Crate Diggers 2026: UK Garage / Bassline

Forty cuts into this Crate Diggers garage and bassline edition, three are enough to read the whole selection. None of them is the loudest; they are the ones carrying the most history.

First, 'Baked Beans', with the most curious credit line of the lot: DJ Q, Royal T and Flava D appear as individuals and, at the same time, as TQD — the trio they formed in 2015, its name built from the last letter of each alias, which debuted on Butterz with 'Day and Night' before signing the 'ukg' album in 2017. Meeting them together again under the Butterz banner, at 130 BPM in A minor, is reason enough to stop: 4:14 of six-handed swing without a wasted second.

The second magnet is 'Say Less', the shortest cut on the list (2:57) and the most name-dense: Shy FX and Breakage on production, Irah and Mr Williamz on vocals, Cesco rounding out the credit. Released on Digital Soundboy in late 2025, it fits five names into under three minutes at 130 BPM. Cesco also returns elsewhere in the selection with 'Finders Keepers' alongside Sylla and Douvelle19 — another 3:07 just as concise. Two appearances, neither stretching much past three minutes; there is an idea of economy in that.

And then the closer. 'Obelisk', by Footshooter with rappers Natty Wylah and brother portrait, drops to 66 BPM where almost everything before it lived between 127 and 140. Footshooter is Barney Whittaker, a South London producer and DJ, and the track — released on Tru Thoughts — crosses house, dub, broken beat and jazz in C minor. Placing it last turns the final slot into a landing: after all that club pressure, the selection chooses to leave at half speed, with rap on top. That a garage and bassline chart ends there says more about its curator's ears than any promo copy.