Roni Size is a drum and bass and jungle DJ and producer from Bristol, England. Born in 1969 and raised in Bristol, he develops an early interest in music through the city’s 1970s blues parties and sound-system culture in the St Pauls area. He leaves school at 16 and begins to focus on production.

Career

In the early 1990s, Roni Size works with Krust, and the pair form Full Cycle in 1993. Through Full Cycle and other labels, including Talkin’ Loud, he builds a profile as a producer within electronic music. He is associated with a number of projects and groups, including Roni Size / Reprazent, Scorpio, Breakbeat Era, 3 Way, Roni Size & DJ Die and Wings. His recordings are issued on Full Cycle Records, and his style spans drum and bass, jungle, hip hop and big beat.

Roni Size / Reprazent

Roni Size / Reprazent become the project that brings him wide recognition. Their album New Forms appears in 1997 and wins the Mercury Music Prize. The record includes tracks such as ‘Watching Windows’, ‘Heroes’ and ‘Brown Paper Bag’, and it goes platinum. In 2008, he revives Reprazent with a deluxe edition of New Forms on Universal and tours major European festivals with the group.

Later releases and collaborations

In 1999, working with Die, he produces the Breakbeat Era album. Later that year, Reprazent release In the Mode, which features collaborations with Method Man, Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and beatboxer Rahzel. In 2002, he releases Touching Down, his first solo album. In 2005, he issues Return to V, which includes the Top 20 single ‘No More’ with Beverley Knight.

Other work

Roni Size also works with composer William Goodchild on a performance with orchestra and choir to mark the reopening of Bristol’s Colston Hall. He and Reprazent receive a nomination for best dance act at the UK Festival Awards.