Halftime is a variant of Drum and Bass that emerged during the early 2010s. The name "halftime" refers to the genre's distinct sound that was originally referred to as drum and bass playing at half its normal pace, essentially by removing half of the percussion. Taking influence from a variety of musical styles, including other drum and bass genres and especially Neurofunk, as well as Dubstep, Wonky, certain styles related to the blossoming UK Bass scene of the time and even Hip Hop, halftime became distinct by its usage of wonky, off-kilter rhythms and unorthodox, quirky sound design.

A couple of different scenes were involved in the early development of the genre; artists such as Noisia and Two Fingers incorporated neurofunk's harsh, glitchy basslines into a half-time setting, with some early halftime tracks being produced as early as 2010, when Noisia released their debut album Split the Atom. In addition, many early halftime producers were centered around Noisia's own label, Division Recordings. Other early halftime producers such as Alix Perez, Ivy Lab and Mono/Poly introduced influences from hip hop and Trap (mostly percussion-wise), as well as Minimal Drum and Bass. Ivy Lab's label 20/20 LDN Recordings would also become one of the leading hubs of halftime during the mid-2010s.

Entering the late 2010s, artists such as Mefjus, Vorso, Shield and Kursa helped popularize and extend the audience and sound of halftime. A smaller variant of the sound, dubbed "future beats" was also associated with the 20/20 LDN collective.