Roni Size & Reprazent

Roni Size & Reprazent
The group's frontman Roni Size in 2005
The group's frontman Roni Size in 2005
Background information
OriginEngland, United Kingdom
GenresDrum 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]

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, Die, DJ Suv, 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 several 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

Dynamite MC (left) and Krust (right) have been members of the group

Discography

Main article: Roni Size & Reprazent discography

Studio albums

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Nominee / Work Result Ref.
1997 Mercury Prize Mercury Album of the Year New Forms Won [21]
1997 MOBO Awards Best Jungle Act Roni Size & Reprazent Won [22]

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. ^ a b Rowse, Belinda (2009). "Roni Size Live @ Colston Hall Review". Kmag. Archived from the original (Blog) on 27 February 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  12. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c 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.