Roni Size
Encyclopedia
Roni Size is a British
record producer
and DJ
, who came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and leader of Reprazent
, a drum and bass
collective
. That year they won the Mercury Prize
for their album New Forms
.
He resurrected Reprazent
in 2008 with the release of a deluxe edition of´New Forms on Universal
.
n immigrants, grew up in the Bristol
suburb of St. Andrews. He cites reggae
as one of his early influences. He was expelled from school at the age of 16 and started attending house parties run by Bristol soundsystem The Wild Bunch
(a predecessor of Massive Attack
). He learned the basics about music production at his local youth club, the Sefton Park basement project, which provided record players, a mixing desk, drum machines and samplers. He worked with his brother's comprehensive collection of Studio One records and later set up a home studio, buying a sampler.
His future musical partner, Krust
, had been a member of the Fresh 4, whose "Wishing On A Star" reached the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart
in late 1989. Williams, Krust, Suv and DJ Die
founded Full Cycle Records.
Aided by Chris Lewis, Roni Size founded the record label WTP ("Where's The Party At?") as part of Circus Warp, and in 1993 Full Cycle and Dope Dragon were established in 1993 from that. RCA Records
employee Bryan Gee was an early admirer. When in 1994 he set up V Recordings
, the first releases were Krust's Deceivers EP as catalogue number V001 and Agility, the debut release of Roni Size and DJ Die
, as V002.
beats accompanied by live drum
s and double bass
. The band consists of Williams (compositions/programming), DJ Krust, Onallee (vocals), Dynamite MC
and rapper Bahamadia
(a former protégé of Gang Starr
). As a result, Reprazent drum 'n' bass is equally informed by hip-hop
, funk
, soul
and house
.
appearances in summer of 1997 (including Tribal Gathering
). Their New Forms LP won the Mercury Music Prize. The singles from the album all featured singer Onallee, whose call for the music in "Brown Paper Bag" is a signal ravers still respond to. The album went platinum, and Roni Size and his collaborators returned to the studio.
Williams subsequently teamed up with DJ Die and Leonie Laws in Breakbeat Era
, before returning to Reprazent to record the second album, October 2000's In The Mode, which included guest vocals from Zack de la Rocha
of Rage Against the Machine
and Method Man
of Wu-Tang Clan
. In 2001, he returned to the studio and started working with Tali, who had recently arrived from New Zealand
on her album Lyric On My Lip. In this time he also produced Touching Down - released in October 2002. This, his first truly solo album, included 16 tracks segued into one hour's set. He came back to 'V' in 2005 with the release of Return To V, which included vocal collaborations with artists such as Beverly Knight, Jocelyn Brown
, Vikter Duplaix
and Rodney P
.
Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008 with the release of a deluxe edition of New Forms on Universal. The reformed band included original members Dynamite MC, Onallee and bass player Si John alongside Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing
), D Product, Jay Wilcox and Pete Josef. Roni Size and Reprazent toured some of the biggest festivals in Europe
, including Bestival
, Glastonbury
, Lovebox
, EXIT and Rock Herk. As a result, they were among the nominees for Best Dance Act from the UK Festival Awards
.
The band started 2009 with a tour of Australia
as part of the Good Vibrations Festival
. Following on from this, Roni Size and Reprazent returned to North America
for the first time in seven years as one of the headliners at the 2009 Ultra Music Festival
in Miami. They then went on to perform at Coachella
, appearing as the final act of the festival.
In September 2009, Roni Size and Reprazent played a gig with an orchestra and choir to mark the re-opening of Bristol
’s Colston Hall
, collaborating with the BBC
’s Nature’s Great Events composer, William Goodchild
. In addition to older material, the band played material from a forthcoming Reprazent album.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, who came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and leader of Reprazent
Reprazent
Reprazent is a British drum and bass act formed by Roni Size. Their debut album New Forms won the Mercury Music Prize in 1997. Their follow-up album In The Mode featured artists including Rahzel, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Method Man.Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008...
, a drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
collective
Collective
A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project to achieve a common objective...
. That year they won the Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
for their album New Forms
New Forms
New Forms is the debut album by the drum and bass act Roni Size / Reprazent and was released in 1997. The double-disc set was the winner of the Mercury Music Prize in 1997, and often cited as their magnum opus. In the UK, the first disc was released by itself, while two different vinyl versions exist...
.
He resurrected Reprazent
Reprazent
Reprazent is a British drum and bass act formed by Roni Size. Their debut album New Forms won the Mercury Music Prize in 1997. Their follow-up album In The Mode featured artists including Rahzel, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Method Man.Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008...
in 2008 with the release of a deluxe edition of´New Forms on Universal
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
.
Early life
Williams, son of JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n immigrants, grew up in the Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
suburb of St. Andrews. He cites reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
as one of his early influences. He was expelled from school at the age of 16 and started attending house parties run by Bristol soundsystem The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch (sound system)
The Wild Bunch was a sound system based in the St Paul's district of Bristol, England from 1983 to 1986. The group was renowned for playing sets that drew large crowds from the club scene and had performed shows as far away as London. They performed in soundclashes against other Bristol sound...
(a predecessor of Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
). He learned the basics about music production at his local youth club, the Sefton Park basement project, which provided record players, a mixing desk, drum machines and samplers. He worked with his brother's comprehensive collection of Studio One records and later set up a home studio, buying a sampler.
His future musical partner, Krust
Krust
Krust or DJ Krust is an English drum and bass producer and DJ who is part of the Bristol based Reprazent collective, as well as releasing his own solo material such as "Burnin" which was released on Kickin Records.Krust was interested in hip hop, acid house and rave music as a youth, and was a...
, had been a member of the Fresh 4, whose "Wishing On A Star" reached the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in late 1989. Williams, Krust, Suv and DJ Die
DJ Die
DJ Die , is a British music producer and DJ. He was a founder of drum and bass label Full Cycle Recordings and a member of acts Reprazent and Breakbeat Era....
founded Full Cycle Records.
Aided by Chris Lewis, Roni Size founded the record label WTP ("Where's The Party At?") as part of Circus Warp, and in 1993 Full Cycle and Dope Dragon were established in 1993 from that. RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
employee Bryan Gee was an early admirer. When in 1994 he set up V Recordings
V Recordings
V Recordings is a drum and bass record label, based in London. Started by DJs Bryan Gee and Jumping Jack Frost, V Recordings is one of the longest-running Drum and Bass imprints, with a large catalogue of releases stretching back to 1993...
, the first releases were Krust's Deceivers EP as catalogue number V001 and Agility, the debut release of Roni Size and DJ Die
DJ Die
DJ Die , is a British music producer and DJ. He was a founder of drum and bass label Full Cycle Recordings and a member of acts Reprazent and Breakbeat Era....
, as V002.
Musical style
Much of the acclaim centred around Size's melding of the propulsive jungleOldschool jungle
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that incorporates influences from genres including breakbeat hardcore, and reggae/dub/dancehall. There is debate as to whether jungle is a separate genre from drum and bass as many use the terms interchangeably...
beats accompanied by live drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
. The band consists of Williams (compositions/programming), DJ Krust, Onallee (vocals), Dynamite MC
Dynamite MC
Dynamite MC, is an MC from Gloucester, England. He originally gained prominence in jungle/drum and bass, working with Roni Size and Reprazent, but has also released hip hop material.-Career:...
and rapper Bahamadia
Bahamadia
Bahamadia is a Philadelphia-born hip hop artist born in 1970, and a DJ who later became an MC. As a member of Gang Starr Foundation, she released her critically acclaimed debut album entitled Kollage in 1996. The album featured production by Guru and DJ Premier of Gang Starr...
(a former protégé of Gang Starr
Gang Starr
Gang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
). As a result, Reprazent drum 'n' bass is equally informed by hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
.
Career
In consolidation of their mainstream breakthrough, Reprazent had a series of festivalMusic festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
appearances in summer of 1997 (including Tribal Gathering
Tribal Gathering
Tribal Gathering was a dance music festival that catered for different types of dance music cultures such as drum and bass, techno, rave and house. -History:...
). Their New Forms LP won the Mercury Music Prize. The singles from the album all featured singer Onallee, whose call for the music in "Brown Paper Bag" is a signal ravers still respond to. The album went platinum, and Roni Size and his collaborators returned to the studio.
Williams subsequently teamed up with DJ Die and Leonie Laws in Breakbeat Era
Breakbeat Era
Breakbeat Era was a short-lived British project, that combined the breakbeat talent of drum and bass producers, Roni Size and DJ Die, with the vocals of singer Leonie Laws. Spearheaded by the single "Ultra-Obscene", they then released as an album under the same title in 1999.In conjunction with...
, before returning to Reprazent to record the second album, October 2000's In The Mode, which included guest vocals from Zack de la Rocha
Zack de la Rocha
Zacarías Manuel "Zack" de la Rocha is an American rapper, musician, poet, and activist best known as the vocalist and lyricist of Rage Against the Machine.-Early life and childhood:...
of Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
and Method Man
Method Man
Clifford Smith , better known by his stage name Method Man is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man...
of Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
. In 2001, he returned to the studio and started working with Tali, who had recently arrived from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
on her album Lyric On My Lip. In this time he also produced Touching Down - released in October 2002. This, his first truly solo album, included 16 tracks segued into one hour's set. He came back to 'V' in 2005 with the release of Return To V, which included vocal collaborations with artists such as Beverly Knight, Jocelyn Brown
Jocelyn Brown
Jocelyn Lorette Brown is an American R&B and dance music singer...
, Vikter Duplaix
Vikter Duplaix
Vikter Duplaix, is an American singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ. Duplaix has traditional soul singer’s beginnings – being raised in both Philadelphia and Augusta, Georgia singing in church choirs, and later took work programming drum tracks while working at a Philadelphia...
and Rodney P
Rodney P
Rodney P is an English MC who entered the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. He started out as a member of the London Posse, one of the UK's first home grown hip hop acts who were highly influential in the development of the genre. Rodney P has had one of the longest and most respected careers in UK...
.
Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008 with the release of a deluxe edition of New Forms on Universal. The reformed band included original members Dynamite MC, Onallee and bass player Si John alongside Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing was a popular New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 1990s. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey describes the band as "one of the most unusual cult...
), D Product, Jay Wilcox and Pete Josef. Roni Size and Reprazent toured some of the biggest festivals in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, including Bestival
Bestival
Bestival is a four-day music festival held at the Robin Hill country park on the Isle of Wight, England. It has been held annually in late summer since 2004. The event is organized by DJ and record producer Rob da Bank and is an off-shoot of his Sunday Best record label and club nights. The initial...
, Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, Lovebox
Lovebox
-Charts:-Chart procession and succession:-Recording personnel:* 3rd Productions - production * Beni - lyrics , music * D.O.I...
, EXIT and Rock Herk. As a result, they were among the nominees for Best Dance Act from the UK Festival Awards
UK Festival Awards
The UK Festival Awards are awarded annually, with various categories for all aspects of festivals that have taken place in the UK, and one category for European festivals. The Awards were first established in 2004, and are produced by Virtual Festivals.com. They are voted for by the public via the...
.
The band started 2009 with a tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
as part of the Good Vibrations Festival
Good Vibrations Festival
Good Vibrations Festival commenced in 2004 and is an annual Australian music festival held in Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Perth. The festival takes place during February.-2011:-2010:-2009:Master of Ceremonies – Supernatural-2008:-2007:...
. Following on from this, Roni Size and Reprazent returned to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
for the first time in seven years as one of the headliners at the 2009 Ultra Music Festival
Ultra Music Festival
Ultra Music Festival is an annual outdoor electronic music festival that occurs in March in the city of Miami usually during the annual Winter Music Conference. It is held in Downtown Miami in Bicentennial Park. It was a 1-day festival from 1999-2006, a 2-day festival from 2007-2010, and was a...
in Miami. They then went on to perform at Coachella
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
, appearing as the final act of the festival.
In September 2009, Roni Size and Reprazent played a gig with an orchestra and choir to mark the re-opening of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
’s Colston Hall
Colston Hall
The Colston Hall is a concert hall and grade II listed building situated on Colston Street, Bristol, England. A popular venue catering for a variety of different entertainers, it seats approximately 2,075 and provides licensed bars, a café and restaurant....
, collaborating with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
’s Nature’s Great Events composer, William Goodchild
William Goodchild
William Goodchild is a composer, orchestrator and conductor who produces music for film, television and the concert hall.-Biography:...
. In addition to older material, the band played material from a forthcoming Reprazent album.
Discography
- Music Box (1993)
- Witchcraft (1994) ft. KrustKrustKrust or DJ Krust is an English drum and bass producer and DJ who is part of the Bristol based Reprazent collective, as well as releasing his own solo material such as "Burnin" which was released on Kickin Records.Krust was interested in hip hop, acid house and rave music as a youth, and was a...
- Fashion (1995)
- Square Off (1996)
- New FormsNew FormsNew Forms is the debut album by the drum and bass act Roni Size / Reprazent and was released in 1997. The double-disc set was the winner of the Mercury Music Prize in 1997, and often cited as their magnum opus. In the UK, the first disc was released by itself, while two different vinyl versions exist...
(1997) - Snapshot (1999)
- 26 Bass (1999)
- Ultra-Obscene (1999) with DJ DieDJ DieDJ Die , is a British music producer and DJ. He was a founder of drum and bass label Full Cycle Recordings and a member of acts Reprazent and Breakbeat Era....
under the alias "Breakbeat EraBreakbeat EraBreakbeat Era was a short-lived British project, that combined the breakbeat talent of drum and bass producers, Roni Size and DJ Die, with the vocals of singer Leonie Laws. Spearheaded by the single "Ultra-Obscene", they then released as an album under the same title in 1999.In conjunction with...
" - Through the Eyes (2000)
- In the Mode (2000)
- Sound Advice (2002)
- Playtime (2002)
- Touching Down (2002)
- Snapshot 3 (2003)
- Out of Breath (2004)
- Return to V (2004)
- Touching Down, Vol. 2 (2005)
- Friends (2006)
- New Forms² (2008)
- Kops & Robbers (2009)
- Out of Order (2010)