DJ SS, born Leroy Small (on August 27 1970) , is a Drum and Bass DJ and producer from Leicester, United Kingdom. Originally a breakdancer, DJ Stratch Stein began playing electro music as a teenager in the early 1980's. He then played Hip Hop and Rare Groove before turning to producing in 1988 initially Acid House, Hardcore, Breakbeat and finally Jungle/Drum and Bass tracks. SS got his big break DJ'ing at the big British raves of the early 1990's such as Telepathy. Since then he has gone on to DJ world wide. SS is the co-founder and head of the Formation Records label and has released over 100 tracks using a number of aliases. These include the "Color Series" and the "Country Series", MA3 "Those DJs", the piano-from-Love Story -sampling "Lighter" (the label's biggest hit) plus many more popular Drum and Bass / Jump-Up Jungle music tunes. The Formation label has become a stable for new Drum and Bass producers such as John B and Twisted Individual. DJ SS played an important role in the early-'90s development of drum'n'bass, releasing a number of formative tracks beginning in 1990 on his co-owned Formation label before returning in the mid-'90s with a plethora of productions after a brief sabbatical. Born Leroy Small in Leicester, England, SS's involvement in the drum'n'bass scene predates its development, back in the days of hardcore. In the early '90s when hardcore began to morph into what would become known as drum'n'bass, he released a series of influential tracks on Formation, including "Breakbeat Pressure," one of the style's early classics. However, once drum'n'bass traded its hardcore roots for a more ragga-inflected sound around 1993, SS retired from production, not being interested in the ragga sound. He focused his efforts during this period on other labels that he ran. He returned to drum'n'bass a few years later, though, in a big way. Throughout the late '90s he released several records on different labels under a number of monikers (Keen, Tekniq), becoming one of the more recognized producers in the U.K. drum'n'bass scene. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
