The best thing is I don't view it as a 'slur' the way you guys who tend to be nuum-based do, probably because I'm not from the UK. It's just the closest comparison I can think of that everyone gets, and it never ceases to amaze me how people will react as if I've called him a child molester or something.
I definitely see him making the attempts in the mixes, but you can't say that juke itself can be in the 'continuum' of his work, as it has nothing to do with anything he's been doing since 2003 other than the distant ancestor of 'house'. Since's he's grown bored of funky's tempo what, now he goes to borrow his ideas from Americans? And what happens in 2016 when something else is going on, we wait for Kode to do the 'experimental' version of whatever's popping up then?
I'm actually a huge fan of the man, so this isn't baseless sniping and vindictiveness. But I do continue to believe that he could've pulled his influences into the field of where he was. I mean, the reason we have a 'dungeon' sound is because the only persons cultivating the 'what we used to be' attitude in dubstep are the draining half-step people. Obviously the wobble type producers joined the arms-race, but Kode was always able to pull new things into that world and grant people the idea of 'Hmmm. Maybe we can alter things so it all doesn't sound like one track.'
I don't get that in what's a blatant footwork record. The Funky stuff worked a lot better because it was a more gradual transition from the late singles to 2 Bad to Black Sun (and of course, the mysterious Frankie Solaaar 12") all made a certain amount of sense from him. It's too clean a break for me to say he's doing anything beyond just getting caught up in something he's in love with. More power to him, he's allowed to want to have fun, but I can't say it fits with his past.
And juke definitely needs more Mad Mike figures, but what are you going to do with those? Half of their second generation is trying to be Chief Keef right now, because their city's in the middle of an urban music boom. It seems so much more logical and profitable to be making trap beats or do auto-tuned numbers than make those sort of tunes anymore. It's a shame, because nobody in the dance media cares about asking these producers about themselves, they'd rather talk to "TRAP EXPERTS". I mean shit, RBMA had DJ Toomp do a lecture 6-7 years ago or so. You mean to tell me they haven't had the nerve to ask someone like Lex Luger or Aarabmuzik or anyone in that field since? Or are coveted members of Wu-Tang dusting the blunt ashes off their fading t-shirts while they talk about a culture they haven't contributed anything worthwhile to in over a decade and a half really so more valuable/