Dubstep is a genre of electronic music which has its roots in the UK garage scene in London in the early 2000s. By 2004 the genre was defined enough for mainstream newspaper The Independent on Sunday to comment on a 'whole new sound', that it said was being called by five names: "The music that's emerging is so new, inventive and atomised, it doesn't have one name but five. 'Eightbar', 'sublow', 'dubstep', 'eski' and, most prominently, 'grime', are all being touted as descriptors of a uniquely British music that descends from the garage sound.

In late 2005 and early 2006, dubstep as a genre steadily became more popular, expanding beyond small, provincial scenes thanks to coverage in music magazines such as The Wire, as well as the internet. Interest in dubstep grew after BBC Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs began championing the genre, devoting a show to it (entitled "Dubstep Warz") in January 2006.

By October 2006, the genre was being covered by the Daily Telegraph, which wrote of "the latest development in British dance music... yet another sound stemming from London's garage scene, a bass-heavy instrumental form rather confusingly known as Dubstep.

The sound originally came out of productions by El-B, Oris Jay, Steve Gurley (who all feature on Tempa's Roots of Dubstep compilation) and Zed Bias in 1999-2000.

The term 'dubstep' was first used by Ammunition Promotions, who run the club Forward, its use in a 2002 XLR8R cover story (featuring Horsepower Productions on the cover) contributed to the term becoming established as the name of the genre. It gained full acceptance with the Dubstep Allstars Vol 1 CD (Tempa) mixed by DJ Hatcha. Since 2001, Ammunition have been responsible for managing many dubstep record labels such as Tempa, Soulja, Road, Vehicle, Shelflife, Texture, Lifestyle and Bingo.

Forward>> was originally held at the Velvet Rooms in London's Soho and is now running every Friday at Plastic People in Shoreditch, east London. Founded in 2001, this club was critical in the development of dubstep, providing the first venue devoted to the sound and an environment in which producers could premier new music.

Forward>> also ran a radio show on east London pirate station Rinse FM, hosted by producer/DJ Kode9, owner of the Hyperdub label. The original Forward>> residents included Hatcha, Youngsta, Kode9, Zed Bias, Oris Jay, Slaughter Mob, Jay Da Flex, Slimzee and others, plus regular guests.

The line up of residents has changed over the years to now include Youngsta, Hatcha, Geeneus and Plastician, with Crazy D as MC/host. Producers including D1, Skream and Benga make regular appearances.

Another crucial element in the development of dubstep was the Big Apple Records record shop in Croydon. Key artists such as Hatcha and later Skream worked in the shop (which initially sold garage and drum and bass, but evolved with the emerging dubstep scene in the area), whilst Digital Mystikz were frequent visitors. El-B, Zed Bias, Horsepower, and a young Loefah regularly visited the shop as well. The shop and its record label have since closed down,[16] and reopened under the name Mixing Records.

Dubstep has recently been receiving substantial international attention, with the help of ambassadors such as Baltimore DJ Joe Nice and Matt Carl from Canada. Regular Dubstep club nights have been held in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Denver, while Mary Anne Hobbs curated a Dubstep showcase at 2007's Sónar festival in Barcelona. Non-British artists have also won praise within the larger Dubstep community. Joe Nice has played at DMZ, while the fifth installment of Tempa's "Dubstep Allstars" mix series (released in 2007) included tracks by Finnish producer Tes La Rok and Americans JuJu and Matty G.

Techno artists and DJs are now assimilating dubstep into their sets and productions. Shackleton's Blood on my hands was remixed by Minimal techno superstar Ricardo Villalobos (who has also included Dubstep tracks in his sets) and included on a mix CD by Panoramabar resident Cassy. Ellen Allien and Apparat's 2006 song "Metric" (from the Orchestra of Bubbles album) is another example of dubstep-influenced techno.

At the same time, dubstep is evolving to share more in common with minimal techno, which was also influenced by dub reggae; Fabric resident DJ Craig Richards expressed that as the rise in popularity of minimal techno has created an enthusiasm for simple drums and basslines. Even major techno/house record labels such as UMM seem to be moving towards the dubstep sound with a forthcoming mix compilation by DJ Hatcha through Aphex recordings.

Dubstep may be set to become equally as popular as it comprises simplicity with a contemporary bass heavy sound.

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