Jump-up was never the cool kid in drum & bass. The serious producers focused on neuro or liquid. The label structure favoured the more credible-sounding sub-genres. And yet jump-up was always outselling everything else, just quietly. Hedex made it impossible to ignore.

The rise

Born in Cardiff, started releasing in his late teens, signed to Hospital around 2018. By 2021 his tracks were the biggest sellers on the entire Hospital roster. His record "Boom" became one of the best-known DnB tracks of the decade.

What he does differently

Hedex's basslines are simpler than most jump-up. The hooks are immediately memorable. The drops are large, clean and engineered for festival-stage sound systems. Other jump-up producers go heavier or weirder; Hedex goes catchier. That has been the formula.

The Hospital effect

Hospital's signing of Hedex was a strategic decision to embrace jump-up as a commercial centre rather than a side-room concern. It worked. Hospitality festivals now devote whole stages to jump-up. The genre that was looked down on for 25 years is now the financial engine of the label.

In the Baltics

Jump-up nights have always done well in the Baltics. Younger crowds, less concerned with sub-genre purism, more interested in big drops. A Hedex booking sells out faster than almost anything else SELECTA programs.