| "Giving you 100% Drum and Bass Dedication" |
 |
|
|
[HOME]
Artist Feature
|
Roni Size
Past, Present and Future
|
|
It seems so long ago, when the scene was first introduced to Roni Size, he has become a legend within the Drum and Bass fraternity in just over a decade, and still, he is marching on, providing and shocking bassheadz alike, with his new approach to the music we all love. Bombsounds takes a look, at Roni's past, present and future achievements.It all started in 1991, ten years ago, and Roni decided to set up his own label "Where's the party" along with partner in crime Chris Wharton. Born and raised in St Andrews, Bristol, together they produced a track, which would go on to become a jungle classic. "Music Box", their first release, and Roni decided to take the profits and begin to make better music with better equipment. It was then, at the beginning of 1992, that Roni hooked up with V:Recordings Kru, and this was to become the most important step in Roni's career. Bryan Gee and Jumpin Jack Frost, two of the biggest names in jungle, recognised Roni's talents, and inspirational Jazz, Hip Hop and breakbeat mixture, and released "Its a Jazz Thing", a tune that would spawn a new sub section in the jungle genre. People were calling it intelligent, something which deeply offended many jungleheadz, does that mean that all other Jungle / Drum and Bass is dumb?
Roni was already being dubbed a star of the future, and so Roni and the rest of his Kru (Suv, Die and Krust), decided to rename their own label "Where's the party" to "Full Cycle", in 1993. Full Cycle then saw a re-release of "Music Box" only this time it would more than treble the sales figures from when it was first released. The demand for more tunes from the camp grew, and so Roni employed two new artists in Bill Riley and J-Raq. The transformation from Jungle to Drum and Bass had already begun to start, and in 1995, Full Cycle saw another stormer hit the dancefloors and make the headlines with "11:55", and for his sister label "Dope Dragon" (Which had been formed the same time as Full Cycle" he began to introduce the Amen break (Widely used today)under the name of "Mask". Also, for Dope Dragon came the "Terrordome EP", which went on to become nationally acclaimed, with all this going on, it was inevitable that certain leading labels in the dance industry were wanting to sign him up before he was snapped up by some money grabbing agents. Talkin Loud, Mo Wax and Island Records were all racing to sign the biggest new talent in teh business, and at the end of 1995, Talkin Loud got their man.
Roni wanted to create something special at Talkin Loud, so he decided to form a group called "Reprazent" comprising of Krust, Die, Suv and Dynamite MC. Together they formed to create and album which would bring Drum and Bass close to mass commercialisation. "New Forms", containing massive killer tracks "Brown Paper Bag" and "Share the Fall", went on to claim one of the biggest and most important awards in the world of urban / underground music, "The Mercury Prize". This exploded Roni's name across the UK, and even across some parts of the globe, with his jazzy, hip hop sound. From this album (and during it) Reprazent focused more on touring the country. Playing live sets, which worked brilliantly, becoming the country's first Live drum and bass band. Onalee (the lead singer for the band), a key part in the New Forms success, proved that there is soul to be found in drum and bass, and unlike comments by the general public, it wasn't just a load of old noise.
With continued success in Full Cycle and Talkin Loud respectively, Roni, always being the workaholic and ambious, decided to take another big risk in making another group entitled "Breakbeat Era" employing the vocals of Leonie Laws, another live band quartet, Breakbeat Era again dominated the underground headlines when it released "Breakbeat Era" with bigger follow ups in "Ultra Obscene" and "Bullitproof", which effectively were placed onto their first and final album "Breakbeat Era", which was released on XL Records in 1999. After deciding to take a break from the Breakbeat Era pseudonym, Roni decided to concentrate on putting together some work for his own label Full Cycle and to do a follow up on Talkin Loud.
Which takes us into the present situation of the legend Roni Size. "Through the eyes" has fast become one of Full Cycle's biggest selling albums, a triple pack, each containing two cd's, a mix cd and an unmixed cd, each three different versions containing a mix by a different member of the Full Cycle posse, CD 1 - By Roni Size, CD 2- By DJ Die and CD 3 - By Krust, and as well as that, you get a cd full of tracks from various artists at the camp. "In the Mode" was released at the end of last year, and the sales continue to pour in now. Although oit caused tension within the scene, many bassheadz accusing it of being more Hip Hop than anything else, the majority of the listeners truly enjoyed and appreciated the excellent work that was put into the project. With big name US Rappers like Method Man, Rahzel and De La Rocha being featured, the album was made to put an emphasis on the vocal talents of Dynamite MC. Even tracks from the album "Who Told You" and "Dirty Beats" made impressive entries into the UK Commercial charts, and after coming back from his latest tour in America with the rest of the Reprazent kru, Roni is buzzin'.
So with all this in ten years of being involved in the scene, what does the future hold for Roni Size? With the immeninent release of "Lucky Pressure" (Once again from the album), which again is set to gain commercial chart entries, the future will always be bright for Roni and C.O, and you can expect the next ten years to be just as interesting and exciting as the last:)
WHY NOT CHECK OUT SOME OF RONI'S WEBSITES:
www.ronisize.com
www.fullcycle.co.uk
|
| | |
