Roni Size / Reprazent
As individuals Roni Size, Die, Suv, Krust, Onallee and Dynamite MC are all pivotal members of the UK urban music scene. As a collective they are Reprazent, one the most influential and spectacular live acts in the world.
Their debut release New Forms shook the drum n bass world to its core, a double album of slick, jazz infused tracks that signalled the dawning of a new era and raised the bar for anyone even contemplating following in their footsteps. It became the first drum n bass release to garner serious critical acclaim from all quarters and eventually went on to win the Mercury Music Prize, cementing Reprazent forever as a very serious proposition in music, regardless of genre.
Taking the obvious step into the live arena they turned the album into a living, breathing entity, constantly evolving their sound from one show to another with live double bass and drums to create sounds that had never been heard before but immediately made complete sense, and at the core of the music was one undying ethos, soul.
In 2000 they released their follow up In The Mode, a more direct set of tracks that was heavy on collaborations including the mighty Method Man and Rage Against the Machine front man Zack De La Rocha it took their sound to the next level, adding epic strings and monster riffs while always retaining the intelligence and soul that are so important to the band.
2008 sees Reprazent back from a self imposed hiatus and revisiting their previous releases, reinventing them for a new generation, as well as producing new eagerly awaited material. Heading back out onto the road they bring with them a live show that is as dynamic and dramatic as anything that has gone before it.
They may have been making music for over a decade now but they still sound like the future.
www.myspace.com/ronisizebristol