Reprazent

Reprazent is a British drum and bass act formed by Roni Size. Their debut album New Forms won the Mercury Music Prize in 1997.[1] Their follow-up album In The Mode featured artists including Rahzel, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Method Man.

Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008 with the release of a deluxe edition of New Forms on Universal,[2] but in September 2008 announced his intention to disband the act following a third album.[3]

Reprazent's music has been described as containing “meticulously crafted break-beats that, when slowed down, revealed themselves as hip-hop beats”.[4] The most popular track, “Brown Paper Bag”, was praised in the Guardian as a “masterpiece: an essay in hyperkinetic pace, it piles up teetering stacks of instrumental layers, their cumulative weight triggering each step in a constant cycle of demolition and reconstruction of its latticework of melody, rhythm and mood".[5]

The singles from New Forms featured the vocals of Onallee, whose call for the music in "Brown Paper Bag" is a signal that became widespread in rave culture.[6] The album went platinum and Roni Size returned to the studio to concentrate on his output for V and Full Cycle and Dope Dragon.

Reforming the band, complete with original members Dynamite MC, Onallee and the bassist Si John, alongside Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing), D Product, Jay Wilcox and Pete Josef; Roni Size and Reprazent toured some of the biggest festivals in Europe including Bestival, Glastonbury, Lovebox, Exit and Rock Herk. As a result, they were amongst the nominations for best dance act from the UK Festival Awards.

Members

Discography

References

  1. ^ Hegarty, Khalil (13 May 2005). "Independence days". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/Music/Independence-days/2005/05/12/1115843298828.html. Retrieved 27 November 2009. 
  2. ^ McDonnell, Evelyn (17 April 2009). "Roni Size and Reprazent bring back their beat". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/apr/17/entertainment/et-ronisize17?pg=2. Retrieved 27 November 2009. 
  3. ^ "Former Mercury Prize winner Roni Size to split up Reprazent". 15 September 2008. http://www.nme.com/news/name/39710. Retrieved 27 November 2009. 
  4. ^ Hesmondhalgh, David and Caspar Melville. “Urban Breakbeat Culture: Repercussions of Hip-Hop in the United Kingdom.” In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, 86-110. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
  5. ^ Batey, Angus (21 February 2008). "Roni Size/Reprazent". The Guardian (London). http://music.guardian.co.uk/live/story/0,,2258427,00.html#article_continue. Retrieved 22 May 2010. 
  6. ^ A Cardew: [1] Resident Advisor Biography 21/01/2009