Biography

Introduction

Kode9 (born Steve Goodman in Glasgow, Scotland) is a London-based dubstep artist, DJ, and owner of the Hyperdub record label. MC The Spaceape is a frequent collaborator.

Early career

Like many dubstep artists, Kode9 comes from a musical background of oldschool jungle, drum and bass, and 2-step garage; he has mentioned his first encounter with jungle, in Edinburgh, as being "the most important musical event of my life". Other genres that are common influences in his work include Dub Reggae, Dancehall, and Indian music (such as in the tabla part and toasting on the song "Kingstown").^{[citation needed]}

A move to Warwick and collaboration with the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit at University of Warwick studying rave culture, cybernetics, postmodernism and afrofuturism later led to a memetic philosophy regarding music, which he has spoken about at length in interviews. In the late nineties, Kode9 moved to London, and established a name as a disk jockey in clubs such as FWD>>.

Current work

In 2004, Kode9 founded Hyperdub records; the first release was Sine, a collaboration between Kode9 and Daddy Gee, which was an incredibly minimal, loose cover version of Prince's Sign "O" the Times. Kode9 treated the vocals to fit his idea of their delivery by "a man on his deathbed"^{[citation needed]}. Subsequent releases established the label as an important and influential label within the dubstep genre. Hyperdub have since released records such as Burial's self-titled debut album, which The Wire magazine named their number one album of 2006.

Goodman has a Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Warwick and has also worked in academia. As of 2006 he was working at the University of East London as a lecturer in media production, and course tutor for a master's program in sonic culture.