O.M.G!: An album with mainstream ambitions but still rooted to his influences
Written by Sam Moir

There are three Dubstep artists’ albums I am looking forward to in 2010. My lips are watering at the thought of Joker’s and Skream’s, still to come this year, but the wait is well and truly over for the third.

Rusko’s meteoric rise has caught the eye of every Dubstep fanatic. He’s a producer who actually divides the scene and you can see why. Everyone knows at least one of his earlier tunes, Cockney Thug and Jahova spring to mind instantly. These are the big tunes that coincided with his explosion onto the scene, symbolic of his emphasis on heavy bass.

Fast forward to 2010 and you have got a man set about making a name for himself. Not just in the dingy, sweaty, small clubs where underground music thrives but in the mainstream where so many artists have tried, and often failed. This is obviously going to lead to one time ‘fans’ saying, ‘Rusko’s selling out.’

When I had the chance to talk to Mary Anne Hobbs about underground producer’s ambitions, she told me this metaphor:

Imagine you get a job as a tea boy at a film production company because all you ever dreamed of is becoming a film director, you can’t keep a man in the role of tea boy. He might make the greatest cup of tea on earth but at some point, he’s going to want that Hollywood premiere.

How can anyone argue against that?

Rusko’s debut album, O.M.G! is due for release in the UK on 7 June. In the build up to the release, he offered fans a chance to listen to the entire album on his MySpace.

He then left you with the decision whether to invest in it.

Listening to the first track, Woo Boost, a standard Rusko, big on bass track, you would think his sound has not changed at all but this tune was first played to the world back in 2008 so it is a throwback to his earlier, darker, days.

Fans will also recognise another two, of the fourteen tracks, from his 2008 Radio 1 Essential Mix. Scareware is the first tune on his Essential Mix and it is a banger. Featuring Clipz (re-invented these days as Redlight), it is a pretty chilled out beat but then the bass drops and it just blows you away. Another tune from his Essential Mix, Oy, and it is great to see Crookers getting involved on the album.

One of my favourite things about O.M.G! is the split between tunes with vocals and the tunes that just let the bass do the talking. Oy is one for the fans who do not care about the vocals and just want the bass to blow them away.

The two most commercial tracks of the album happen to be my favourite. Hold On featuring Amber Coffman of the Dirty Projectors got a massive reaction regarding the garage based theme of it and I presume it will be upcoming for a release such is the massive potential the track has.

If I had to name just one favourite tune on the album then it would be Feels So Real with London based singer/producer Ben Westbeech collaborating on the vocals. It has the X-factor for a track to be successful in the mainstream and that is feel good vibes. I am still convinced that both of these tracks have a chance at success in the mainstream market so if anyone from a radio Playlist team is reading this then I am begging you to take a chance on either of them.

Rusko discovered Dubstep through Leeds club night SUB DUB and there are two tracks on the album that take you back to his early influences. Rod Azlan gets involved for Rubadub Shakedown to provide a chilled out reggae jam. District Line, another tune full of chill out vibes, this time without any vocals.

I know I should list some criticisms but, to be honest, I cannot think of any. This album is a true journey of his early underground days to the more upbeat, jump up sound of Rusko in 2010.

You might be able to fathom I am Rusko die hard and it is a pretty biased review because I never set out to analyse it, I set out to enjoy it. I could talk about every track in detail but I do not want to.

This is an album you should sit down, crank those speakers up and discover for yourself.

Following on from the release of O.M.G! in America now comes the big news. It has recently been announced that Rusko is about to begin work with none other than pop princess, Britney Spears.

The more mainstream tracks on O.M.G! and his work with MIA and Rihanna looks set to have opened the door for Rusko to have a real chance at breaking into mainstream production. He told the LA Weekly, “They approach me because they want me to do what I do. They don’t want me to make a cheesy pop record.” As you would expect, it has gone down to a mixed reaction on the forums. With some users thinking Rusko is set to become dubstep’s equivalent of Pendulum contrasted to the extreme of people saying, ‘Welcome to the end of dubstep.’

Thankfully, there are more open minded people out there and massive props to Dubstepforum’s legend4ry:

“Rusko is in another world compared to a lot of the scene. He’ s going to be making pop music for Britney Spears, 70% of people who listen to popular music don’t even know what genre half the things they like are! It’s not a big deal for the scene but a big deal to him and I say good luck to the fella, I might not be a huge fan of his music but he’s certainly put in the work to get where he is!”

With O.M.G! he has made an attempt at taking this, until 2008, largely underground sound into the mainstream but it actually remains a record rooted to his early influences, dub and bass.

It’s nice to see he’s aware of the potential dangers of creating that ‘cheesy pop record’ the label want and he intends to keep the sound true to Rusko, ‘I just want to be known for my beats. It’s simple. What you see is what you get. Bang! The music.’

Linkage..
O.M.G! is available to buy on CD from 7 June. You can pre-order it now on Play.com
Rusko will be co-hosting MistaJam’s Radio 1Xtra show on Tuesday 1st June.

2 free Rusko downloads are currently available. First, the track he’s produced for Jurassic 5 legend Chali 2na ‘Gadget Go Go’:
Also available is Sub Focus’ remix of next single ‘Hold On’ to download for free:

Sam Moir is a Sheffield Uni student, Journalist, DJ and new MistaJam.com team member