| Ninja Tune | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Matt Black Jonathan More |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | England, UK |
| Location | London |
| Official Website | ninjatune.net |
Ninja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut[1] and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music. The label caters largely to artists who make Alternative Hip Hop, Instrumental music, Nu Jazz, Drum and Bass, Trip Hop and/or various forms of Downtempo music.
The label has developed a number of DJs, producers, and live acts. It has offices in Montreal and Los Angeles.
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The label was founded in 1990. In 1994 Matt Black's close friend Mixmaster Morris introduced Matt to Openmind - a DJ & design collective in Camberwell - at the Telepathic Fish chill-out club they were running. Openmind included Kevin Foakes aka Strictly Kev of DJ Food. After submitting a re-styled company logo he was employed by Ninja Tune in the capacity of overall design consultant.[2]
Pre-dating Ninja Tune is the radio show Solid Steel, which Coldcut set up in 1988. What initially began as a radio show on then pirate Kiss FM went on to become a weekly podcast and also the name of live nightclub events showcasing the talents of a number of Ninja Tune artists. Solid Steel is also the name of a series of DJ mix CDs from the label.
In 2010, Ninja Tune celebrated 20 years of releasing music. A book entitled Ninja Tune: 20 Years of Beats and Pieces was released on 12 August 2010, and an exhibition was held at Black Dog Publishing's Black Dog Space in London showcasing artwork, design and photography from the label's 20 year history. A compilation album was released on 20 September in two formats - a regular version consisting of two 2-disc volumes, and a limited edition (of 3,500 copies), containing 6 CDs, 6 7" vinyl singles, a hardback copy of the book, a poster and additional items.
Ninja Tune's first sister imprint was Ntone, a label specialising in experimental electronic music. The label released records from 1994 to 2001 before closing. Artists on the roster included Animals on Wheels, Cabbageboy, Hexstatic and Neotropic.
Experimental hip-hop label Big Dada was set up by Will Ashon in 1997. It is the home of acts such as cLOUDDEAD, Juice Aleem, Roots Manuva, DELS, Wiley and Spank Rock.
In 2006, Counter Records was set up to release the music by artists following a more rock music vein. The label's first release was (Super Numeri member) Pop Levi's single "Blue Honey" in September 2006, and was followed by Pop Levi's debut album The Return To Form Black Magick Party in February 2007. Subsequent artists to have releases on the label include Ape School, Cougar, cross-genre punk rockers The Death Set and The Heavy.
In 2008 Mr. Scruff launched his own new sub-label, Ninja Tuna. The first release was Donkey Ride, a collaboration with Quantic, released in May 2008. This was followed by his 4th studio album, also entitled Ninja Tuna, and several further 12" singles to date.