Vice Style

THE MIXTAPES

Okay, so I am only going with three covers in total as they all look either way too hip-hop, or way too ravey. Yeah, the two above are very hip-hop in that they have graffiti on the covers, but look, Goldie was a big, big graff artist (he even features in the infamous Spraycan Art book), from his days growing up in Wolverhampton. So, for the UK, graffiti is as relevant to jungle as it is to rap in New York.

I know what you're thinking, it says drum and bass at the top, and yes, you would be correct. But, this actually came out in 1995. As far as I can remember, the term jungle was not univerally approved within the scene, hence the renaming of the genre. But jungle for me will always be Amen break-heavy hardcore. Not like the drum and bass of today.

THE LAYDEEZ

DJ Rap, without question the pin-up girl of jungle. Actually, she was the pin-up of many before her wax-spinning career. Yep, she used to be a page 3 model. She was actually pretty hot and still looks good today even. There wasn't many girls at the raves (see above for a glimpse of the sausage fest it often was), so many clubs offered ladies free entry.

These girls were called the Ultra High Frequenz dancers. Chances are, if you ever attended One Nation or Dreamscape you probably had some very fucked-up conversation with your mate that went something like, "oh man, look at these girls. They are the best dancers ever. I am love with all them. I love you, man. This is the moment in my life I want to remember forever. I think I just came up on the other half, maaate", or something to that effect. Some research into the UHF dancers led me to believe they are now some sort of 'private dancers', if you catch my drift.

Ha ha, I love how it says "Forget Prada, Red or Dead or Armani". Red or Dead?!? I'd doubt half of you even know what that is.

Jungle's obsession with designer shit even managed to creep into their flyers. Love the painted-on bikinis too. Hot 90s junglist poontang, no diggity.

Yes, NASA really did exist. Every now and again I see someone with a record bag or something and it gives me a chuckle.

Yes, yes!

Some girls walking back from an illegal field rave most probably, still in the previous night's outfit, coming down but fearless, nevertheless.

All pics used in this post were taken from the Atmosphere, Prestige, Knowledge and The Scene zines, all from 93-96, which I found on the amazing Golden Era Jungle. Maximum boost to Golden Era Jungle for posting these scans of the zines and for all the mixtapes they have shared over the years. Big up.