Wookie

Wookie is the name used by Jason Chue, a UK-based producer and musician associated with UK garage, breakbeat, 2-step and related dance styles. His work also spans hip hop, R&B and dancehall, and he is linked with Lovestar Music.

Early career and production work

Chue begins his career in 1991 as a producer for UK R&B and reggae artist Wayne Marshall. He produces most of Marshall’s debut album, 90 Degrees and Rising, which appears in 1994. He later works as a writer and producer for Soul II Soul at their studio, collaborating with Jazzie B over several years. He also produces for Dynamite MC and Doom Man.

Remixes and the Wookie sound

Wookie remixes tracks by artists including Destiny’s Child, Public Enemy and Nas. In the late 1990s, the distinctive “Wookie sound” becomes evident in bootleg mixes of songs by Whitney Houston, Brandy and Debelah Morgan. He also produces remixes for Jessie J, Rizzle Kicks, Sia, Justin Timberlake, Roll Deep and Ray Foxx, among others.

Breakthrough in UK garage

He is described as one of the original innovators of UK garage. In 1999, he scores a major underground club hit with “Scrappy”. That same year, he releases his first official remix, of Gabrielle’s “Sunshine”, under the name Wookie. In 2000, another remix appears under the alias Exemen: a version of Sia’s “Little Man”.

Wookie also reaches the UK charts with “Battle”, which becomes his first UK top 10 single. Other charting tracks include “What’s Going On” and “Back Up (To Me)”. His self-titled debut album is also released in 2000.

Later appearances

In 2013, Wookie appears with other garage pioneers in the documentary Rewind 4Ever: The History of UK Garage, which looks at the genre’s legacy. He also produces remixes of Disclosure’s “Voices” and Eliza Doolittle’s “Walking on Water” that year. At the end of 2013, he headlines the Bruk Out party at the Big Chill House in King’s Cross, London, alongside Zed Bias.