Stevie Hyper D

Stephen Austin was born in London, England on 20 September 1967 to a Spanish mother and Barbadian father. He died on 5 July 1998 of a fatal Bloodclot possibly attributed to deep vein thrombosis after a long international tour.

He was one of the pioneering MC’s in the Drum n Bass / Oldschool jungle scene. He has been credited with inventing the ‘Double Time’ MC’ing style, where he would double the speed of the generic MC flow but would still fit within the bars of the music.

He was the first DnB MC to have a major release when The Next Step was released on Island Records in 1999. He also had an album The Legend which was released on the independent Drum and Bass label, Dance Concept which was produced by Benny V. These tracks gained airplay on national radio stations KISS FM and BBC RADIO ONE as well as receiving support from the underground pirate scene including Kool FM which was one of the stations he performed on regularly. His track Buffalo Soldier from the album was nominated for DNBA tune of the year in 2004.

Hyper D is widely accepted as one of the true pioneering Drum & Bass MC’s. It is also accepted he was the innovator of the ‘double time’ MC style that’s is commonly used today. Appearing first on the 1991 track Teknoragga, Stevie went on to record tracks across various genres, from Jungle, to Hip Hop and even to House Music. He was the first Drum & Bass MC to secure an album with a major label, Island Records. The Next Step, with his producer Dfrnt Lvls was released in 1999, the year after his death. He held residencies at all the elite Jungle and Drum & Bass Events but it was during his bookings at Labyrinth that he met Benny V. Nothing came of it at the time, but when Benny V also hooked up with Dfrnt Lvls his recorded work was put together again for The Legend album which had tracks played on UK National Radio as well as receiving huge underground support on the pirates.