Genres: Dancehall, British Rap, Underground Rap Active: 90's, 2000's, Born: 1972 in Stockwell, London, England
Ty, Saul Williams, Lotek Hi-Fi, Mike Ladd, New Flesh, Part 2, DJ Vadim, TTC, Ms. Dynamite, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Chester Copperpot, One Self, Spank Rock, Coldcut, Speech Debelle, Tricky, DJ Food, Funki Porcini
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British rapper/producer Rodney Smith established himself as Roots Manuva in the late '90s and began releasing a series of highly regarded albums through Big Dada. Smith's work was firmly rooted in dub and ragga but also incorporated much of the trip-hop style often associated with Ninja Tune, the U.K. imprint that often distributed Big Dada releases. The MC debuted in 1999 with Brand New Second Hand, a promising album that garnered a sizable amount of attention from the international hip-hop crowd and won Britain's coveted MOBO award. Beginning in late 1999, shortly after the album was released, Smith returned to the studio to begin work on Run Come Save Me, his follow-up. He completed the album and released it on Big Dada in 2001; thanks to his own production on the breakout single "Witness (1 Hope)," the album became a British hit and increased his worldwide recognition. It narrowly missed winning the prestigious Mercury Prize and spawned an excellent dub album, Dub Come Save Me, released one year later.
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Release: September 6, 2010
Label: Big Dada
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Release: July 7, 2009
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