Thomas Mackenzie Bell (born 22 February 1985), better known by the stage name of Toddla T, is an English DJ,

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

er and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. ...

Biography

Bell was raised in Sheffield where he attended King Edward VII School. He started DJing at the age of 14 in the clubs and bars of Sheffield and by the age of 16 had left school to pursue a full-time career in the music industry. His stage name was given to him by the older Sheffield DJs who influenced him and was used to indicate his relative youth. He has two children with his wife, fellow BBC Radio 1 DJ

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) ...

: a son, born in May 2013; and a second child, born 6 January 2017. Bell is a fan of Sheffield United F.C.

Career

Bell's first album, for 1965 Records, encompasses hip-hop, electro, garage, dancehall and house and was released in May 2009. The major collaborators were Serocee and Mr Versatile. The album also features further collaborations with

Matt Helders Matthew Helders (born 7 May 1986) is an English drummer, vocalist and songwriter. He is best known as a founding member of the indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has recorded seven studio albums. In 2015, Helders collaborated with ...

from the

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...

Benjamin Zephaniah Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (born 15 April 1958)Gregory, Andy (2002), ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, p. 562. . is a British writer and dub poet. He was included in ''The Times'' list of Britain's top 50 post-wa ...

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 ...

Tinchy Stryder Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), known by the stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a Ghanaian-British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo studio albums, '' Star in the Hood'' (2 ...

, Joe Goddard and

Hervé Hervé is a French masculine given name of Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinization was '' Charivius''. Anglici ...

. He has created a mix album for the London nightclub

Fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not ...

. Bell DJs in clubs and festivals throughout the UK, Europe, North America and Australia. He has a quarterly residency at XOYO and a soundsystem at

Notting Hill Carnival The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean festival event that has taken place in London since 1966

. He has a weekly show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

and

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...

which has featured guests such as

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 foundin ...

, JME,

Novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

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 ...

. He is involved in recording and producing various artists including

Ms. Dynamite Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards. Early years She was born Niomi Arleen Mc ...

Róisín Murphy Róisín Marie Murphy ( , ; born 5 July 1973) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and record producer. She first became known in the 1990s as one half of the pop duo Moloko alongside English musician Mark Brydon. After the breakup of Moloko, she ...

. He has remixed

Little Dragon Little Dragon are a Swedish electronic music band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1996. The band consists of Yukimi Nagano (vocals, percussion), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards). Little Dragon' ...

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving af ...

and

Hot Chip Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...

. In 2010 he signed to the record label

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 visi ...

and released ''

Watch Me Dance ''Watch Me Dance'' is the second album by British musician Toddla T. It features collaborations from artists including Shola Ama Shola Ama (born 8 March 1979) is a British singer from London, who scored her biggest hits with " You Might Ne ...

'' in 2011. In 2012, Bell started his record label Girls Music with Raf Rundell from The 2 Bears. Toddla is also a producer in his own right, having produced singles such as Young T & Bugsey's "

Strike A Pose ''Strike a Pose'' is a Belgian-Dutch documentary film, which premiered in the Panorama section of the 2016 Berlinale. Directed by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, the film profiles the dancers who performed with Madonna on her Blond Ambition Worl ...

" and

Headie One Irving Ampofo Adjei (born 6 October 1994), known professionally as Headie One (formerly Headz), is a British rapper and singer. In 2018 he released his second solo mixtape, titled ‘''The One’'', which included the single "Know Better" featur ...

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is from Ladbroke Grove, West London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' i ...

and

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' series of f ...

's " Ain't It Different". In August 2020, Toddla announced that he would be leaving the BBC after 11 years at the end of September.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

* ''

FabricLive.47 ''FabricLive.47'' is a 2009 album by Toddla T (Tom Bell). The album was released as part of the FabricLive Mix Series. Bell described the album as sounding as "Sheffield sonic stylee – as if a sweaty Sheffield basement was deported to Farring ...

'' (2009)

EPs

* ''Do U Know'', 1965 Records (2007) * ''On Acid'', Defected (2014) * ''Kensal Road EP'', Girls Music (2015)

Singles

* "Fill Up Mi Portion", Do U Know (2007) * "Backchatter (Mica's Version)", Do U Know (2007) * "Inna Di Dancehall", Do U Know (2007) * "Girls", Do U Know (2007) * "Do U Know", Do U Know (2007) * "Inna Di Dancehall", Do U Know (2007) * "Manabadman" feat.

Serocee Jerome "Serocee" Thompson is an English hip hop/ reggae artist and businessman. Serocee was born in Small Heath, Birmingham, England. Both Serocee's mother and father were sound system DJs and selectors during the British reggae movement of the ...

& Trigganom (2008) * "65 Dubplate" feat. Serocee & Trigganom (2008) * "Soundtape Killin", (2008) * "Shake It" with

feat. Serocee (2009) * "Sky Surfing (Dope Man)" (2010) * "Streets So Warm" feat. Wayne Marshall (2011) * "

Take It Back "Take It Back" is a song by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released as the seventh track on their 1994 album ''The Division Bell''. It was also released as a single on 16 May 1994, the first from the album, and Pink Floyd's first for seven ...

" feat.

Shola Ama Shola Ama (born 8 March 1979) is a British singer from London, who scored her biggest hits with " You Might Need Somebody" (1997), a cover of Randy Crawford's 1981 hit, " You're the One I Love" and "Still Believe" (1999) which was one of the ...

& J2K, Ninja Tune (2011) * "Watch Me Dance" with

(2011) * "Cherry Picking" feat.

(2011) * "My God" - Trojan Sound System vs Toddla T (2011) * "Alive" with Shola Ama (2012) * "I Don't Wanna Hear That" with Danny Weed & Jammer (2015) * "Walkin" - Toddla T meets The Suns of Dub (2015) * "Big Tune a Drop" - Toddla T vs The 2 Bears (2015)

Songwriting and production credits

* Buff Nuff, Do Nah Bodda Mi & Im A New Man on the album,

Slime & Reason ''Slime & Reason'' is the sixth studio album of original material by Roots Manuva. It was released on 1 September 2008 on the Big Dada label. Hip Hop Connection magazine named it Album Of The Year 2008. A limited-edition version of the album in ...

, by

(2008) * Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? on the album, Catch Me If You Can, by

Bashy Ashley Thomas (born 4 February 1985), also known by his stage name Bashy, is an English actor and rapper. Early life Thomas was born in Hammersmith, West London, the first born of a Jamaican mother and Dominican father. He attended St. ...

(2009) * Life on the album, Catch Me If You Can, by

(2009) * I Don't Wanna Hear That, by Jammer, Toddla T and Danny Weed (2014)

Remixes

* "One Pure Thought" (Toddla T remix) -

* "Have I Been a Fool" (Toddla T remix) - Jack Peñate * "You Know Me Better" (Toddla T remix) -

* "Let Me Back" (Toddla T remix) - Zarif * "Let the Spirit" (Ross Orton and Toddla T remix) -

* "My Delerium" (Ross Orton and Toddla T remix) - Ladyhawke * "Alemao" (Toddla T remix) - MC Gringo * "My Spy" (Toddla T remix) -

Ayah Marar Ayah Marar ( ar, آية مرار; born 20 September 1980) is a Jordanian singer, songwriter, music producer, DJ, performer, writer, poet, model, entrepreneur, radio show host and label owner based in London. She has been featured as a vocalist ...

* "Council Estate" (Toddla T remix) - Tricky * "Big Bad Wolf" (Toddla T remix) - Armand Van Helden * "Hold You" (Toddla T remix) -

Gyptian Windel Beneto Edwards (born 25 October 1983), better known by his stage name Gyptian (), is a Jamaican reggae singer. He often appears with roots reggae songs within the reggae subgenre dancehall. Early life Born to a Seventh-day Adventist ...

* "101 FM" (Toddla T remix) -

Little Simz Simbiatu "Simbi" Abisola Abiola Ajikawo (born 23 February 1994), better known by her stage name Little Simz, is a British rapper, singer and actress. She rose to prominence with the independent release of her first three albums; ''A Curious Tale ...

, Spragga Benz

References

External links

* – official site *
Toddla T
''Essential Mix'' at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toddla T Grime music artists Ninja Tune artists English DJs English record producers Musicians from Sheffield 1985 births Living people People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield English radio DJs BBC Radio 1 presenters BBC Radio 1Xtra presenters UK garage musicians Electronic dance music DJs Place of birth missing (living people)