Sigma are 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 ...

DJ and record production duo consisting of Cameron James "Cam" Edwards and Joseph Aluin "Joe" Lenzie. They met at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

at drum and bass nights. Their 2010 collaboration with

DJ Fresh Daniel Edward Stein (born 11 April 1977), better known by his stage name DJ Fresh, is an English musician, DJ, record producer, best known for making electronic music. He is one of the principal members of the drum and bass group Bad Company, ...

, "

Lassitude Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...

", peaked at number 98 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Their single "

Nobody to Love "Nobody to Love" is a song by British Record producer, record production duo Sigma (DJs), Sigma. The song was originally a Bootleg recording, bootleg remix of "Bound 2" by Kanye West featuring Charlie Wilson (singer), Charlie Wilson, released on ...

" topped the UK Singles Chart, becoming their first UK number one. Their second was the follow-up single " Changing", featuring

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer and actress. Her debut studio album, ''Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?,'' was released in 2009 and was certified double platinum in the UK. The album spawned the sing ...

Career

2006–2009: Formation and career beginnings

Lenzie and Edwards met in 2006 at

; Cameron was working in local record store Tribe Records and with Echo Location's Obi running local night Event Horizon, while Lenzie was DJing hip-hop and warming up Event Horizon for acts. Once they had finished in Leeds, they relocated to London and became a three-piece with Ben Mauerhoff, being signed under

Breakbeat Kaos Breakbeat Kaos is a British independent record label based in London, United Kingdom, UK that specialises in drum and bass. It is jointly owned by DJ Fresh, Fresh and Adam F, who founded the label in 2003 by merging Fresh's Breakbeat Punk with ...

. After a while, Mauerhoff left. In December 2008, they formed their own record label, Life Recordings (so called because, according to Lenzie, the industry demanded that it be their life). Its inaugural release was a VIP mix of their early Bingo Beats single "El Presidente".

2009–2012: ''Stand Tall'' and ''Night & Day'' EPs

Sigma have produced music through

Hospital Records Hospital Records is a British independent record label based in South London. Primarily releasing drum and bass, the label was started in 1996 by Tony Colman (London Elektricity) and Chris Goss, and has grown in recent years to become one of ...

. In June 2009, they made the song "Paint It Black" for the compilation album ''Sick Music''. Later that year, they released their second Life Recordings release "Nexus" / "Front to Back". In 2010, the duo released their two-part ''Stand Tall EP'' on the drum and bass label,

. In December 2010, Sigma and

released the single "

" featuring Koko as the fifth single from DJ Fresh's album ''

Kryptonite Kryptonite is a fictional material that appears primarily in Superman stories published by DC Comics. In its best-known form, it is a green, crystalline material originating from Superman's home world of Krypton that emits a unique, poisonous r ...

''. The song became one of their first charting singles as it peaked at number 98 on the

and number 11 on the

UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record ...

.Peak positions for the Dance singles in the UK: * For "Lassitude": * For "Rudeboy": * For "Nobody to Love": * For "Changing": After the release of their late-2011 ''Night & Day'' EPs on their label, in 2012, Sigma toured the UK, Europe, Australasia and the United States. They were the supporting act for

on his first live UK tour. The tour included dates supporting fellow former Leeds student Christopher Mercer (also known as

Rusko Rusko () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipali ...

2013–2015: Breakthrough and ''Life''

The duo signed to 3 Beat Records in the summer of 2013. They had also remixed tracks for

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...

Eric Prydz Eric Sheridan Prydz (, ; born 19 July 1976), also known by his many aliases including Pryda () and Cirez D (), is a Swedish DJ and music producer. He rose to fame with his 2004 hit single " Call on Me", and saw continued chart success with "Pro ...

Skepta Chief Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British-Nigerian grime MC, rapper and record producer. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding ...

and Sway. Following their remix of the

Stylo G Jason McDermott (born 15 September 1985 in Spanish Town, Jamaica), better known by his stage name Stylo G, is a British-Jamaican dancehall recording artist known for his three hit singles "My Yout", "Call Mi a Leader" and " Soundbwoy". "Soundbwo ...

single "Soundbwoy", they released their debut single with 3Beat, "Summer Calling", featuring Taylor Fowlis. Their second single with 3Beat, " Rudeboy", featuring Doctor, was released in December 2013. The song peaked at number 56 on the UK Singles Chart and number 12 on the UK Dance Chart. They released their third single with 3Beat, "

" (a rework of

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

's " Bound 2"), on 6 April 2014. It topped the

upon release. To celebrate, they released a new song, "Divine", for free download on 16 April 2014. In July 2014, Sigma announced their single "Changing" co-written by

Ella Eyre Ella McMahon (born 1 April 1994), known professionally as Ella Eyre, is a British singer and songwriter. She is known for her collaborations with Rudimental on their UK number-one single "Waiting All Night" (2013), which won the 2014 Brit Awar ...

and featuring vocals from

; it was released on 14 September 2014 and became their second consecutive number one song on the UK Singles Chart. Their third single " Higher" featuring

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. After initially pursuing a career in music production, Simon Cowell signed him to his record labe ...

, premiered on

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

's Radio 1 show on 16 January 2015. It was featured in the game ''

Madden NFL 16 ''Madden NFL 16'' is an American football sports video game based on the National Football League and published by EA Sports for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. ''Madden 16'' introduced the new game mode "Draft Champion ...

''. In February 2015, Sigma debuted their live show in Sydney as part

Future Music Festival Future Music Festival was an annual music festival featuring Australian and international artists held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in Australia and as of 2012 also Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The festival was usually held in ...

. Sigma returned to the UK in April to embark on their first headline live tour of the UK, selling out all dates and culminating at

Electric Brixton The Fridge was a nightclub in the Brixton area of South London, England, founded, in 1981, by Andrew Czezowski and Susan Carrington, who had run the Roxy during punk music's heyday in 1977. The Fridge closed on 17 March 2010 and has no ...

. Sigma's fourth single "

Glitterball ''Glitterball'' is a live, late night, interactive television quiz show in the United Kingdom. It was broadcast under the ITV Play branding on ITV (TV network), ITV a few nights a week from around midnight (usually), and from 1.00am on ITV2. The ...

" was released on 24 July 2015 and features vocals from

Ella Henderson Gabriella Michelle Henderson (born 12 January 1996), known as Ella Henderson, is an English singer. She competed in the ninth series of ''The X Factor UK'' in 2012, finishing in sixth place despite being a strong favourite to win. She signed ...

. The song secured Sigma their third

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

number one and reached number four on the UK Singles Chart. " Redemption" with

Diztortion Raoul Lionel Chen (born 2 November 1990), better known as Diztortion, is a Dutch-born songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with UK-based artists Stylo G, Lethal Bizzle, Tinie Tempah and Sigma (duo), Sigma. His first notable rel ...

and featuring

Jacob Banks Jacob Banks (born 24 July 1991) is a Nigerian-born English singer and songwriter from Birmingham. Banks won the 2012 MOBO UnSung regional competition in Birmingham and the Adidas "Are You In" music competition. His music is influenced by a ran ...

, released on 2 October 2015, was the fifth single from the upcoming debut studio album. In November 2015, Sigma embarked on a 10-date headline live tour of the UK. Their debut studio album ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' was released on 4 December 2015. The album debuted at number 28 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. In 2016, Sigma announced their biggest headline tour including a date at the O2 Academy Brixton, London. Sigma were announced as one of the headline acts at the pro-

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

music event Bpoplive, but pulled out on learning that it was a political event. Sigma stated that they in no way supported the beliefs of the organisers and promptly pulled out on learning this information.

2016–present: ''Hope''

On 11 March 2016, Sigma released their first single of their upcoming second studio album entitled "Nightingale". The music video to this song was their first video to be recorded in VR. On 20 May 2016, Sigma released their next single "

Cry Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...

" which saw them collaborate with multiple

Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

winners

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

. The song featured on the group's eighth studio album '' Wonderland''. On 4 November 2016, Sigma released their most commercially successful single since ''Life'', in the form of " Find Me", which featured vocals from British singer Birdy. The song has been certified Silver in the UK. Almost a year later, Sigma released "Forever", the fourth single from their upcoming album, which features

Quavo Quavious Keyate Marshall (born April 2, 1991), known professionally as Quavo (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of hip hop group Migos. Quavo is the uncle of late fellow Migos m ...

and Sebastian Kole and was released on 20 October 2017. Two months later, a remix version of the song was released which featured additional vocals from

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...

and Yxng Bane. On 15 June 2018, Sigma released " Anywhere" as the fifth single from their upcoming second album. On 12 July, Sigma released a reworked version of

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

and

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl ...

's 2002 single "

Dilemma A dilemma ( grc-gre, δίλημμα "double proposition") is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. The possibilities are termed the ''horns'' of the dilemma, a clichéd usage, but disti ...

". Sigma performed a European tour with grime artist

NAHLI Nahli, (professionally known and stylised as NAHLI), is a British singer and songwriter who has worked with DaVinChe. Her moniker is her birth name combined with her dad's stage name (Natalie and Harley). Early life NAHLI grew up in England wi ...

. On 12 June 2020, Sigma released the single " High on You" in collaboration with British singer-songwriter John Newman. Sigma released their long-awaited second studio album, ''Hope'', on 17 June 2022.

In popular culture

In 2012, their remix of

's "Somebody to Love" was featured in ''

Forza Horizon ''Forza Horizon'' is a 2012 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 on 23 October 2012. The game is the fifth instalment of the '' Forza'' series, having originally spun-off from Turn ...

''. In 2017, their song "Night Drive" was featured in the

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...

game, ''

Dirt 4 ''Dirt 4'' (stylised as ''DiRT 4'') is a simcade racing video game developed by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2017, and for macOS and Linux in March 2019 by Feral Interactive. A sequel, ''Dirt 5'', was r ...

''.

Discography

* ''

'' (2015) * ''Hope'' (2022)

Awards and nominations

DJ Awards

References

External links

* * {{Authority control English electronic music duos Musical groups established in 2007 English DJs Remixers Drum and bass duos British drum and bass music groups All Around the World Productions artists