Chase & Status

From London basslines to the global pulse of drum and bass

Few acts have connected the language of the British rave and the scale of major stages with such precision as Chase & Status. The duo formed by Saul Milton and Will Kennard was born in London in 2003, following a friendship forged in Manchester during their university years, and turned drum and bass into an open platform for dubstep, jungle, grime, UK garage, and massive-vocation songwriting.

From the hard label circuit to festival anthems

Their early stage was linked to labels like Bingo Beats, Renegade Hardware, and Ram Records, where they shaped an identity of hard-hitting bass, fast breaks, and a very club-oriented reading of the British soundsystem. The album More Than Alot confirmed that presence in 2008, before No More Idols expanded their reach with tracks like End Credits, Blind Faith, and Time. Since then, Chase & Status have alternated dancefloor muscle with high-impact vocal collaborations, uniting Plan B, Delilah, Tinie Tempah, Kano, Rita Ora, Rihanna, CeeLo Green, Becky Hill, and Stormzy at different moments in their career.

MTA, jungle, and a second commercial peak

In addition to their work as producers, Milton and Kennard created MTA Records, a label associated with their vision of British electronic music without rigid barriers. After Brand New Machine and Tribe, the album RTRN II JUNGLE returned the focus to the Jamaican, ragga, and jungle roots of their sound, while What Came Before explored the relationship between reggae, hip hop, bass music, and rave memory. In 2023, 2 RUFF, Vol. 1 marked a new generational explosion: Baddadan, alongside Bou, IRAH, Flowdan, Trigga, and Takura, became a global drum and bass phenomenon, reinforced by Disconnect, Liquor & Cigarettes, and Selecta.

Boiler Room, BRITs, and the current state of the project

Their Boiler Room London session in 2023 served as a snapshot of their current moment: immediate energy, MCs in the foreground, sharp cuts, and a very physical reading of rave culture. In 2024, they received the BRIT Award for Producer of the Year and reached the British number one with BACKBONE, their collaboration with Stormzy. Today, Chase & Status occupy a unique position: respected by the underground scene that saw them grow and, at the same time, capable of taking drum and bass to charts, arenas, and international festivals without diluting their DNA of bass, pressure, and community.