Bug Powder Dust
Encyclopedia
"Bug Powder Dust" is a song by Bomb the Bass
, released as the band's eighth single in 1994 as the first single from the Clear
album. Featuring Justin Warfield
on vocals, the track is primarily Dance music blended with Rap and Breakbeat
.
. Crowded with seemingly random images and 'in' references from pop culture, Justin Warfield's lyrics adopt a Burroughs type view of the world.
However, through its use of Burroughs imagery - both fictional and biographic - as well as pulp science fiction iconography from the period, Bug Powder Dust also mimics the author's mashing up of fact and fiction by becoming simultaneously about, and of, Burroughs
Burroughs' most famous work, Naked Lunch
, made famous his cut-up style of composition, which, alongside the subject matter of his novels, sought to question reality, mimic the brutality of sensory overload in modern life, and reproduce the confusion of inner-logic smashed by drugs.
In "Bug Powder Dust", Justin Warfield
adopts Burrough's hallucinatory perspective, but plays it off against the bragaddocio
of hip hop
. Where a traditional rapper would compare themselves to the endurance, strength or impact of a famous object, person or quality, Warfield uses seemingly cryptic pulp images instead.
The effect is of a narrator - like Burroughs - who apparently possesses a perspective on life that cannot recognise the difference between fact and fiction, sanity and madness.
Bug Powder Dust was accepted by the British Hip-hop community, and makes an appearance in many rundowns of 'classic' British hip-hop and rap tracks.
The track incorporates a bassline
by Alphonso Johnson
, as performed on the title track of Flora Purim
's album, Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly. Johnson is probably best known as having been with the jazz-fusion group Weather Report
.
Bomb the Bass
Bomb the Bass is the umbrella title for the output of British musician and producer, Tim Simenon. The band, which has evolved its style over the years, has been classed as electronic or dance....
, released as the band's eighth single in 1994 as the first single from the Clear
Clear (Bomb the Bass album)
Clear was the third album released by Bomb The Bass, the dance/electronic collective formed around British producer and musician, Tim Simenon...
album. Featuring Justin Warfield
Justin Warfield
Justin Warfield is a musician and hip hop emcee of African American and Jewish Russian-Romanian maternal parentage, who is currently half of the darkwave duo She Wants Revenge...
on vocals, the track is primarily Dance music blended with Rap and Breakbeat
Breakbeat
In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...
.
History
Lyrically, "Bug Powder Dust" is essentially a homage to the author William S. BurroughsWilliam S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
. Crowded with seemingly random images and 'in' references from pop culture, Justin Warfield's lyrics adopt a Burroughs type view of the world.
However, through its use of Burroughs imagery - both fictional and biographic - as well as pulp science fiction iconography from the period, Bug Powder Dust also mimics the author's mashing up of fact and fiction by becoming simultaneously about, and of, Burroughs
Burroughs' most famous work, Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959. The book is structured as a series of loosely-connected vignettes. Burroughs stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order...
, made famous his cut-up style of composition, which, alongside the subject matter of his novels, sought to question reality, mimic the brutality of sensory overload in modern life, and reproduce the confusion of inner-logic smashed by drugs.
In "Bug Powder Dust", Justin Warfield
Justin Warfield
Justin Warfield is a musician and hip hop emcee of African American and Jewish Russian-Romanian maternal parentage, who is currently half of the darkwave duo She Wants Revenge...
adopts Burrough's hallucinatory perspective, but plays it off against the bragaddocio
Braggadocio (rap)
Braggadocio is a type of rapping where the MC is "bragging and boasting" and can include subjects such as physicality, fighting ability, sexual prowess, or coolness...
of hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
. Where a traditional rapper would compare themselves to the endurance, strength or impact of a famous object, person or quality, Warfield uses seemingly cryptic pulp images instead.
The effect is of a narrator - like Burroughs - who apparently possesses a perspective on life that cannot recognise the difference between fact and fiction, sanity and madness.
Bug Powder Dust was accepted by the British Hip-hop community, and makes an appearance in many rundowns of 'classic' British hip-hop and rap tracks.
The track incorporates a bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
by Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed...
, as performed on the title track of Flora Purim
Flora Purim
Flora Purim is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Chick Corea's landmark album Return to Forever...
's album, Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly. Johnson is probably best known as having been with the jazz-fusion group Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
.
Commercial Versions
- Bug Powder Dust (Radio mix) 4:20
- Bug Powder Dust (Dust Brothers remix) 5:35
- Bug Powder Dust (Bug Powder Drums remix) 5:38
- Bug Powder Dust (Chemical Brothers Mix) 7:02
- Bug Powder Dust (Sound Furnace Edit) (UK Album Version) (3:49)
- Bug Powder Dust (La Funk Mob Mix) (5:43)
- Bug Powder Dust (Kruder & Dorfmeister Session) (7:24)