Roni Size / Reprazent

Formed around Roni Size in Bristol, Roni Size / Reprazent is part of the rise of British drum and bass in the late 1990s, with an approach that links jungle, hip-hop, soul, funk and live-played elements. The project takes shape as a live-focused collective, bringing together at different periods Roni Size, Onallee, Dynamite MC, DJ Die, Krust, DJ Suv, as well as bass and drum musicians, which gives its aesthetics a particular tension between programming, voice, rap and instrumentation. Roni Size / Reprazent began performing live in 1997 and released in the same year New Forms, a pivotal album driven notably by 'Brown Paper Bag', 'Heroes', 'Share the Fall' and 'Watching Windows', where the rapid rhythms, basslines and textures inherited from breakbeat find a very legible balance. A second album, In the Mode, appeared in 2000, with guests like Rahzel, Zack de la Rocha and Method Man. After a period of more intermittent activity, Roni Size relaunched Reprazent from 2008, then reformed a live version of the group in the mid-2010s. Roni Size / Reprazent has since continued to appear at major festivals and also released Live at Colston Hall in 2015, arising from a collaboration with William Goodchild and The Emerald Ensemble.