| Roni Size |
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Ryan Williams |
| Born |
October 29, 1969
Bristol,
England
 |
| Genre(s) |
Drum and Bass
Trip-Hop |
| Occupation(s) |
DJ
Producer |
| Years active |
1988-present |
| Label(s) |
Full
Cycle Records |
Associated
acts |
Reprazent
Breakbeat
Era |
Roni Size (born Ryan Williams), came to
national 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.
Size grew up in the Bristol suburb of St.
Andrews and cites reggae
as one of his early influences. Size was expelled from school at the
age of 16 and started attending house parties run by Bristol mavericks
the Wild Bunch (later Massive Attack). He learned
the basics about music production down at his local youth club before
setting up his own home studio.
His future musical partner, Krust, enjoyed an early dalliance with fame
as part of the Fresh 4, whose "Wishing On A Star" reached the Top
Ten of the UK Singles Chart in late 1989.
After meeting up with Krust, Suv
and Die
they founded Full Cycle Records as an outlet
for their innovative sounds.
Size was keen to describe the mélange of influences as
intuitive: "If Krust walks into the studio and his head is nodding,
that's enough. I know I've got a result there. He doesn't need to touch
a button or tell us what he thinks, 'cos we already know what he's
thinking."
Much of the acclaim centred around Size's melding of the new
with the old - the propulsive jungle beats accompanied by live drums and double
bass. The band - Size (compositions/programming), DJ Krust,
Onallee (vocals), Dynamite MC and rapper Bahamadia (a
former protégé of Gang Starr) - came together on Bristol's
highly fertile and disparate club scene. As a result, Reprazent's
sleek, highly musical take on drum 'n' bass is equally informed by hip-hop,
funk, soul and house.
In consolidation of their mainstream breakthrough (the most
significant for jungle (music) since Goldie's
debut), Reprazent set out to become the summer sound of 1997 with a
series of festival appearances (including Tribal
Gathering).
Size subsequently teamed up with DJ Die and Leonie Laws in Breakbeat
Era, before returning to Reprazent to record the second album, October
2000's uncompromising In The Mode, which included
guest vocals from Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine
and Method
Man of Wu-Tang
Clan.
Discography
- Music Box (1995)
- New Forms (1997)
- Ultra-Obscene (1999) with DJ Die under
the alias "Breakbeat Era"
- Through the Eyes (2000)
- In the Mode (2000)
- Touching Down (2002)
- Touching Down, Vol. 2 (2005)
- Return to V (2005)
- Dirty Beats
- Share The Fall
- Triphop Drum and Bass
- Circles Remix
- Sing
- Switchblade
External links
