Not to be confused with the breakbeat garage mash-up of later eras, the Hackney 2 step scene celebrated a special form of US soul music that had the streets of East London buzzing for quite some time. The original 2 step sound got its name from the omnipresent whiplash rhythm, which for a certain period dominated the orchestrated major label productions in the US. With its low-key mid-tempo swagger, 2 step soul was especially popular with the notorious UK rare groove scene, and later UK artists like Micah Paris and Omar, who continued to put their own contemporary spin on the classic recordings.
