Roni Size

Ryan Owen Granville Williams (born 29 October 1969),^[1] better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and music producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. That year they won the Mercury Prize for their debut studio album New Forms.

Biography

Early life

Williams, son of

Aided by Chris Lewis, Roni Size founded the record label WTP ("Where's The Party At?") as part of Circus Warp. With Dave Cridge who also DJed for Circus Warp and ran Replay Records Bristol, the two would visit The Record Basement in Reading and in 1993, Full Cycle and Dope Dragon were established.[4] RCA Records employee Bryan Gee was an early admirer.^[4] In 1994, when Gee founded V Recordings, the first releases were Krust's Deceivers EP as catalogue number V001 and Agility, the debut release of Roni Size and DJ Die, as V002.

Collaborations and solo 1997–2007

In April 1997, Roni Size & Reprazent had their live debut at Tribal Gathering. Williams created the group to perform live tracks he had been working on in the studio. The group included Full Cycle members Williams (Roni Size), Krust and Die, operating 'banks of equipment'; as well as Dynamite MC (vocals), Onallee (vocals), Si John (bass), and Clive Deamer (drums) taking centre stage.^[6][7]

The group's debut studio album,

, and Williams returned to the studio to concentrate on his output for V and Full Cycle and Dope Dragon.

Following their mainstream breakthrough, Reprazent had a series of

Mercury Music Prize.^[3] The singles from the album all featured singer Onallee, whose call for the music in "Brown Paper Bag" is a signal ravers still respond to.^[9][4] The album went platinum, and Roni Size and his collaborators returned to the studio.^{[citation needed}

]

Williams subsequently teamed up with DJ Die and Leonie Laws in

Beverly Knight, Jocelyn Brown, Vikter Duplaix, and Rodney P

.

2008–present

Williams resurrected Reprazent in 2008 with the release of a

Rock Herk. As a result, they were among the nominees for Best Dance Act from the UK Festival Awards

.

The band started 2009 with a tour of Australia as part of the

Coachella,^[11]

appearing as the final act of the festival.

In September 2009, Roni Size and Reprazent played a gig with an orchestra and choir to mark the re-opening of

Colston Hall, collaborating with the BBC’s Nature's Great Events composer, William Goodchild.^[12] In addition to older material, the band played material from a forthcoming Reprazent album.^[12]

Musical style

Much acclaim has centred on Williams's melding of the propulsive

jungle beats accompanied by live drums and double bass.^[3] The group Roni Size & Reprazent's drum and bass is equally blended from hip hop, funk, soul and house.^[3]

Personal life

Williams is an avid

Bank Holiday Monday, 2013.^[13]

Discography

Studio albums

• Touching Down (2002)
• Return to V (2004)
• Take Kontrol (2014)

Collaborative albums

• New Forms (1997) with Roni Size & Reprazent
• Ultra-Obscene (1999) with Breakbeat Era
• In the Møde
  (2000) with Roni Size & Reprazent
• New Forms²
  (2008) with Roni Size & Reprazent
• Past & Present (2016) with Krust

Singles and EPs

• "Witchcraft" (1994) featuring Krust
• "Fashion" (1995)
• "Square Off" (1996)
• "Snapshot" (1999)
• "26 Bass" (1999)
• "Sound Advice" (2002)
• "Playtime" (2002)
• "Freshen up the Budgie" (2003)
• "Snapshot 3" (2003)
• "Out of Breath" (2004)
• "No More" (featuring Beverley Knight & Dynamite MC) (2005)
• "Touching Down, Vol. 2" (2005)
• "Friends" (2006)
• "Kops & Robbers" (2009)
• "Out of Order" (2010)
• "Size Matters" (2014)
• ”Edition 1 (Vintage)” (2021)

Compilations and DJ mixes

• Music Box (1993)
• Through the Eyes (2000)

References

1. ISBN 1-84195-017-3
   .
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Roni Size - A picture of Britain - West". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
3. ^
   ISBN 0-7535-0252-6
   .
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} "RA: Roni Size". Residentadvisor.net. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
5. ISBN 1-904994-10-5
   .
6. ^ ^{a b} "Roni Size / Reprazent – Tribal Gathering '97". 24 May 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
7. ^ ^{a b} Kelemen, Matt. "Size Matters". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
8. ^ "Roni Size: Creating New Forms 2 |". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
9. ^ "Roni Size - 18 Years of D&B Set". Shambala. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
10. ^ "A Farewell From inthemix: Thanks For All The Memories". Junkee.com. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
11. ^ Evelyn McDonnell: Coachella: Roni Size and Reprazent bring back their beat Los Angeles Times Music Blog, 16 April 2009
12. ^ ^{a b} Rowse, Belinda (2009). "Roni Size Live @ Colston Hall Review". Kmag. Archived from the original (Blog) on 27 February 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
13. ^ "Bristol celebrities take to football pitch to raise money for charity". This is Bristol. Retrieved 7 July 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roni Size.

• Roni Size discography at Discogs
• Roni Size at
  Rolldabeats
• Roni Size interview on ilikemusic.com, 2008
• Roni Size interview on The Student Pocket Guide
• Roni Size interview with
  BBC Bristol
• Roni Size interview with Remixmag