(Los Angeles) April 6th Since its humble inception in March of 2012 by Troy Beetles—otherwise known as Datsik—Firepower Records has evolved into a bass music behemoth, releasing heavyweight producers like Datsik, Protohype, Getter, Truth, Bear Grillz, Mayhem, Antiserum, Fox Stevenson, Must Die, Proper Villains, PhaseOne, Terravita, Infuze, and Fei Fei, and featuring Hip Hop royalty like KRS-One and DJ Paul KOM of Three-6 Mafia. The Firepower Family currently claims forty-four artists and counting. On May 5th, the label will celebrate an impressive milestone: the 100th release! As a show of overwhelming support for this special achievement, some of dance music’s heaviest hitters have signed on by offering tracks exclusively for the Shell Shock Legends release. The tracklist reads like a bass music “best-of” list. If Dubstep had a fantasy league, this would be a winning line-up.
But Firepower is more than a disjointed and disconnected series of artists and tracks. We like to consider ourselves more of a Family and the Shell Shock Legends release more of a family reunion. Firepower Records is a label and an internationally respected dance music brand, but it would be nothing without the like-minded artists, friends, neighbors, and fans that hold it all together and keep it alive.
Harnessing the chaos is Sharra Duggan, one of the few female executives at the helm of an international dance music label. In September of 2012, Sharra was asked by Troy jump into the fray and steer the label in the right direction. In 2013, after a number of hugely successful releases, she changed her full-time occupation to “Label Manager” and moved to LA where she resides today. She sits at the helm of one of the biggest Dubstep labels on the planet. Together, with Troy Beetles acute music sense and her gregarious personality and tenacious work ethic, Firepower has garnered an extremely loyal artist base that returns to release on the label year after year. Getter and Protohype, for example, helped establish the heavy Firepower sound that fans have grown to love. Protohype offers two tracks to the Shell Shock Legends compilation: a collaboration with Datsik and Init called “Turf Wars”, and “Recon”, a collaboration with the Australian based PhaseOne. Getter throws down, too, with a massive heater called, naturally, “The Heat”.
As the label evolves, Troy and Sharra continue to engineer a shift in how we perceive bass music. By welcoming the Trap and Hip Hop influences of artists like Antiserum and Tha Trickaz, Sub Antix, and Minesweepa, they push the often stifling Dubstep genre towards and through the edges of its know universe. “Boom”, a collaboration between Antiserum and Tha Trickaz, is a wicked look into the sound Firepower successfully integrated into the Catalogue.
Troy and Sharra are also aware that it takes new blood to sustain the Firepower movement. Arguably, one of Datsik’s most notable additions to the Firepower Family was the Bass phenom Twine, whose meteoric success has seen him rise through the ranks quickly enough to be featured prominently on festival stages and festival playlists all over the world. Twine offers up “Insanity” featuring the inimitable word-smithing of Mayor Apeshit to the Shell Shock Legends compilations, and it’s a filthy, swampy, mind-splitter.
Since 2012, Firepower Records has progressed from one release every other month or so to the release-per-week machine the label is today. In the process, Troy and Sharra cultivated and nurtured a family of artists that really loved working with the label. It became a Firepower Family, and the members ultimately devoted themselves to the label, rewarding their hard work with loyalty. Sharra’s leadership and Troy’s clairvoyance allowed the label to weather the “Dubstep is Dead” storm, not by pushing back in a futile attempt at self-validation, but by becoming a business chameleon and adapting to the changing landscape. Firepower Records outsmarted the critics by focusing on the fundamentals and the truth driving the passion.
Shell Shock Legends is all the proof you need.
Tracklist for Shell Shock Legends:
1. Datsik, Protohype & Init – “Turf Wars”
2. Antiserum & Tha Trickaz – “Boom”
3. Infuze & Proper Villains – “Galaxia”
4. Datsik – “Troynado”
5. Protohype & PhaseOne – “Recon”
6. Truth – “Break Out” (Feat. Taso)
7. Twine – “Insanity” (Feat. Mayor Apeshit)
8. Datsik & Bear Grillz – “Fuck Off”
9. Getter – “The Heat”
10. Minesweepa – “PaperChase” (Feat. Alexander the Great)
11. Sub Antix – “Mr. Miyagi”
12. Downlink & Terravita – “The OG”
13. Helicopter Showdown & EH!DE – “Balderdash”
For Press Inquiries, contact:
Lee Underwood
lee@firepowerrecords.com
Publicity Manager I Firepower Records
The “80 Weight” track immediately caused a huge reaction earlier this year when Sub Antix’s released it for free download on his SoundCloud and to kick off the proceedings on the EP he has laid down a special VIP version. The VIP’s full frontal sound is an amalgamation of crisp snares, descending synths and booming 808 bass that ramps the pressure up even further. Injecting a fresh electronic angle to the pure hip hop foundation, it results in a pure dance floor slayer. Up next, he joins forces with his Canadian companion Phantasma on “Radical,” cranking things up with a double time intro that delivers the unexpected. As it drops, “Radical” dives into a low-slung beat backed by deep subs and winding synth lines.
Sub Antix always manages to find a way to combine his influences and cleverly create something fresh and stimulating. With a stream of new producers coming through, it’s clear when you’ve struck upon the real deal.
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