is why it’s not uncommon to find him on club and festival lineups where he’s the only junglist on the bill. And now that he has a new collaborative album with Kloke, In Full Effect, coming out next month on Hyperdub—it’s the first proper jungle full-length in the storied label’s 20-year history—Reaper is likely to receive even more attention.
What is it like to be anointed as one of the leading figures of a newly resurgent genre, especially when that anointment is primarily coming from outsiders and the genre in question has a rich history dating back more than three decades? Curious to find out, I asked Reaper if he’d be up for a chat. He agreed, and while pinning him down wasn’t easy—we spoke this past Sunday morning, just days after he’d returned from a US tour, and only hours after he’d finished DJing a wedding alongside (no joke) Aphex Twin and Luke Vibert—he was an open book. We talked a lot about the forthcoming album on Hyperdub and the unusual way it came together, but Reaper also reflected on his long relationship with jungle, and how he balances its traditions against the need to continue pushing the genre forward. He may not have necessarily asked for the prominent position he’s found himself in, but he most definitely has some ideas about what he wants to do with it.