Roni Size

Modern drum ‘n’ bass is unthinkable without Roni Size & Reprazent: Their Mercury Prize-winning 1997 album, New Forms, played a major role in the genre’s popular crossover, proving the style’s appeal far beyond the dance floor. Bristol native Roni Size—a.k.a. Ryan Williams—was born into a family of Jamaican immigrants in 1969, and by his teenage years was getting schooled in sound-system traditions by hometown heroes (and future Massive Attack members) The Wild Bunch. He began putting out 12-inch singles in the early ’90s, as breakbeat hardcore was beginning to morph into jungle, but it was New Forms—a collaborative effort, credited to Roni Size & Reprazent, featuring fellow junglists Krust, DJ Die, Suv and others—that cemented his name beyond the underground. The album’s cutting-edge approach to sampling and time-stretching set a new bar for progressive dance music, while its incorporation of standup bass and other elements of jazz paved the way for the group’s full-band live performances, which helped spread drum ‘n’ bass to festival crowds around the world. Whether fronting Reprazent or on his own, Size has remained one of the scene’s central figures ever since.