Roni Size & Reprazent | |
|---|---|
 The group's frontmanRoni Size in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Drum and bass |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | |
| Members | |
| Past members |
|
Roni Size & Reprazent (stylised asRoni Size / Reprazent) are a Britishdrum and bass group fronted byRoni Size. Their debut albumNew Forms won theMercury Music Prize in 1997.[1] Their follow-up albumIn the Mode featured artists includingRahzel,Zack de la Rocha ofRage Against the Machine andMethod Man.[2]
In April 1997, Roni Size & Reprazent had their live debut atTribal 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) andClive 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 ofOnallee including "Brown Paper Bag", "Heroes", "Share the Fall" and "Watching Windows". The album went five timesplatinum,[5] won theMercury 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]
Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008 with the release of a deluxe edition ofNew Forms onUniversal,[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 theGood 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 2009Ultra Music Festival in Miami. They then went on to perform atCoachella,[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 ofBristol’sColston Hall, collaborating with theBBC’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]
The band reformed circa 2014, with original members Roni Size,Dynamite MC, Onallee and Si John (bass).[12] Additional artists includedYuval Gabay (Soul Coughing), D Product, Jay Wilcox[12] and Pete Josef.[citation needed] Roni Size & Reprazent toured several large festivals in Europe includingBestival,Glastonbury,Lovebox,Exit[13] andRock 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 withWilliam Goodchild &The Emerald Ensemble was released.[14]
In 2017, a new reissue ofNew Forms was released including more material (the CD version consisted of four discs).[15][16]
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 inThe 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 propulsivejungle beats accompanied by live drums anddouble bass.[19] The band consists of Williams (compositions/programming),DJ Krust,Onallee (vocals),Dynamite MC andrapperBahamadia (a former protégée ofGang Starr).[19] Reprazent's drum and bass is equally blended fromhip hop,funk,soul andhouse.[19]
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Current[edit]
| Former[edit]
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Studio albums
| 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] |
Data from Wikidata| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
