Roni Size & Reprazent

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Roni Size & Reprazent
Roni Size.jpg
The group's frontman Roni Size in 2005
Background information
Origin England, United Kingdom
Genres Drum and bass
Years active1996–present
Labels
Members
Past members

Roni Size & Reprazent (stylised as Roni Size / Reprazent) are a British drum and bass group fronted by Roni Size. Their debut album New Forms won the Mercury Music Prize in 1997. [1] Their follow-up album In the Mode featured artists including Rahzel, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Method Man. [2]

Contents

History

In April 1997, Roni Size & Reprazent had their live debut at Tribal Gathering. Roni Size created the group to perform live tracks he had been working on in the studio. The group included Full Cycle record label members Roni Size, Krust and Die, operating 'banks of equipment'; as well as Dynamite MC (vocals), Onallee (vocals), Si John (bass) and Clive Deamer (drums) taking centre stage. [3] [4]

The group's debut studio album, New Forms , was released on 23 June 1997, with singles featuring the vocals of Onallee including "Brown Paper Bag", "Heroes", "Share the Fall" and "Watching Windows". The album went five times platinum, [5] won the Mercury Prize, and Roni Size returned to the studio to concentrate on his output for V and Full Cycle and Dope Dragon.

On 9 October 2000, Roni Size & Reprazent released their follow-up second studio album, In the Mode , released with singles "Who Told You", "Dirty Beats" and "Lucky Pressure". [6]

New Forms (deluxe), 2008–2013

Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008 with the release of a deluxe edition of New Forms on Universal, [7] but in September 2008 announced his intention to disband the act following a third album. [8]

The band started 2009 with a tour of Australia as part of the Good Vibrations Festival. [9] 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, [10] appearing as the final act of the festival.

In September 2009, Roni Size & 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. [11] In addition to older material, the band played material from a forthcoming Roni Size & Reprazent album. [11]

Live shows, 2014–present

The band reformed circa 2014, with original members Roni Size, Dynamite MC, Onallee and Si John (bass). [12] Additional artists included Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing), D Product, Jay Wilcox [12] and Pete Josef.[ citation needed ]Roni Size & Reprazent toured serval large festivals in Europe including Bestival, Glastonbury, Lovebox, Exit [13] and Rock Herk. They were amongst the nominations for best dance act from the UK Festival Awards.[ citation needed ]

Also in 2015, a recording of the 2009 collaboration with William Goodchild & The Emerald Ensemble was released. [14]

In 2017, a new reissue of New Forms was released including more material (the CD version consisted of four discs). [15] [16]

Musical style

The group's music has been described as "meticulously crafted break-beats that, when slowed down, revealed themselves as hip-hop beats". [17] The most popular track, “Brown Paper Bag”, was praised in The Guardian as a “masterpiece: an essay in hyper-kinetic pace, it piles up teetering stacks of instrumental layers, their cumulative weight triggering each step in a constant cycle of demolition and reconstruction of its latticework of melody, rhythm and mood". [18]

Much of the acclaim centred on Size's melding of the propulsive jungle beats accompanied by live drums and double bass. [19] The band consists of Williams (compositions/programming), DJ Krust, Onallee (vocals), Dynamite MC and rapper Bahamadia (a former protégée of Gang Starr). [19] Reprazent's drum and bass is equally blended from hip hop, funk, soul and house. [19]

Members

DynamiteMC (cropped).jpg
Krust.jpg
Dynamite MC (left) and Krust (right) have been members of the group

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationCategoryNominee / WorkResultRef.
1997 Mercury Prize Mercury Album of the Year New Forms Won [21]
1997 MOBO Awards Best Jungle ActRoni Size & ReprazentWon [22]

Discography

Studio albums

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drum and bass</span> Type of electronic music

Drum and bass is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s.

Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings. Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dynamite MC</span> English rapper and MC

Dynamite MC is an English rapper and MC. He originally gained prominence in jungle/drum and bass, working with Roni Size & Reprazent, but has also released hip hop material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krust</span> English drum and bass producer and DJ

Kirk Thompson, better known by his stage name Krust, is an English drum and bass producer, DJ and co-owner of the Full Cycle record label. Beyond his roles in the music industry, Thompson is also responsible for two businesses: creative consultancy Disruptive Patterns and Amma Life, a CBD oil company he co-owns with Sophia Ali

Daniel Robert Kausman,, better known by his stage name DJ Die, is an English DJ and music producer. He was a founder of drum and bass label Full Cycle Recordings and a member of Roni Size & Reprazent and Breakbeat Era.

<i>New Forms</i> 1997 studio album by Roni Size & Reprazent

New Forms is the debut studio album by British drum and bass group Roni Size & Reprazent. It was originally released on 23 June 1997 through Talkin' Loud, and later re-released by Mercury Records and Universal Music Group. The album was released to critical and commercial success, winning the 1997 Mercury Prize, certifying platinum in the UK, and often being cited as their magnum opus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roni Size</span> British DJ and music producer

Ryan Owen Granville Williams, better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and music producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. That year they won the Mercury Prize for their debut studio album New Forms.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Goodchild</span>

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<i>In the Mode</i> 2000 studio album by Roni Size & Reprazent

In the Mode is the second studio album by English drum and bass group Roni Size & Reprazent, released on 9 October 2000 on the Talkin' Loud label. The follow-up to the group's 1997 Mercury Music Prize-winning album New Forms, In the Mode featured guest appearances from Method Man, Rahzel and Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha.

<i>Return to V</i> 2004 studio album by Roni Size

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The following is a comprehensive discography of Roni Size & Reprazent, a British drum and bass group. The group released an EP in 1996. They released their debut studio album, New Forms, in 1997 with four singles, followed by In the Mode in 2000 with three singles. A 1997 remix album was also released. A 2008 re-release of their debut album, New Forms², was released with one single. Recently, in 2015, they released a live album.

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References

  1. ↑ Hegarty, Khalil (13 May 2005). "Independence days". The Age . Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "RA: Roni Size biography". Resident Advisor . Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Roni Size / Reprazent – Tribal Gathering '97". 24 May 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  4. ↑ Kelemen, Matt. "Size Matters". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Roni Size: Creating New Forms 2 |". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Bush, John. "In the Møde – Roni Size, Roni Size & Reprazent". AllMusic . Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  7. ↑ McDonnell, Evelyn (17 April 2009). "Roni Size and Reprazent bring back their beat". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  8. ↑ "Former Mercury Prize winner Roni Size to split up Reprazent". 15 September 2008. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  9. ↑ "A Farewell From inthemix: Thanks For All The Memories". Junkee.com. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  10. ↑ Evelyn McDonnell: Coachella: Roni Size and Reprazent bring back their beat Los Angeles Times Music Blog, 16 April 2009
  11. 1 2 Rowse, Belinda (2009). "Roni Size Live @ Colston Hall Review". Kmag. Archived from the original (Blog) on 27 February 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  12. 1 2 Manchester, Guy (5 August 2014). "Roni Size announces new solo material & return of Reprazent". Louder Than War. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  13. ↑ EXIT 2015 | Roni Size Reprazent Live @ Main Stage FULL PERFORMANCE , retrieved 3 October 2021
  14. ↑ Roni Size / Reprazent With William Goodchild & The Emerald Ensemble – Live At Colston Hall (2015, CD) , retrieved 3 October 2021
  15. ↑ "19 90s drum 'n' bass and jungle DJs still at the top of their game". Mixmag. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  16. ↑ Roni Size / Reprazent – New Forms (2017, CD) , retrieved 3 October 2021
  17. ↑ Hesmondhalgh, David; Melville, Caspar (2001). "Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repercussions of Hip-Hop in the United Kingdom". Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. pp. 86–110. ISBN   978-0819565020.
  18. ↑ Batey, Angus (21 February 2008). "Roni Size/Reprazent". The Guardian . London, England. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  19. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin, ed. (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 310. ISBN   0-7535-0252-6.
  20. ↑ "ArtistInfo".
  21. ↑ "It is Size that counts as Roni wins Mercury prize". The Independent . 22 October 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  22. ↑ "Roni Size & Reprazent Win 'Best Jungle Act' Acceptance Speech 1997". MOBO Awards . YouTube . Retrieved 5 July 2019.
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