| 01 | | Movement - Roots Manuva (4:13)
| | Listen | | | | | 02 | | The Tale (Radio Edit) - TY (3:37)
| | Listen | | | | | 03 | | Night Night Theme - Infesticons (4:05)
| | Listen | | | | | 04 | | Colossal Insight - Roots Manuva (3:45)
| | Listen | | | | | 05 | | Dead Dogs Two – Clouddead (Boards of Canada mix) (5:00)
| | Listen | | | | | 06 | | Wherever We Go – New Flesh (3:46)
| | Listen | | | | | 07 | | Wait a Minute – TY (3:22)
| | Listen | | | | | 08 | | Fader Party – Majesticons (2:25)
| | Listen | | | | | 09 | | Percolator - Lotek HiFi (3:20)
| | Listen | | | | | 10 | | Dans Le Club-TTC (3:57)
| | Listen | | | | | 11 | | Witness (1 Hope) – Roots Manuva (4:14)
| | Listen | | | | | 12 | | Diploe Rhythm- Diplo (4:53)
| | Listen | | | | | 13 | | Sweet Talk – Spank Rock (4:11)
| | Listen | | | | | 14 | | My Mistakes (xxxchange Mix) – Wiley (3:09)
| | Listen | | | | | 15 | | Hard Times – Part 2 (4:38)
| | Listen | | | | | 16 | | 50/50 – Wiley (2:18)
| | Listen | | | | | 17 | | Stick & Move – New Flesh (3:30)
| | Listen | | | | | 18 | | Worcestershire Sauce – Infinite Livez (3:03)
| | Listen | | | | | 19 | | Super Pretzel – NMS (4:53)
| | Listen | | | | | 20 | | Monkey Theme – Infesticons (4:15)
| | Listen | | | | | 21 | | Slang Teacher – Gamma (3:44)
| | Listen | | | | | 22 | | Now’s The Time – Diplo (3:08)
| | Listen | | | | | 23 | | Supply & Demand – Busdriver (2:05)
| | Listen | | | | | 24 | | Anti-Matter – King Geedorah feat MF Doom & Mr Fantastik (3:27)
| | Listen | | | | | 25 | | Look For Me – Ty (4:14)
| | Listen | | | | | 26 | | Killer Apps – Shadowless (4:12)
| | Listen | | | | | 27 | | King Spitter – Big Juss (2:18)
| | Listen | | | | | 28 | | Black Astronaut – Busdriver (4:00)
| | Listen | | | | | 29 | | Can’t Believe – Lotek HiFi (4:01)
| | Listen | | | | | 30 | | Physics of a Bicycle – Clouddead (4:41)
| | Listen | | | | | 31 | | Closer - Ty (5:06) | | Listen | | | |
(Clicking on 'Buy' will take you to the ninjatune.net shop where you can purchase the chosen item)
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Big Dada, home of some of the most maverick, forward-thinking and innovative artists in hip hop and beyond has just hit double figures. To celebrate, we’re proud to present “Well Deep,” not so much a ‘best of’ as an overview of the label’s history and philosophy, available on double CD and DVD.
Big Dada was started when then-music journalist Will Ashon approached Peter Quicke (boss of Ninja Tune) and suggested a hip hop label to run alongside but independently of the venerable indie. Heavily influenced by the underground hip hop scenes that had grown up in LA in the early nineties and then New York in the mid-nineties, Ashon envisaged the label as a home for musical misfits and pioneers, for those who were more interested in producing something worthwhile than necessarily having a hit.
Whilst “underground hip hop” became shorthand for a kind of nostalgic belief in “real hip hop” and dusty samples, Big Dada continued to evolve. Ashon maintains, though, that the label has stayed true to its founding principles. “I always thought the basic principle of hip hop was to keep moving, to constantly be trying something new. To be fresher than everyone else!”
Certainly, few labels have operated such a broad-church policy to rap-based music, both in terms of style and geography. How many labels could claim to have had a consistent music policy over ten years while releasing artists as diverse as Wiley and cLOUDDEAD? How many labels could justify releasing French group TTC, Diplo’s early Brazilian experiments, some of the finest acts to come out of the UK (Roots Manuva, Ty, New Flesh, Infinite Livez), as well as some of the finest underground acts to emerge from the USA (Spank Rock, King Geedorah/MF Doom, Mike Ladd’s Infesticons project) in addition to some of the most wildly offbeat (Bigg Jus, Busdriver)?
“Hip hop has saturated the breadth of popular music and culture,” Ashon argues. “There can’t be any rules about what’s acceptable or authentic other than whether it moves you and excites you. That’s all we’ve ever tried to do.”
"The very best underground hip hop label" - Observer Music Monthly
"The most progressive British hip hop label ever" - The Fader
Key players.
Potted histories of a few of the key players in the Big Dada story:
Will Ashon
Will Ashon worked as a music journalist specialising in hip hop and related musics for Muzik, Hip Hop Connection, True and then Trace. He also had features published in the Source, Raygun and many other magazines. He ran Big Dada full time from 1997 until 2005, when he went part time to allow him to write novels. His first book, “Clear Water,” was published by Faber & Faber in June 2006 (paperback out now). His new book, “The Heritage,” will follow in March 2008 through the same publisher.
Juice Aleem
Featured on the very first Big Dada single release, under the name Alpha Prhyme, Juice Aleem has been a constant on the label ever since, working with his groups New Flesh and Gamma, touring the world and developing a fearsome reputation as one of the very best freestylers you’ll ever hear. Anywhere.
Roots Manuva
Rodney Smith was one of the first people Ashon approached when he started Big Dada. Rodney would only sign on an album deal and so “Brand New Second Hand” (1999) became the label’s first artist album release and started a relationship which stretches over 5 albums and continues until this day. He has been nominated for almost every award under the sun, including a Brit, has had two top forty albums and continues to be the embodiment of the label’s maverick approach to commercialism, art and life.
Ty
Ty was the second Big Dada artist to be nominated for a Mercury Music Prize for his own second album, “Upwards,” a record which won him plaudits from everyone from De La Soul to Robert Wyatt. He has also established himself as a live favourite, worked with personal heroes like Tony Allen and become an important spokesman for his community.
Mike Ladd (Infesticons/Majesticons)
The first American to become a permanent member of the Big Dada roster, this writer, conceptualist and former punk now resident in Paris but previously based in the Bronx has long represented the dissenting spirit of the label. As well as the ability not to take oneself too seriously…
TTC
The Parisian trio signed for the label in 2000 and have since become one of the most successful hip hop acts in France, combining their three beautfiully contrasted flows with next-level electronic production from the likes of Para One and Tacteel.
cLOUDDEAD
A kind of anticon-supergroup before anyone knew what anticon was, Dose One, why? and Odd Nosdam split after just two albums citing irreconcilable differences and the world was denied any more psych-pop songs about decaying canine corpses.
Diplo
The Floridian first got in touch with Big Dada whilst living in Tokyo and reading an interview with Will Ashon in a Japanese magazine. The first (and so far, only) predominantly instrumental producer to be signed to the label, Diplo has since gone on to be a superstar DJ, celebrity red hot lover and a&r extraordinaire. He also has an implausibly deep voice.
Infinite Livez
The one and only Lactating Man channeller, Chelsea Art School graduate, comic book artist, PiL enthusiast, pink wig wearer and all-round genius. What can we say?
Spank Rock
Purveyors of art-filth, Baltimore attitude and stadium-level charisma, Naeem Hanks and producer Xxchange came (everywhere), conquered and then went again.
Wiley
The maverick’s maverick, godfather of grime and cold warrior was always meant to be on Big Dada. Now it has happened climate change can be reversed…
Ten facts about Big Dada’s 10th Anniversary compilation...
1.There are 33 tracks on there, more or less one from every artist album we’ve ever put out.
2.It’s two cds and it’ll be in the shops for less than a tenner.
3.All the big tunes are on there – “Witness (1 Hope)”, “Diplo Rhythm,” “Sweet Talk” (Spank Rock), “Wait A Minute” (TY), “50/50” (Wiley) etc etc.
4.Most of the lost classics are on there, too – “Night Night Theme” (Infesticons), “Slang Teacher” (Gamma), “Now’s The Time” (Diplo, never previously released).
5.There are also some of our best leftfield stunners – “Worcestershire Sauce” (Infinite Livez), “Dead Dogs Two” (cLOUDDEAD) and “Super Pretzel (NMS).
6.People have proposed to this music (“Movements” by Roots Manuva – true dat)
7.People have been sued for this music (too numerous to mention).
8.Special guests on the comp include Saul Williams, El-P, Vybz Kartel and Boards of Canada.
9.The music here actually only spans 8 years of our decade as the first two years was compiled on “Black Whole Styles”.
10.The label was described as having released “the most consistently fascinating British records of our generation”. Unfortunately, the magazine who said it was Bang. And they went out of business…
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