Big Dada is a British independent record label imprint distributed by

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit ...

. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for marketing of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Manuva, poet and playwright Kae Tempest, grime pioneer Wiley, rapper and designer

DELS Kieren Gallear also known as DELS (pronounced "Dels") is a British art director, recording artist, rapper, graphics designer and filmmaker born in Ipswich, England, currently based in London. Gallear signed with the Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada ...

and Mercury Prize winners Speech Debelle and Young Fathers.

History

Big Dada's first release was Alpha Prhyme's 12-inch single ''Misanthropic'', a collaboration between Luke Vibert and

Juice Aleem Juice Aleem is a rapper born in Birmingham, in ceremonial counties West Midlands, England. Biography After putting years of energy into the Birmingham hip hop scene, Juice's "Ghetto Grammer" freestyle rap sessions started featuring such other f ...

in 1997.Swash, Rosie (8 June 2009)
Label of love: Big Dada - Music - The Guardian
. '' The Guardian''. Retrieved on 2012-03-25. Over the following years, the label has released over one hundred and fifty records and garnered considerable critical acclaim, being described by Observer Music Monthly as "the very best underground hip hop label."Mulholland, Garry (1 February 2004)
'Dead Dogs Two' by cLOUDDEAD - OMM - The Observer
. '' The Observer''. Retrieved on 2012-03-25.

In 2007, Big Dada released the compilation ''Well Deep'' to celebrate their tenth anniversary. NME said the label was "not only a platform for the British urban underground but also attracts some of the most progressive wordsmiths and beat-scientists in the whole world... Big Dada are still pushing things forward." As the quote suggests, Big Dada is not exclusively a label for British acts. Their roster has also featured contributions from American hip hop artists including

Bigg Jus Justin Ingleton, better known by his stage name Bigg Jus, is an American alternative hip hop artist from Jamaica, Queens. He was a member of Company Flow along with El-P and Mr. Len. He is also one half of the duo Nephlim Modulation Systems with ...

, Busdriver, Mike Ladd and French hip hop group TTC. They also released debut albums by both

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

and Spank Rock, as well as the comeback album from grime legend Wiley, who was so pleased with the record deal they offered that he recorded "50/50" in tribute.Chick, Stevie (26 October 2007)
Stevie Chick on Big Dada Records - Music - The Guardian
. ''The Guardian''. Retrieved on 2012-03-25. On 8 September 2009, Speech Debelle won the 2009 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for her debut album ''

Speech Therapy Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...

'' produced by

Wayne Lotek Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Anth ...

. It is the label's third nomination, after Roots Manuva's Run Come Save Me in 2002 and Ty's Upwards in 2003. On 30 October 2014, Young Fathers won the 2014 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for their debut album '' Dead''. It was the label's joint fourth nomination alongside

Everybody Down ''Everybody Down'' is the debut album by English poet and spoken word artist Kae Tempest, which was nominated for the 2014 Mercury Prize. Its tracks comprise a unified story cycle with a coherent narrative arc, based upon a main character named ...

by Kae Tempest and second Mercury Prize winning album. Roots Manuva, one of the label's best known artist, signed a new deal with the label in 2011. In the 2007 documentary for the label ''Well Deep'', he said, "It's been a lovely relationship over the years... Big Dada's unique and it will always be unique because it's a philosophy, y'know? It's unique because it dares to stick its neck out and it's run by people who genuinely love music. It's not just a record label, it's a movement." In 2021 Big Dada relaunched "as a label run by Black, POC & Minority Ethnic people for Black, POC & Minority Ethnic artists."

Roster (current)

* Busdriver *CARVE + GAZE *

Congo Natty Michael Alec Anthony West (born 27 August 1964 in Islington, London, England), better known as Rebel MC and Congo Natty, is a British jungle producer and toaster. He has also gone by aliases including Conquering Lion, Blackstar, Tribe of Issac ...

* Darq E Freaker * FARAI * Hype Williams * Lyzza * Kai Whiston * Kutmah * Onyx Collective * Roots Manuva * Sampa the Great * Tre Mission * Two Fingers * Visionist * WEN *

Yaya Bey Hidaiyah "Yaya" Bey is an American rhythm and blues musician from Brooklyn. History Bey released her first album in 2020 titled ''Madison Tapes''. Bey released an EP titled ''The Things I Can't Take With Me'' the following year, through Big Dad ...

* Young Fathers

Roster (alumni)

Anti-Pop Consortium Antipop Consortium is an American alternative hip hop group. The group formed in 1997, when Beans, High Priest, M. Sayyid, and producer Earl Blaize met at a poetry slam in New York City. They are notable for their stream-of-consciousness lyric ...

*Baishe Kings *Bang On! * Cadence Weapon *Cell Broco * cLOUDDEAD *

* Dobie *Elan Tamara *Gamma *Infesticons * Infinite Livez * Wiley *Jammer *

* Kae Tempest * K-The-I??? *Kail * King Geedorah *Lotek Hifi *Majesticons *New Flesh *NMS / Bigg Jus / Orko Eloheim * Offshore *Paris Suit Yourself *Part 2 * Roseau * Run the Jewels ( Killer Mike & El-P) * Samuel * Spank Rock * Speech Debelle *Sticky * Thavius Beck *

Thunderheist Thunderheist was an electronic music duo from Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec in Canada. Thunderheist was made up of producer Graham Bertie (Grahmzilla) and Omolola Isis Salam (Isis). The two began collaborating before they had ever met in p ...

*TTC * Ty *Visions *XRABIT +DMG$

Compilation discography

* ''Black Whole Styles'' (1998) * ''SOUND01: A Big Dada Sampler'' (2001) * ''Extra Yard:The Bouncement Revolution'' (2002) * ''Well Deep: Ten Years of Big Dada Recordings'' (2007)

References

External links