Dubs

Short for 'dubplates', a type of record used originally by dj's and producers of Jamaican music. They're softer than normal vinyl discs and don't last as long before the needle wears them out. The idea is to 'test' a track on the dancefloor using cheaply made dubplates, before having a more expensive vinyl press of the record made. Now used by producers of hip-hop, garage, drum'n'bass, trance, house, basically any kind of electronic music that people want to dance to, and craved by geeky DJ wannabes of said genres, to impress their eqally geeky non-DJ friends.