In the UK it was integral to the development of grime and dubstep – and elsewhere it has been a technological driver in hyper-localised scenes such as The Netherlands’ Afro-Caribbean bubbling and Mexico’s tribal guarachero.
Despite its modest beginnings in Europe’s bureaucratic heart, FL Studio – formerly known as FruityLoops – became the defining music software of the ‘00s. There’s a saying that “it’s not the tool, it’s the artist.” In the case of FL Studio, though, you could argue that the tool helped shape the artists just as much as the artists helped popularise the tool.
