Charissa Saverio (born 7 December 1968), and better known as DJ Rap, is a British

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and

progressive electronic music Progressive music is music that attempts to expand existing stylistic boundaries associated with specific genres of music. The word comes from the basic concept of "progress", which refers to advancements through accumulation, and is often dep ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and DJ. While the majority of her work is in the

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

style, her more successful work is in traditional

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

. DJ Rap owns, records for, runs and A&Rs two record labels Propa Talent and Impropa Talent. She is also a producer, model and actress.

Biography

DJ Rap was born in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, daughter of an Italian father and an Irish-

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n mother. The family moved to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, England, when Saverio was a teenager. She later lived in Walthamstow, East London before she became a DJ. She has worked as an engineer, often collaborating with other artists. After being the first artist on the scene to self-release her first CD, she signed to

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

along with

Grooverider Raymond Bingham (born 16 April 1967 in Streatham, London, England), better known as Grooverider, is a British drum and bass DJ. He and DJ partner Fabio are regarded as "originators" of the scene.

and

Leftfield Leftfield are a British electronic music duo formed in 1989 as the duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley (the latter formerly of the Rivals and A Man Called Adam). The duo was very influential in the evolution of electronic music in the 1990s, wi ...

. Her artist album, ''Learning Curve'', was released in 1999 to critical acclaim, and resulted in several stylized

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s, including two versions of "Good to Be Alive" (one for the CD version and another for the radio remix) and "Bad Girl", a song about having to be a strong woman to survive. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' gave ''Learning Curve'' three and a half stars, stating "this is the record Madonna wanted to make". She also released compilation albums ''

Journeys by DJ Journeys by DJ originated as a UK dance music record label, which started as a series of DJ mix albums or mixtapes on the Music Unites label in 1992, and moved from London to New York City in 2000. Journeys by DJ was the first record label to focus ...

'', ''Propa Classics Vol. 1'' and ''2'', ''Brave New World'', ''Armani Exchange CHEMISTRY'' and ''Touching Bass'', ''Bulletproof'', and ''Up All Night''. DJ Rap has also done vocals for several artists, including BT (for "Giving Up the Ghost") and

Art of Trance Simon Paul Berry, known by his alias Art of Trance, is a trance music artist from England. Berry is also known as Poltergeist or Vicious Circles, and has been a member of the trance groups Clanger, Conscious and Union Jack. He has been producin ...

(for "Madagascar

omi Nation Remix is a hereditary Nobility, noble title (''kabane'') of ancient Japan. It was given to the descendants of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family before Emperor Kōgen. Along with ''Muraji'', ''Omi'' was reserved for the head of the most powe ...

). In 2014, she played "Hologram Girl" in ''

The Principle ''The Principle'' is a 2014 American independent film produced by Rick DeLano and Robert Sungenis. It rejects the Copernican principle and supports the long-superseded notion and pseudoscientific principle that Earth is at the center of the ...

'', a documentary examining the

Copernican Principle In physical cosmology, the Copernican principle states that humans, on the Earth or in the Solar System, are not privileged observers of the universe, that observations from the Earth are representative of observations from the average position ...

. In the short films ''Riddle of the Mask'' and ''Truth of the Mask'', she portrayed Helena Bertinelli aka the Huntress.

Discography

Albums

* ''Intelligence'' (1995) * ''Learning Curve'' (1999) * ''Synthesis'' (2010)

Mix albums

* ''Journeys Through the Land of Drum N Bass'' (

, 1995) * ''Propa Talent Classics, Volume 1'' (2001) * ''Touching Bass'' (2003) * ''Bulletproof'' (2005) * ''Up All Night'' (2006) * ''A Propa History, Volume 1'' (2008)

Singles

* "Divine Rhythm" (1992) (with Voyager) * "Spiritual Aura" (1994) * "Total Tangent / Tibetan Jungle" (1994) * "Digable Bass" (1994) * "Switch" (1995) (with Outlaw Candy) * "Intelligent Woman" (1995) (with Outlaw Candy) * "I'm So" (1997) (vs. Da Boss) * "Bad Girl" (1998) * "Everyday Girl" (1998) * "Good to Be Alive" (1998) (US Dance Chart #5) * "Give It All Away" (2010) * "Feel So Alive" (2010) (with Jo) * "Talking to Myself" (2012) (with

tyDi TyDi (; born Tyson Illingworth, 31 May 1987) is an Australian songwriter, record producer and DJ specializing in electronic dance music. Originally from Queensland, TyDi was signed by Armin van Buuren's Armada label at 17 and was ranked at No ...

) * "Back & Forth" (2021)

References

External links

* *
Interview with ''DJ Times'', 1999

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rap, Dj English drum and bass musicians Living people 1969 births English record producers English women DJs English women in electronic music English people of Malaysian descent English people of Italian descent English people of Irish descent British Asian musicians British women record producers British electronic dance music DJs Jungle musicians Musicians from Southampton People from Walthamstow