Article by: Jessica Duncan
UStempo is a new, quickly growing subgenre of the hard dance scene. California natives J. Slai and Rollz Royce take a stab at it with their latest release, “Fall” featuring novel natura, out today.
For those unsure what UStempo is, according to Rollz Royce – “it’s really as simple as putting half-time house or downtempo drums over uptempo kicks! UStempo was created about a year or two ago by a guy named Oroto [now known as Dragonfly] out of Florida. It sounds so good and gives a different vibe than regular uptempo in my opinion. Plus there’s still a pretty large number of people who haven’t heard UStempo yet so I’m always trying to spread the love.” J. Slai agrees and adds, “This is a genre that needs more ears on it, it is bound to blow people away.”
Rollz Royce
On “Fall,” novel natura’s vocals really shine at the beginning of the track before the rest of the elements come in. J.Slai opines, “novel natura was truly a cherry on top on this song, as they wrote their own melody around the melodies we had and really tied the song together for us with their angelic vocals.” In addition to being a vocalist, novel natura is a multi-genre producer who has gone by the artist name “hherb.”
novel natura
J.Slai is known for producing tracks in the faster subgenres of hard dance like hardcore and Frenchcore; “Fall” is no exception. The hard-hitting distorted kicks and hardstyle synths come in and instantly raise the energy of this 200 BPM track. His slice-sounding beat tag and quick-break beat sections are layered throughout the track.
Rollz Royce has been making uptempo for the last year and his contributions are clear in the second half of the track when the kicks become even more distorted and the synths more high-pitched. On working with Rollz Royce, J. Slai said, “When I heard his take on uptempo/UStempo, I became a fan immediately. That raw energy and sound design he brings to American hard dance is very unique and I knew we needed to collaborate.”
J. Slai
In the last drop of the song, one can really hear Rollz Royce’s UStempo sound. One wouldn’t think a downtempo house beat would work with uptempo hardcore sounds, but they combine surprisingly well and create a vibey, danceable drop. While working on “Fall,” J.Slai “noticed there weren’t any UStempo drops, so I asked Rollz Royce to add the special sauce and that’s what you hear on that last drop.”
UStempo will continue to grow in the American hard dance scene and beyond if J. Slai and Rollz Royce have more to say about it. Give “Fall” a listen and follow them by using the links below. Listen to the other hard dance tracks that dropped this week by following Moon Lnvding’s New Music Heat Friday playlist on Spotify.
CONNECT with J. Slai:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok
LISTEN to J. Slai:
Spotify | Apple Music | Beatport | SoundCloud | YouTube
CONNECT with Rollz Royce:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
LISTEN to Rollz Royce:
Spotify | Beatport | SoundCloud | YouTube
