Caspa (x3 Vinyl LP)

It comes as no surprise that dubstep, a world that's dominated by young, talented and forward-thinking artists, is considered one of the most exciting genres in dance music today. Powered by diverse, revolutionary productions, and a unique blend of underground ethics and crossover appeal, the upfront dubstep scene has expanded from being an inherently London youth movement locked in the streets of Croydon to launching a full-blown worldwide takeover. As dubstep garners more of a name for itself, Caspa stands out as one of the UK's brightest and most in demand leading lights. At the mere age of 26, his accomplishments are staggering - as a booming (in more ways than one) producer, label owner and trendsetter in the scene - and, as the mainstream starts to feel the ripples of the dubstep invasion, this year certainly holds much promise for the uncompromising artist. Caspa is a key part of the first wave of UK dubstep stars, rearing his own fiercely individual sound and pushing the genre to unexplored territories. At a time when the majority of dubstep artists refused to look beyond their precious, insular scene, Caspa was one of the first innovators to embrace a wide-reaching audience.

His album 'Everybody's Talking, Nobody's Listening' has been bringing heat on the dubstep radar, mainly because of the already established (but previously unreleased) anthems it holds. Contrary to the album's title, soon everybody will be listening to the future sounds of dubstep. Throughout the record Caspa aptly transforms and shape-shifts with tunes that swathe the entire spectrum: from colossal dancefloor anthems to lively club-tearing wobblers to sublime downtempo escapes to hip hop-geared bangers, all the way right through to the tech end of the scale. His ability to create a peak-time floor-filler has never been questioned (especially not after 2008's immense remix of TC's 'Where's My Money?'), and the precision of his throttling basslines is matchless, but the album proves that his skills reach far beyond the dancefloor. Working with vocalists such as Dynamite MC, Uncle Sam and Beezy, Caspa steps up once again to expand the conformities of dubstep; his collab with Uncle Sam, 'Lon-Don City' (a radio-friendly anthem for the capital's youth), is a striking stand-out example.

As the man like David Rodigan states at the start of the album: "Are you listening? Because Caspa's playing."