3 - Significant
Hard Dance, Hardcore
Frenchcore, Gabber, Industrial Hardcore, Nu Style Gabber, Rawstyle
Uptempo hardcore is the high-speed collission of rawstyle and hardcore, resulting in a twisted, flaming wreck that has managed to become one of the most prominent styles of hardcore of the last few years in the EDM mainstream. The genre has its roots in the Dutch hardcore scene, where gabber and industrial hardcore spinner DJ Partyraiser started dropping sped up hardcore tracks in his sets. Eventually, he and others from the scene started making their own tracks in the same vein, and uptempo was born. Musically, uptempo is fast - not quite speedcore fast (most of the time), but usually a little faster than your average modern 170 BPM hardcore tune, and often encroaching on terrorcore territory. But even moreso than the speed it derives its name from, uptempo's most distinctive element is probably its kick drum, which ranges from overcharged nu style and rawstyle kicks that can be found on more oldschool uptempo records to sharp bursts of pure noise. Perhaps the most notorious and representative sound of the genre is the piep kick, a type of kick drum popularized by infamous Scottish duo Greazy Puzzy Fuckerz that features a high pitched attack and a massively distorted tail. Uptempo kicks can be made out of pretty much any sound given enough distortion, and the massive walls of sound that result are a core aspect of the genre's sound.
While uptempo originates from the Netherlands and still retains its largest scenes in mainland Europe, the genre has had a surprising level of mobility, even coming to America to give the country some of its first major hardcore producers since the 90s. The American scene largely owes itself to Lil Texas, a wonky and footwork producer who took a hard pivot into making uptempo and soon found himself at the forefront of American hardcore. The wide geographic range of uptempo producers has actually introduced some interesting regional variance to the genre; producers from the Netherlands tend to draw more heavily from nu style and hardstyle, with artists like Deadly Guns and Streiks & Ktratchs frequently including nu style leads and heavier use of MCs. Meanwhile, the American scene, primarily those artists influenced by Lil Texas and Water Spirit, tends to draw more from frenchcore, with heavier use of off-beat bass. American uptempo producers also frequently incorporate elements of oldschool gabber and breakbeat hardcore such as rave stabs and hoovers. There also exists a more eclectic set of producers such as Greazy Puzzy Fuckerz and Unicorn on Ketamine who lean harder into the comedic side of the genre, creating tracks that utilize blown out piep kicks and mashcore-esque sampling and maintaining an image that leans into EDM meme culture.
Partyraiser - "Witnie (feat. Scrape Face)" from Bitch Mary Anne & Witnie EP (2012).
The Demon Dwarf & Sjammienators - "Bass Hit" from Sjammienators & Friends EP (2015).
Lil Texas - "Speed Freak" from Let The Bass Kick / Speed Freak (2018).
Chaotic Hostility - "Apologize To Nobody" from First Rule No Rules (2019).
Unicorn On Ketamine - "Not For Me" (2020).