Drum & Bass, What the heck...?

Originally the part of late 60's/ early 70's records where all the instruments would drop out except for the drums, which would continue the groove rather than solo, the breakbeat formed the foundation of the early hip-hop records (when it was still largely the provenance of guys with"two turntables and the microphone") and of the records made when hip-hop was largely created by the sampler.
Now generally defined as almost any rhythm that is not in 4/ 4 tempo, the breakbeat has become the building block of what is consideredthe first specifically British strain of music - Jungle, and later the crucial aspect of other British mutations of hip-hop - Drum 'n' Bass.
Beginning roughly with the records of Shut Up And Dance in the very late '80s, enterprising British producers started turbo-boosting the low ends of House and Techno with the chest-caving sub-bass and hyper-kinetic breakbeats of hip-hop to create a new form of music known at various times over its progression as rave, Hardcore, Jungle and Drum'n'Bass. While it has never had anywhere near the prolonged mainstream acceptance of House, there is no question that Drum'n'Bass's mutation of rhythm, celebration of speed, dialectic of ecstasy and come-down, and play of surfaces is potentially the most exciting musical development since the dawn of hip-hop.

DRUM AND BASS SUB-GENRES

DUBWISE
Reggae and dub influenced, with big sub bass over simple beats. Sparse, but very heavy, and featuring samples from classic reggae, this is popular with your mom descerning DnB head.

CLOWNSTEP/ JUMP UP
Probably the most popular sub-genre of drum'n'bass right now, classified by circus-style wobbly b-lines and hectic edits, this is proper raver's music. The term is also often used to refer to anthemic rave tunes with big cheesy lead times.

TECHSTEP
This is for serious angry heads. Raw Anthem beats and lots of Reece synth b-lines typify this sound. When yoy hear really heavy duty drum'n'bass that your mom calls devil music, this is what she's talking about.

NEUROFUNK
A funky, futuristic kind of sound, it can be quite musical and soulful, but mad e from harsh sounds and lots of synths, and heavy on the production techniques.

LIQUID
This huge bracket reffers to any track that are mellow, have a melodic vocal, or contain any serious musical elements. This is very big right now and has a really came on as a major part of drum'n'bass in recent years.