Christopher William Mercer (born 26 January 1985), known by stage name Rusko, is a British

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 ...

producer and DJ from

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England.

History

Rusko was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and brought up in nearby

. He grew up in

Wheldrake Wheldrake is a village and civil parish located south-east of York. Administratively it is in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,909, increasing t ...

just outside of the city and attended

Fulford School Fulford School is a coeducational comprehensive school on Fulfordgate near Heslington Lane in Fulford, York, England. History Fulford School was founded in 1963 and has been a comprehensive school since 1970. The site is close to the former ...

. He later graduated from Leeds College of Music with a degree in Music Performance. Immersed in the world of dubstep through Leeds based event "Sub Dub" which was held at the West Indian Centre, Rusko moved to London to work with the record label Sub Soldiers with now no longer associated act

Caspa CASPA or the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants is an application service for graduate-level PA programs. Similar to the Common Application used by some undergraduate institutions and the American Medical College Applicatio ...

. During this period he introduced producer Reso to dubstep and the two lived for a time together, driving his flatmate "a bit mental" with hearing the track "Cockney Thug" through the wall for a week. On 26 October 2012, ''Fact Magazine'' posted an interview with Rusko where he stated he planned to release his music for free instead of signing with

Mad Decent Mad Decent is an American record label founded by Diplo. The label has helped introduce Brazilian baile funk and Angolan kuduro to clubs around the world. Recently, it has popularized moombahton, a genre of electronic dance music created by D ...

again, following his dispute with the record label about the release of his second album. The Kapow EP is his first self-release. In 2013 he joined

Owsla Owsla (stylized in all caps) is an American record label and creative collective. It was founded by Skrillex, Tim Smith, Kathryn Frazier, and Clayton Blaha in 2011. Skrillex announced the label on August 17, 2011. The label's first release was ...

. In 2015, Rusko and his former production/DJ partner

announced a reunion with their first American show together.

Health

On 4 May 2017, Rusko announced on Twitter that he has been diagnosed with gastric lymphoma and would be canceling all events in summer 2017 while undergoing treatment. His treatment was ongoing as of March 2017, with his first cycle of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

completed on 31 May 2017. On 24 October 2017, Rusko appeared in an interview with Your EDM and announced he was given the all clear of treatment. He returned to the stage on 23 February 2018.

Discography

Albums

*'' FabricLive.37'' (with

) (2007) *'' O.M.G.!'' (2010) *''

Songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

'' (2012)

Singles and extended plays

*''SNES Dub'' / ''Hornz Cru'' / ''Tru Powwa'' (Dub Police 2006) *''Acton Dread'' / ''Cockney Flute (Rusko Remix)'' — Rusko /

(Dub Police 2007) *''Babylon: Volume 1'' (Sub Soldiers 2007) *''BetaMax'' / ''Bed Bugz'' — Rusko / The Others (Veri Lo 2007) *''William H Tonkers'' / ''Roma'' (2nd Drop 2007) *''Dubstep Warz'' / ''Get Your Cock Out'' — D1 / Rusko (Dub Files 2008) *''Gone 2 Far'' / ''2 N A Q'' (Sub Soldiers 2008) *''Mr Chips'' / ''Hammertime'' (Sub Soldiers 2008) *''Babylon: Volume 2'' (Sub Soldiers 2009) *''Cockney Thug'' (Sub Soldiers 2009) *''Woo Boost'' (Mad Decent 2010) #194 UK *''Hold On'' (featuring

Amber Coffman Amber Dawn Coffman (born June 15, 1982) is an American musician, singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California, formerly based in Brooklyn, New York. A former member of Sleeping People, Coffman is best known as a former guitarist and vo ...

) (Mad Decent 2010) #96 UK *''Everyday'' / ''Lick The Lizard'' (

2011) #106 UK *''Somebody To Love'' (Mad Decent 2012) *''Thunder'' (featuring

Bonnie McKee Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, ''Trouble'', was released in 2004 under Reprise Records. After underperforming, McKee was dropped by her label and took a musical hiatus before es ...

) (Mad Decent 2012) *''Roll It, Light It'' (with

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

) (V2/Cooperative Music 2012) *''Can't Keep Me Down'' (with Cypress Hill) (featuring

Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Damian Marley is the youngest son of reggae musician Bob Marle ...

) (V2/Cooperative Music 2012) *''

Cypress X Rusko Cypress x Rusko is a collaborative extended play by American hip hop group Cypress Hill and British dubstep producer Rusko. The five track album was released on June 5, 2012 digitally and on August 14, 2012 on vinyl. It debuted at number 50 on ...

'' (with Cypress Hill) (V2/Cooperative Music 2012) *''Kapow EP'' (Self-released 2012) *''Lift Me Up'' (

2013) *''! EP'' (FMLY 2014) *'' Look Out!'' (Self-released 2018) *''Has Made 5 More Songs'' (

Circus Records Circus Records is an independent record label founded by Joshua "Flux Pavilion" Steele, Shaun "Doctor P" Brockhurst, Simon Swan and Earl Falconer in 2009. Kanye West and Jay-Z sampled the Flux Pavilion song "I Can't Stop" in "Who Gon Stop Me" ...

2018) *''Mr. Policeman'' (Self-released 2018) *''Squeeze (Burnin)'' (Deadbeats 2019) *''Megarad EP'' (Deadbeats 2019) *''Bounce'' (with Subtronics) (Cyclops Recordings 2019) *'' Genghis Danger'' (Deadbeats 2019) *''Sauce'' (Wakaan 2020) *''Mac 19'' (Elevate Records 2021)

Remixes

* 2006

Skream Oliver Dene Jones (born 1 June 1986), known as Skream, is an English electronic music producer based in Croydon. Skream was an early and influential exponent of the dubstep genre. After producing several singles, he released his first full-len ...

– "Dutch Flowers (Rusko Remix)" (Not on Label) * 2007

– "Cockney Flute (Rusko Remix)" (Dub Police) * 2007 Mike Lennon – "When Science Fails (Rusko Remix)" (Z Audio) * 2008 Leon Jean Marie – "Bring It On (Rusko's Granny Smasher Remix)" (Island Records) * 2008

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

– "

Cold Shoulder "Cold shoulder" is a phrase used to express dismissal or the act of disregarding someone. Its origin is attributed to Sir Walter Scott in a work published in 1816, which is in fact a mistranslation of an expression from the Vulgate Bible. There ...

(Rusko Remix)" (XL Recordings) * 2008

Kid CuDi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...

– " Day & Night" (Not on Label) * 2008

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

– "

I Kissed A Girl "I Kissed a Girl" is the debut single of American singer Katy Perry from her second studio album, ''One of the Boys'' (2008). It was released on April 28, 2008, by Capitol Records as the lead single from the record. Perry co-wrote the song with ...

" (Not on Label) * 2008 D. Kay – "Fire (Rusko Remix)" (Not on Label) * 2008

Audio Bullys Audio Bullys are an English electronic music project, originally consisting of Simon Franks and Tom Dinsdale. The group were once managed by the DJ and presenter George Lamb. Franks and Dinsdale released their debut album '' Ego War'' in 200 ...

– "Flickery Vision (Rusko's Staying Awake Remix)" (Vizo Records) * 2008

HK119 HK119 is the alter ego of Finnish multimedia artist, singer and recording artist Heidi Kilpeläinen, who lives and works in London, England. Background Having graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2004 with an MA i ...

– "C'est La Vie" (Rusko Masher) (One Little Indian) * 2008 L-Wiz – "Girl From Codeine City" (Dub Thiefs) * 2008 Kotchy – "Sing What You Want (Rusko's Skwee Remix)" (Civil Music / Seclusiasis) * 2009 Marco Del Horno – "Samurai (Rusko 'Safe Sex' Remix)" (Bullet Train Records) * 2009

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...

– "

Take Me to the Hospital "Take Me to the Hospital" is the twenty-first single released by the British electronic band the Prodigy. released on 31 August 2009, the CD single includes the Sub Focus remix and the 12" single also includes a Rusko remix. Liam also collaborate ...

" (Rusko Remix) (Ministry of Sound) * 2009

Skunk Anansie Skunk Anansie are a British rock band whose members include Skin (lead vocals, guitar), Cass (bass, guitar, backing vocals), Ace (guitar, backing vocals) and Mark Richardson (drums and percussion). Skunk Anansie formed in 1994, disbanded in 2 ...

– "I Can Dream (Rusko's Hands In The Air Remix)" (One Little Indian) * 2009

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

– "

Alejandro Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr (Rus ...

(Rusko's Pupuseria Remix)" (Not on Label) * 2009

Basement Jaxx Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe. The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first rose to popularity in the underground house scene ...

– "Feelings Gone (Rusko Remix)" (XL Recordings) * 2009

Little Boots Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), better known by her stage name Little Boots, is an English electropop singer-songwriter and DJ. She was previously a member of the band Dead Disco. Since performing as a solo artist she has released ...

– " Remedy (Rusko's Big Trainers Remix)" (679) * 2009

Mr Hudson Benjamin Hudson McIldowie (born 26 June 1979), better known by his stage name Mr Hudson, is an English musician from Birmingham, England. First rising to prominence in 2006 with Mr Hudson and the Library, Hudson later embarked on a solo career ...

– " White Lies (Rusko's Euphoria Remix)" (Mercury) * 2010

Kid Sister Melissa Young (born July 3, 1980), known professionally as Kid Sister, is an American rapper based in Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her single " Pro Nails", which features Kanye West, and for her work as a member of the British music colle ...

– " Pro Nails (Rusko Remix)" (Asylum Records) * 2010

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

– " 4th of July (Rusko Remix)" (Interscope Records) * 2010 Rusko – "Bionic Commando (Rusko Remix)" (Bionic Records) * 2010

Sub Focus Nicolaas Douwma (born 13 April 1982), better known by his stage name Sub Focus, is an English DJ, record producer, songwriter, musician and sound engineer from Guildford, Surrey. He has been releasing records since 2003. On 12 October 2009, ...

featuring Coco – "

Splash Splash or Splash! or The Splash may refer to: Common meanings * Splash (fluid mechanics), sudden disturbances on the surface of water Entertainment * ''Splash'' (film), a 1984 fantasy film starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah ** ''Splash, Too'' ...

(Rusko Remix)" (RAM Records) * 2010

The Temper Trap The Temper Trap are an Australian indie rock band formed in 2005 by Dougy Mandagi, Jonathon Aherne, and Toby Dundas. In 2008, the group relocated from Melbourne to London. The band released their debut album '' Conditions'' in June 2009 to favou ...

– "Soldier On (Rusko Remix)" (Infectious Records) * 2011

Sunday Girl "Sunday Girl" is a song recorded by the American new wave band Blondie, from the band's 1978 album ''Parallel Lines''. Written by guitarist Chris Stein, the song was inspired by Debbie Harry's cat, who was named Sunday Man—the cat had recentl ...

vs. Rusko – "Stop Hey" (Polydor) * 2011 Netsky - "Everyday (Rusko Remix)" (UKF Music) * 2013 Left Boy – "Get It Right" (Made Jour Label) * 2016

Pegboard Nerds Pegboard Nerds is a Scandinavian electronic music group, consisting of Norwegian DJ Alexander Odden and Danish DJ Michael Parsberg. The name Pegboard Nerds is an anagram of the duo's surnames, Odden and Parsberg. The duo first met in 2005 and for ...

featuring Johnny Graves - " Just Like That (Rusko Remix)" (Monstercat) * 2016

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...

- "Parity Error" (Rusko Remix) (Sumthing Else Music Works) * 2019 PLS&TY - "Rebel Love (Rusko Remix)" (Self-released) * 2019 Boogie T - "Supa Fly (Rusko Remix)" (Drama Club Recordings) * 2020

Lele Pons Eleonora Pons Maronese (born June 25, 1996), better known as Lele Pons, is a Venezuelan YouTuber, actress, and singer who holds both Venezuelan and American citizenship. Pons came to prominence on Vine before the platform shut down in 2017 w ...

featuring Susan Diaz and Victor Cardenas - "Volar" (Rusko Remix)

References

External links

*
Rusko's SoundCloud
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rusko 1985 births Living people English DJs English record producers English expatriates in the United States Remixers Dubstep musicians Musicians from York Alumni of Leeds College of Music Owsla artists Electronic dance music DJs