Roni Size

Bristol native Roni Size is one of the U.K. jungle scene's most respected names, with production credits spanning dozens of labels, projects and releases. Although not as quick to rise to acclaim (either critical or popular) as peers such as Goldie or LTJ Bukem, Size's influence as a producer, label owner, and committed underground magnate figured him as one of the emerging sound's true pioneers. The breakout success of his debut album New Forms (including Britain's prestigious Mercury Award) finally confirmed his stature and vaulted him to a greater degree of popularity than any other drum'n'bass producer.

Born to Jamaican immigrant parents, Roni grew up in the Bristolean suburb of St. Andrews (home to Tricky, Massive Attack, and Smith & Mighty), where he learned the fundamentals of hip-hop through the area's sounds systems, house parties, and underground clubs. Expelled from school in his mid-teens and running game through his neighborhood until risk became greater than reward, Size started dabbling with house and reggae production in the late '80s. He hooked up with labelmates DJ Krust, Suv, and DJ Die at the 1990 Glastonbury Festival, and the four stayed in contact, eventually forming Size's longest running musical commitment to date: his own Full Cycle label. Formed simply as an outlet for the four's entree into the nascent drum'n'bass scene (Krust and brother Flynn [of Flynn & Flora] were already working with Smith & Mighty, while Die was producing hardcore tracks as Sublove), Full Cycle eventually grew into a label group, releasing a steady flow of twelves (on both Full Cycle and Dope Dragon), and a label comp, Music Box, in 1995.

Oft duplicated, the Full Cycle sound is a subtle mix of jazz and soul with jump-up rhythms and worldbeat references spanning from Roni's Jamaican roots to '50s bop and the Motown sound. Although hardly popular in the days before ragga (then jump-up) ruled the decks, the crew now counts a number of classics among their credits, including Size's "It's a Jazz Thing," Krust's "Jazz Note," and Reprazent's Reasons for Sharing EP, the crew's first outing through major-label subsidiary Talkin' Loud. The success of 1997's New Forms launched Size to the top of the electronica genre, and the Dope Dragon label continued to rise in the ranks of dubplate hysteria, with tracks from Selector Owoy, Gang Related, and Mask consistently passing muster on most DJ's decks. After a relatively silent 1998, Size returned in 1999 with a new project -- Breakbeat Era, with DJ Die and vocalist Leonie Laws. The trio released Ultra-Obscene in the fall of that year. In 2000, Size returned to the Reprazent project with In the Møde, boasting sit-ins from Method Man and Rage Against the Machine's Zack De La Rocha. It failed to cross over or build his fanbase, and he returned to solo productions with 2002's Touching Down and 2005's Return to V. Size has also mixed a two-disc volume in the Full Cycle mix series Through the Eyes. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide