Roni Size
Genres: Drum & Bass, Jungle
Ryan Williams grew up in the St Andrews area of Bristol, immersed in the sound system culture and rave scene that gave the city its own distinct voice in electronic music. Alongside DJ Krust he co-founded Full Cycle Records in the early 1990s, building an independent powerhouse that pulled drum and bass away from London's gravity. His defining moment came in 1997, when New Forms, the debut album from his collective Roni Size / Reprazent, won the Mercury Music Prize ahead of Radiohead and The Prodigy. Featuring Krust, DJ Die, Suv, Onallee and Dynamite MC, the record fused live double bass and instrumentation with breakbeat programming, and tracks like "Brown Paper Bag" and "Heroes" proved drum and bass could be sophisticated and accessible without losing its edge. New Forms went platinum in the UK and remains one of the most important albums electronic music has produced, the moment the genre proved it could stand alongside anything. Roni Size continues to perform worldwide, and his legacy is the demonstration that innovation and underground integrity can coexist.
Roni Size has 2 upcoming drum & bass event(s) listed on DNBRAVE.