Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, which featured cut-up samples of hip-hop, soul, funk, spoken word and various other types of music, as well as video and multimedia. According to Spin, "in '87 Coldcut pioneered the British fad for 'DJ records'".
Ninja Tune is an independent record label based in London, with a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1990 by Matt Black and Jonathan More, professionally known as the electronic duo "Coldcut" The label was established as an outlet for Coldcut to explore a style distinct from from that of the mainstream music industry.
Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva, is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial success with albums Run Come Save Me and Slime & Reason. He has been described as "one of the most influential artists in British music history." His most recent studio album, Bleeds, was released in October 2015.
Sixtoo was the main project of Canadian underground hip hop DJ, producer and rapper Vaughn Robert Squire between 1996 and 2007. He has since retired the Sixtoo name, and is pursuing other directions in electronic music, with a large genre shift from experimental hip hop to deeper club sounds of various tempos. He has also released music as Speakerbruiser Rob, and Prison Garde.
Big Dada is a British independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for marketing of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Manuva, poet and playwright Kae Tempest, grime pioneer Wiley, rapper and designer DELS and Mercury Prize winners Speech Debelle and Young Fathers.
Vadim Alexandrovich Peare, known professionally as DJ Vadim, is a Russian-English DJ and record producer. Born in Saint Petersburg and raised in London, Peare is additionally a promoter, record collector, radio presenter, occasional painter and writer, whose music combines hip hop, soul, reggae and electronica. He previously ran Jazz Fudge.
DeAndre Cortez Way, known professionally as Soulja Boy, is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with his self-released 2007 debut single, "Crank That ", which peaked the Billboard Hot 100 for seven non-consecutive weeks. After its commercial re-release by Collipark Music, an imprint of Interscope Records, the song and its follow-up, "Soulja Girl", both preceded the release of his debut studio album, Souljaboytellem.com (2007). Despite unfavorable critical reception, it peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "Yahhh!."
The Invisible are an English band, fronted by the singer and guitarist Dave Okumu. The band formed as Okumu's solo project but quickly developed into a full-fledged band with friends Tom Herbert and Leo Taylor (drums). Their self-titled debut album, released on 9 March 2009, was nominated for the Mercury Prize and selected as critics choice for iTunes album of the year.
Corynne Elliot, better known as Speech Debelle, is a British rapper formerly signed to the Big Dada record label. She was the winner of the 2009 Mercury Prize for her debut album Speech Therapy. She released her second album, Freedom of Speech on Big Dada in 2012 and her third album, tantil before i breathe independently in 2017.
Kwesachu Mixtape Vol.1 is the first collaboratively produced mixtape album by producers/songwriters Micachu and Kwes and the second mixtape album by musician Micachu. Together, the producers are known as Kwesachu.
Speech Therapy is the debut album from British rapper Speech Debelle. It was awarded the British Mercury Prize in 2009.
Juice Aleem is a rapper born in Birmingham, West Midlands, England.
Kwes is a British music producer, composer and artist from London, England. Kwes is also currently signed to Warp as a solo artist and released his debut album, ilp, in October 2013. He has since gone on to produce music for the likes of Damon Albarn, Bobby Womack, Solange Knowles, Sampha, Loyle Carner, Black Coffee, Nubya Garcia, Mica Levi, Tirzah, Lucy Rose and numerous others. He also composed his debut feature length score for 2023 British rom-com film Rye Lane, directed by Raine Allen-Miller. It won a BIFA in 2023 for Best Original Music.
Justin Lewis Scott, better known by his stage name Big K.R.I.T., is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he began his musical career in 2005. He was signed to Def Jam Recordings by Sha Money XL in 2010, and first gained recognition following the release of his single "Country Shit" in September of that year. The following year, he guest appeared on T.I.'s promotional single "I'm Flexin'", which became Scott's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.
GOB is the first studio album by British rapper/graphic designer DELS, released on 2 May 2011. The album was recorded between 2009 and 2011 in London and in Dels' studio at his mother's house in Ipswich. It was produced by Joe Goddard of Hot Chip, alongside Micachu and Kwes.
Finally Famous is the debut studio album by American rapper Big Sean. It was released on June 28, 2011, by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place from 2010 to 2011, with Kanye West serving as the only executive producer on the album. The record serves as Big Sean's first studio release, under the whole Finally Famous series, following these mixtapes such as Finally Famous Vol. 1: The Mixtape (2007), Finally Famous Vol. 2: UKNOWBIGSEAN (2009) and Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big (2010).
Freedom of Speech is the second album by British rapper Speech Debelle. The record was recorded in London, United Kingdom and produced entirely by Kwes. It was her second album release on Big Dada Recordings.
Michael Len Williams II, known professionally as Mike Will Made It or simply Mike Will, is an American record producer. He is best known for producing trap beats for several Southern hip hop and pop artists on commercially successful singles. His credits include "Black Beatles" and "Powerglide" by Rae Sremmurd, "Mercy" by Kanye West, "No Lie" by 2 Chainz, "Bandz a Make Her Dance" by Juicy J, "Pour It Up" by Rihanna, "Love Me" by Lil Wayne, "Body Party" by Ciara, "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus, "Formation" by Beyoncé, and "Humble" by Kendrick Lamar. He embarked on a career as a non-performing lead artist in 2013 with his debut single "23", which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. His 2017 follow-up single, "Rake It Up" peaked at number eight on the chart. He has released six mixtapes and one solo studio album, Ransom 2 (2017).
Christian Talcott Webster, better known by his stage name Chris Webby, is an American rapper from Norwalk, Connecticut. Webster has released many mixtapes such as the DJ Drama-hosted Bars On Me (2012) and his EP There Goes the Neighborhood (2011), which peaked at number 101 on the Billboard 200. He has worked with various artists such as Freeway, Mac Miller, Joell Ortiz, Big K.R.I.T., Method Man, Apathy, Prodigy, Bun B, Tech N9ne, Jarren Benton and Kid Ink. In 2013 he and his label, Homegrown Music, signed a deal with E1 Music. He then released Homegrown, another EP, in November 2012. Webster released his debut studio album Chemically Imbalanced on October 27, 2014.
Petals Have Fallen is the second album by DELS. It was released through Ninja Tune imprint, Big Dada on 3 November 2014 on vinyl, CD and digital format.
I met most of the people that contributed to this album on MySpace back in 2005. We had a page called “Loners", where myself and the likes of Kwes, Micachu, Ghostpoet, Sampha, Coby Sey, Elan Tamara and others were all featured. We always said that we'd do a proper album together eventually. Petals Have Fallen is probably the closest thing to that happening to date.
