Crate Diggin’: Jungle Warriors select their top jungle anthems

Supergroups don’t get much realer than Jungle Warriors. Formed of some of the UK’s most prolific junglists, Kenny Ken, Potential Badboy, Remarc and Ragga Twins have always shown an ineffable love for the genre under their joint project, consistently pushing the history of one of the UK’s most important underground music scenes. You get a good sense of just how much they all live and breathe jungle from watching them play together. They’ll be showing us this in Room One alongside Congo Natty this Friday, so we contacted them for our latest Crate Diggin’ feature. They each sent over 3 definitive jungle anthems, charting their musical heritage through the genre’s two-decade time span.

Kenny Ken

Here Comes the Drumz (Remix) – Nasty Habits [Reinforced]

My first pick is Doc Scott’s Here Comes The Drumz remix on Reinforced. Some may say this is hardcore rather than jungle, and my answer to that is that it’s jungle techno. The beats and bassline are legendary. Big tune!

Everyman – D.R.S featuring Kenny Ken [Rugged Vinyl]

The second tune is Everyman by D.R.S., Remodon and myself. It’s in my top 3 because it’s the first tune I helped produce that got a great reaction. Got to big up Ben from Rugged Vinyl for believing in something different.

Love Is Gone – Bladerunner [Philly Blunt]

The third tune is hard to pick because of the amount of good music out there, so I’m gonna stay away from the classics and go with Love Is Gone by Bladerunner on Philly Blunt, it’s new skool jungle with that old skool feel but with 10 times better production. Rolling!

Remarc

I find it impossible to list favourites or most influential tracks through the years and periods of our music’s evolution as there’s simply too many! But here are 3 of mine.

The Wickedest Sound (Don Gorgon Mix) – Rebel MC featuring Tenor Fly

Coming from a reggae and hip-hop background this track for me then and still now fuses both genres perfectly with the hardcore and rave scene I was steadily drawing to back then. When fly comes in... Bludclart... Sealed the deal for me. R.I.E.P Tenor Fly.

Lion Heart – Berty B & Dillinja [Lionheart]

May not be the deepest choice with so many massive jungle tunes around this time, but I chose this as it has always been a personal favourite and has simply never left my box (or folder nowadays), not to mention the memories of raving and brucking out when anyone drew this. I still find it hard not to when I play or hear it now.

Revolution – Potential Badboy feat. Demolition Man & Show Stephens [Playaz]

Again not the deepest of choices but this is possibly the most iconic jungle track of jungle’s “apparent” (I won’t go into that) resurgence. As well as being such an authentic modern day jungle track, it brought so much attention back to our music from a wider audience. Potential’s production, Demo and Show Stephens’ vocals set a level for jungle still unmatched since its release (in my humble opinion), and it’s one of few tunes nowadays that will always be in my USB folder.

Potential Badboy

I believe all of these tunes had a great influence on the scene, from the beginning to the current side of jungle and jungle beats.

Euphony (Just 4 U London) – Bodysnatch [Big City]

Hooligan 69 – Ragga Twins [Shut Up And Dance]

Shake Ur Body – Shy FX & T Power [Positiva]

Ragga Twins

The One – Mampi Swift [Charge]

This track is all about the build-up and drop, the patient wait then the rolling deep bassline makes this an MC-friendly track.

Burial – Leviticus [Philly Blunt]

This track takes me back to my sound days, it's like a dub plate special which reminds me of sound clashes.

Dread Bass – Dead Dred [Moving Shadow]

This track has the mental drum patterns and the heaviest of basslines and the classic time-stretched sample makes for a dance floor smasher. Photo: Ramona Carraro