Will Ashon (born 1969) is an English writer and novelist, former music journalist and founder of the

Big Dada Big Dada is a British independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. 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 play ...

imprint of

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 ...

records. Ashon was educated at

Countesthorpe Community College Countesthorpe Academy (formerly Countesthorpe Leysland Community College) is a coeducational secondary school situated on the western edge of Countesthorpe in Leicestershire, England near the A426. History Countesthorpe Leysland Community Coll ...

and

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. In the mid-1990s he worked as a music journalist specialising in hip hop for publications including ''

Trace Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album) Other uses in arts and entertainment * ''Trace'' ...

'', '' Muzik'' and ''

Hip Hop Connection ''Hip Hop Connection'' (''HHC'') was the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. It was described by rapper Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world". History Under the editorship of Chris Hunt, the magazine p ...

''. In 1997 he started the record label Big Dada Recordings in conjunction with

, signing and releasing albums by artists including

Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...

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 ...

Speech Debelle Corynne Elliot (born 17 March 1983 in London, England), better known as Speech Debelle, is a British rapper signed to the Big Dada record label. She was the winner of the 2009 Mercury Prize for her debut album ''Speech Therapy''. She released h ...

and

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations * Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People * Wiley (musician), British grime MC, rapper, and producer * Wiley Mil ...

. His works of fiction include three novels titled ''Clear Water'' (2006), ''The Heritage'' (2008) and ''The Passengers'' (2022) (all published by

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

). ''Strange Labyrinth,'' a non-fictional exploration of Epping Forest, was pulished in 2017, and a collection of dialogues titled ''Not Far from the Junction'', published by London independent publisher Open Pen. He left Big Dada in February 2014. In 2019 he returned to the subject of hip hop and released a "genre defying" book about the Wu-Tang Clan's debut album entitled ''Chamber Music: Enter the Wu-Tang (in 36 Pieces)''.

References

External links

Faber author page

Granta author page

Twitter
1969 births Living people Writers from Leicester 21st-century English novelists English music journalists Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford English male novelists 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers {{england-novelist-stub