Reprazent is a collective. Roni Size is the force that drives it, but it's the combination of distinct personalities, eccentricities, and musical approaches that make it work. All the members are creators in their own right. The producers: Roni, Krust, Suv, and Die. The MC: Dynamite. The vocalist: Onallee. And musicians: bassist Si John and drummer Rob Merrill.
The visionary and primary energy source, Roni is utterly focused on his mission to spread the gospel of new music. Krust is the self-proclaimed rottweilerΓÇöbigger, louder, and possibly more dangerous. Die is the joker, the games and tricks man, and he plays with sounds the same way. Suv is shadowy, a quiet storm. And Dynamite is the original soldier: rocking the mic for days, hyping crowds, holding his teammates' sets together, and now holding his own on full vocal tracks. Onallee is balance; she articulates soul and brings a female essence into the mix.
Based in Bristol, Reprazent represents, among other things, the black, primarily West Indian communities of their home town, the uniquely British festival tradition of free love, fields and fΓÇök-ups, a dad's Studio One collection, a mum's Pink Floyd records, rave culture, pop culture, sound systems, oppressive systems, ghetto life... Add to that the irrepressible funk, rare groove, then hip hop that poured into the U.K. from black America. And the fact that Bristol is a fairly gray, post-industrial corner of England's West Country, offering very little to do. The result: Some rebellious experiments in sound began to take shape.
Krust and Roni have been making music together since '92, and as part of the Fresh Four, Krust and Suv had a hit in 1990 with their hip-hop version of "Wishing On A Star." In 1993 Roni and Krust set up their own independent operation, Full Cycle Records. Since then, through that label and through Bryan G and Jumping Jack Frost's V Recordings, the Bristol team has fired a stream of consistently floor-smashing releases at the jungle/drum 'n' bass dance floor.
Countless club classics under their belts and heroes in their own world, at the time Reprazent signed to TalkinΓÇÖLoud, no one outside that world had heard of them. A major label deal was a calculated move to take their music to a wider audience. And having continued to maintain their presence on the underground with prolific releases on Full Cycle and V, Reprazent has managed to negotiate an essential freedom to create in whatever arena they chose, consequently getting rewinds at the rave and played on Radio One at the same time.
The first album, New Forms, was released in 1997. It captured a moment in British dance history as eloquently as any seminal piece of work has epitomized its context. As if to confirm that, the virtual unknownsΓÇö16-1 outsiders up against the likes of Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, and the Spice GirlsΓÇöwon the prestigious Mercury Music Prize for New Forms a couple of months after its release, and have sold 600,000 units since. The prize was a signal to the world that drum 'n' bass was a music to be taken seriously, and that breakbeat innovations taking place on the fringesΓÇöin bedroom studios, on pirate radio, on independent labelsΓÇöwere worthy of wider attention and respect.
Reprazent was achieving its goal of exposing drum 'n' bass. The live show was step two. On sold-out tours, Reprazent created on stage the sonic power of the club experience and combined it with the energy of live performance, a feat that's harder than it sounds. The group won several awards for live performances.
It's 2000 now. Another moment, and a second albumΓÇöIn The Mode.ΓÇö expresses all that Reprazent has learned and absorbed in the last few years. As the sound of the British urban underground has escaped the U.K.'s shores and been embraced via nascent scenes across America, Europe, and Japan, so the influence of a whole world of urban music is more explicit in the new album than it was on New Forms. As uniquely British as it is, In The Mode. is also a record that reaches beyond any one scene or space, connecting more dots and communicating all that is exciting in different strands of urban music. As Roni puts it: "You can hear the hip-hop, but it's not hip hop. You can hear the R&B, but it's not. You can hear the pop but it's not. You can hear the rock, but it's not...you can hear all the elements, but it's none of those things."
In The Mode. is also a piece of work that is very much about exploring the potential of vocals. Dynamite is a powerful presence throughout the album, MC-ing on five tracks. Onallee graces two. Featured collaborators are Method Man, Zack De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine, and Rahzel of the Roots. Lyrics, rhymes, and words are clearly discernible, deliberately high in the mix: "I want the vocals to be as loud as the kick and the snare," says Roni. "I want you to be able to hear the bass in Onallee's voice." But musically, the points at which vocals stop and the rhythm and sound of the track begin become blurred. Take ΓÇ£Center Of The StormΓÇ¥ featuring Zack De La Rocha, a production that takes you exactly where its title suggests. Furious but articulate, Zack's delivery matches the driving, emotional chaos of the track, each element in the mix rising to the challenge of the other.
Still very much about drums and forward motion, the members of Reprazent remain the dons of the tear-out bassline. But this record is deeper and more textured than what's come before, layered with sounds and rhythms that rise, circle, and disappearΓÇöonly to regroup and return to the fray. This is the work of a team that has immersed itself in the technology of productionΓÇöconstantly refining and developing the sonic art. Punky thrash attitude, funk, and dancehall posturingΓÇöit's all represented, but broken down and reconstructed with energy and confidence that moves the music beyond any one of its influences, into a totally new realm.
Ultimately, Reprazent has created a personal record that listeners should not be afraid to get up close and intimate with. It has been designed for the stage, for people to join in, feel part of, sing along...It has been designed for your car, for you to bounce to, rewind and rewind again if necessary, till you know it. Reprazent has managed to create some unity out of the diverse influences of a generation, and in doing so, usher in a future generation.
