Geeneus

Last updated

Geeneus
Born
Gordon Warren

(1978-06-20) 20 June 1978 (age 47) [1]
Other names
  • Wizzbit
  • Gee [2]
Occupations
TitleDirector of Rinse FM (1994–2005; [4] 2009–present)

Director of Rinse Group (2000–present)
Director of Static Media (2002–2006)
Director of Dubplate Direct (2003–11)
Director of Ammunition Events (2012–21)
Director of Bad World Limited (2013–19)

Director of Lot 43 (2015–20)

Contents

[5]
Musical career
Origin Bow, London [6]
Genres
Labels
Formerly of

Gordon Warren (born 20 June 1978), [1] [5] [4] also known by the stage names Geeneus and Wizzbit, is a British radio and record label executive, talent manager, DJ and record producer from Bow, London, best known as the co-founder and managing director of the radio station Rinse FM and its associated labels. He also owns the grime and dubstep label Dump Valve and the house label Jelly Jams. [7]

As a musician in his own right, Warren was a member of the UK garage crew Pay As U Go from 2000 to 2003 alongside pioneers of grime music such as Slimzee, Wiley and Flowdan, and co-produced their 2002 breakthrough single "Champagne Dance" which peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. He later produced various charting hits for singer Katy B in the 2010s, released via the Rinse label, including the UK top ten singles "Lights On", "Broken Record" and "Crying for No Reason".

Career

1993-2000: Pressure FM and Rinse's pirate radio beginnings

Warren has been a DJ from the age of fifteen. [8] He had a show on the pirate radio station Pressure FM, through which he met fellow resident DJ Slimzee, although they were both kicked off due to "politics", thought to have included their young age and Slimzee's popularity. [7] [9] On the weekend of 1994's Notting Hill Carnival, unable to find rival stations willing to take on DJs their age, the pair began operating Rinse FM as a pirate station alongside friends Beanie and Fury, [10] first broadcasting from the kitchen of a friend's brother's council flat in Ingram House, Bow. [9] [7] [4] Warren and the station's other resident DJs initially played jungle music and later UK garage, which soon evolved into grime, and they carved a niche for themselves by platforming MCs more than other stations. [7] [11]

Warren's friends quickly coined the nickname Geeneus for him in reference to his proficiency in broadcasting technology. [11] The location of transmissions constantly changed in order to evade officials from the Department of Trade and Industry who were routinely seizing their equipment, and included his grandmother's front room, [12] Slimzee and Wiley's homes, a number of empty flats including one on the Crossways Estate which they exchanged with its resident for an aeroplane ticket to Ireland, and a derelict warehouse. [9] [11] [6]

2000-2007: Proto-grime, Pay As U Go and Wizzbit alias

In summer 2000, Warren joined the nine-man garage crew Pay As U Go as a founding member; it was formed by merging the members of multiple Rinse radio shows at the suggestion of Major Ace, after Plague Alero had begun to refer to his show as "the Pay As U Go show" in reference to a mobile network flaw at the time that allowed the public to make free calls from pay-as-you-go phones. [2] Between the collective's DJs, they had three weekly radio shows: Warren would DJ on Monday nights, while Slimzee continued his Sunday afternoon show and DJ Target took over on Sunday nights, and the group's MCs would attend varying shows to ensure that they had the chance to perform with each DJ. [2] Warren has stated that he believes the group's 2000 single "Know We", released six months after their formation and produced by Wiley, was the first grime song. [6] Target has claimed that at this time, the group had "around three bookings a week each" and "were earning a few hundred [pounds] for each one". [2] Warren was also active as a producer for the group at this time, and most notably co-produced their April 2002 single "Champagne Dance" alongside Target, which was released via Sony Music and peaked at number thirteen on the UK Singles Chart. [2] [10]

While in Pay As U Go, Warren began producing under the alias Wizzbit, [6] and established his own record label, Dump Valve, primarily releasing instrumental music. [2] Early releases on the label included Target's 2001 song "Earth Warrior"—the first twelve-inch single to be released on the label—and Warren's grime cult classic "Jam Hot". [2] [13] Although Pay As U Go had recorded and pitched a debut album to major labels, the group ultimately disbanded by the end of 2003, driven by numerous factors: Wiley had vetoed a £500,000 multi-album recording contract for the group on the grounds that he believed it would be a conflict of interest to sign to the same label as his other crew Roll Deep; a shooting at a So Solid Crew event at the London Astoria had resulted in major labels exercising caution in working with garage acts; and each of the crew's members had been working on solo ventures which were gaining momentum. [2] Warren established a Rinse label in 2003 as an offshoot of the radio station, [14] which increased its output in the years after Warren appointed FWD>> founder Sarah 'Soulja' Lockhart as station manager in 2004. [9] [11] Warren continued to sign music to Dump Valve, which earned a reputation for releasing more leftfield grime, including DJ Wonder's 2004 song "What", Wiley's 2006 song "Avengerz", and Wonder's debut album Welcome to Wonderland (2006), which included an appearance from Kano. [13] He produced the song "Nothing About Me" on Wiley's third studio album Playtime Is Over (2007).

2007-2014: Rinse brand expansion, Volumes: One and chart success with Katy B

In 2007, Rinse launched a titular series of mix CDs, with its inaugural edition mixed by Warren. [7] [8] Around the same time, he began producing UK funky under the alias Moonshine, which occasionally involved DJ Zinc, and remixed Benga and Coki's "Night". [15] Rinse FM received a legal community FM broadcast license in June 2010 following a three-year campaign. [16]

After being introduced to singer Katy B around 2007, Warren featured her on the song "As I" on his December 2008 debut long-player, Volumes: One; the song was quickly considered a UK funky classic, and was also remixed by Skepta. [17] [18] The pair intended to curate a compilation featuring her vocals over productions from various Rinse DJ/producers; this record ultimately evolved into her debut album, On a Mission (2011), which featured eight productions from Warren and peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart. [4] Both of the singles Warren produced, "Lights On" (featuring Ms. Dynamite) and "Broken Record", entered the UK Singles Chart top ten, [19] and he was also a songwriter on her Ivor Novello Award-nominated breakthrough single "Katy on a Mission". [19] In 2011, the Evening Standard named Warren among 'London's 1000 most influential people' in pop and rock. [12] In a 2012 interview with The Guardian , Katy claimed "I always think of Katy B as a band. There's me and Geeneus, and it was Rinse's idea." [4]

2014-present: Station acquisitions and talent management

Warren has since continued to frequently collaborate with Katy B, and produced extensively for her subsequent albums Little Red (2014), which topped the UK Albums Chart, and Honey (2016). [20] [19] Rinse launched a regional sister station, Rinse France, in 2014, [11] [9] strategically based in Paris due to its proximity to London, [21] and Warren uploaded numerous unreleased Wizzbit songs to SoundCloud in winter of the same year. [22] In March 2015, Warren released a double single, "ELE" / "Red Velvet", as his first original music in seven years, the first of which was described as a house song that "draws on grime's essence". [22] In 2018, Rinse launched the sister label Bad Music as a separate entity to release music by singer-songwriters, who have included Sinead Harnett, Sasha Keable and James Smith. [23] Warren co-produced Kali Uchis's 2022 house-baile funk fusion single "No Hay Ley", of which a remix featuring Rauw Alejandro was later released in 2024. [24]

In 2023, the Rinse Group acquired and relaunched the radio stations Kool FM, an early inspiration to Warren known for its jungle and drum and bass offerings, and SWU.FM, a regional Bristol station. [21] [11] A Kool record label was also launched. [21] Warren also represents talent under Rinse's management arm, which has included Vigro Deep and Katy B. [21] [25] [26]

Personal life

Warren grew up on a council house and is from a working class background; he has previously claimed that most of his peers have been to jail, citing music as a positive influence in his life. [6] He found himself in many dangerous situations during Rinse FM's time as a pirate radio station, and reportedly once "had a sword held to his throat in a studio in Nesbitt House in Hackney". [6] He was a signatory of a Guardian open letter from musicians endorsing Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party in the 2019 United Kingdom general election. [27]

Legacy

Warren has been described by Dan Hancox as "instrumental from day one" of grime music and someone who "transform[ed] British music" [6] and by Time Out as "a legend of the scene and a tastemaker responsible for one of the most important institutions in British dance music" [in Rinse FM]. [9] He is also credited with scouting and platforming the next generation of radio personalities through Rinse including Maya Jama, Julie Adenuga and Eliza Rose. [9]

Discography

Compilations

Singles

As lead artist

YearTitleAlbum
2001"Wickedest Ting"
(with Wiley featuring Flowdan and Breeze)
Non-album single
"Anywhere"
(featuring God's Gift, Major Ace and Plague)
"Shocka"
2002"Da Journey" / "4 Beat"
"Thunder"
2003"Detroit"
"Da Stomp Riddem" / "Jazzstyle"
(as Geeneus vs. Wizzbit)
"Jam Hot"
(as Wizzbit)
"Aquarius"
(as Wizzbit)
"Breakdown" / "Darkest One"
(as Wizzbit)
"Popadomz (Gangster)"
(as Wizzbit featuring Riko)
2004"Jamnite" / "Emerald City"
(as Geeneus vs. Wizzbit)
"Quantum Leap" / "Oldskool"
(as Wizzbit)
2005"Grand Theft Auto" / "Showtime"
(as Wizzbit)
2006"Darkboy"
2007"Old Skool 2" / "Old Skool What"
2008"Knife & Gun"
(featuring Riko, Wiley and Breeze)
2015"ELE" / "Red Velvet"
2020"Midnight"
(with DJ Target as Centurions)
"Log Off"
(vs. Slimzee)
"Ja Know"
"Slow"
(as Wizzbit)
"Rukus"

References

  1. 1 2 "@dj_slimzee on X: "Happy birthday to myself and the man like @geeneus we're 40 today"". X . Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DJ Target (2018). Grime Kids. Trapeze. ISBN   978-1-409-17951-1.
  3. "Save Our Scene: An Open Letter". Resident Advisor . 19 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sawyer, Miranda (30 September 2012). "Rinse FM: 'Radio, not the internet, gave me my break,' says Katy B". The Observer .
  5. 1 2 "Gordon WARREN personal appointments". Companies House . Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hancox, Dan (2018). Inner City Pressure. London: William Collins. p. 2, 40, 46-7, 53, 87, 141. ISBN   978-0-00-825713-2.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hampson, Simon (1 January 2009). "Interview: Geeneus". Fact . Archived from the original on 7 April 2010.
  8. 1 2 "Rinse 01 – Geeneus". GetDarker. 28 September 2007.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wilkinson, Chiara (26 August 2024). "30 years of Rinse FM: 'A breeding ground for underground music'". Time Out .
  10. 1 2 Barnes, Marcus (2 August 2016). "Revolutions in Sound: The people who made Rinse FM". Red Bull .
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Davies, Sam (10 May 2024). "Rinse FM at 30: an oral history of the notorious London radio station". Dazed .
  12. 1 2 "London's 1000 most influential people 2011: Pop & Rock". Evening Standard . 5 April 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  13. 1 2 Wilson, Tony F. (14 April 2007). "Dump Valve". Frieze .
  14. Herh, Kala (16 February 2024). "Stroke of Geeneus". Highsnobiety .
  15. Martin 'Blackdown' Clark (17 December 2007). "Wot Do U Call It: Funky?". Blackdown on Blogspot .
  16. "Community Radio Stations Licensing: Rinse FM". Ofcom. Archived from the original on 8 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  17. Ryce, Andrew (31 March 2011). "Katy B - On a Mission - Album Review". Resident Advisor .
  18. Macpherson, Alex (28 November 2008). "Geeneus: Volumes: One". The Guardian .
  19. 1 2 3 Payne, Chris (17 January 2014). "Katy B Moves Beyond The Bass: 'I Wanted There To Be A Focus On My Songwriting'". Billboard .
  20. Nichols, Paul (31 March 2014). "Guy Chambers - Crying for No Reason". PRS for Music .
  21. 1 2 3 4 McLean, Alice (11 June 2024). "Face to Face with Rinse co-founder Geeneus". Believe Music .
  22. 1 2 Ryce, Andrew (26 February 2015). "Geeneus returns with first solo single since 2008". Resident Advisor .
  23. "Believe UK Joins Forces with Rinse". Tileyard . 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  24. Herrera, Isabella (12 January 2024). "Kali Uchis: Orquídeas Album Review". Pitchfork .
  25. "Believe UK and Rinse agree global label solutions partnership". The Independent Music Insider. 26 April 2023.
  26. "Management". Rinse FM . 1 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  27. Letters (25 November 2019). "Musicians backing Jeremy Corbyn's Labour | Letter". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 25 November 2019.