Subatomic Sound System was founded in 1999 by Emch and Noah Shachtman it is an American record label and collective of musicians, producers, DJs, and visual artists from a variety of backgrounds and traditions.
In late 2008 the Subatomic Sound System garnered attention for a limited edition vinyl 12" featuring their collaboration with Vienna's Dubblestandart and dub inventor Lee "Scratch" Perry.
In 2011, Subatomic Sound System began performing as Lee "Scratch" Perry's backing band with a hybrid of electronics and live instruments.
In 2017, Subatomic Sound System released their first full-length album with Perry entitled Super Ape Returns to Conquer which debuted No.
In the end, judges conceded that there were no valid grounds for disqualifying Subatomic Sound System for using DJ software rather than traditional vinyl and turntables, so they upheld their victory in the competition.
The group performed in a variety of configurations from a live band of ten, to an electronic trio, to DJs as styles like dubstep increased in popularity and the interest in new dub oriented music emanating from New York City increased (largely the result of successful releases from NYC artists such as Dr. Israel, Ticklah, Easy Star All-Stars, Dub Gabriel, Bill Laswell, Matisyahu, and others).
On July 19, 2009, Subatomic Sound System performed at Summerstage in Central Park, New York City, along with Lee "Scratch" Perry & Dubblestandart (with a cameo from Ari Up) and Alpha Blondy.
In the song, Perry describes killing vampires with fire, electric wire, roast corn, and his own hair in locations around the globe including America, England, and Kingston, Jamaica.
A short run of those records was pressed as advance promotion for the forthcoming album and included some exclusive vinyl only mixes, namely dubstep and 1980s dancehall reggae style mixes of "Iron Devil" on the A side and two remixes of Dubblestandart tracks by Tom Watson, a producer from Paris, France, on the B side, one of which was "Wadada" (originally recorded by Dub Syndicate) the first ever dubstep track featuring the Jamaican voice of thunder, Prince Far-I.
For the dubstep vinyl release that followed, Subatomic Sound System developed new versions of "Blackboard Jungle" based on that remix and involving Guyana-born/NYC-based dancehall reggae vocalist Jahdan Blakkamoore for vocals along with Perry.
In late 2011, the Subatomic Sound label released a project called Sancocho e Tigres, a collective of young producers and musicians from across South and Central America.
It was described by BPM magazine in its vital releases column as "connecting the dots between dub, dancehall, hip hop, drum & bass, downtempo and broken beat".