BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRO-BRITISH " RODNEY SMITH " ESTABLISHED HIMSELF AS "ROOTS MANUVA " IN THE LATE 1990s FIRMLY ROOTED IN DUB AND REGGAE AND TRIP-TOP STYLE : GOES INTO THE "HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

                                        BLACK                    SOCIAL                  HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                British rapper/producer Rodney Smith established himself as Roots Manuva in the late '90s and began releasing a series of highly regarded albums through Big Dada. Smith's work was firmly rooted in dub and ragga but also incorporated much of the trip-hop style often associated with Ninja Tune, the U.K. imprint that often distributed Big Dada releases. The MC debuted in 1999 with Brand New Second Hand, a promising album that garnered a sizable amount of attention from the international hip-hop crowd and won Britain's coveted MOBO award. Beginning in late 1999, shortly after the album was released, Smith returned to the studio to begin work on Run Come Save Me, his follow-up. He completed the album and released it on Big Dada in 2001; thanks to his own production on the break-out single "Witness (I Hope)," the album became a British hit and increased his world-wide recognition. It narrowly missed winning the prestigious Mercury Prize and spawned an excellent dub album, Dub Come Save Me, released one year later. His third album, the introverted and somewhat constricted Awfully Deep, appeared in 2005 and peaked within the Top 30 of the U.K. album chart. The following year's Alternately Deep, featuring remixes and original tracks recorded around the same time as those of its predecessor, was a looser affair. It hinted at the prospect of material with lighter subject matter, but Slime & Reason, released in 2008, was yet another set based in inward-looking, occasionally grim, content. Wrongtom, who produced versions of seven of the album's cuts for the sake of a two-disc edition, was eventually allowed to do the same with tracks from the entirety of Roots Manuva's catalog. The result of this experiment, Duppy Writer, was issued in 2010. 4everevolution, released the following year, was the most diverse Roots Manuva full-length and included appearances from Skunk Anansie's Skin and Cass Lewis

Rodney Hylton Smith (better known by his stage name Roots Manuva) (born 9 September 1972) is an English rapper signed to Big Dada.

Smith grew up around Stockwell, London, England. His parents were from a small village in Jamaica called Banana Hole where his father was apreached and tailor. Spending much of his early years in poverty, this and his strict Pentecostal upbringing clearly had an influence on his music as can be seen in many of his tracks such as "Sinny Sin Sins" and "Colossal Insight".]

A quote from Smith himself sums up his early discovery of music:

“

It was as a kid. Before I even knew what a sound system was. I was walking past Stockwell skateboard park and there was this sound being set up. They were probably just trying out their speakers. I was with my mum, holding my mum's hand. And I remember my mum being quite intimidated by the whole affair. Such a barrage of bass coming from it! And these dodgy-looking blokes standing beside it just admiring the sound of their bass. It's just a bass thing. A volume thing. I don't know if I rose-tint the memories, but I remember it sounded so good, so rich. It's not like today when we go to clubs and it hurts. It was more of a life-giving bass.

”

Smith made his recorded debut in 1994 as part of IQ Procedure through Suburban Base's short-lived hip hop imprint Bluntly Speaking Vinyl. He debuted as Roots Manuva the same year on Blak Twang's "Queen's Head" single, before releasing his own single, "Next Type of Motion" the following year through the same label, the hugely influential Sound of Money. 1996 saw the release of his collaborations with Skitz ("Where My Mind Is At"/"Blessed Be The Manner") on 23 Skidoo's Ronin label. The release of "Feva" on Tony Vegas' Wayward imprint followed in 1997. This was also the year that saw the first releases from Big Dada, a collaboration between Coldcut's Ninja Tune label and hip hop journalist Will Ashon.

Releasing for Coldcut's renowned experimental/hip hop label Ninja Tune in 1998, some of his music may be seen as a predecessor of grime. The following year he released his groundbreaking debut album, Brand New Second Hand. A reference to his family's modest lifestyle, the title refers to a phrase his mother used for presents he often got as a youngster that were pre-used. The single 'Witness (1 Hope)' with its brilliant lyrical flow and heavy shuffling squelch bass (allegedly a result of Rodney trying to copy the Dr Who theme) is a UK rap anthem. He had such an impact on the UK rap scene that The Times declared that "his is the voice of urban Britain, encompassing dub, ragga, funk and hip hop as it sweeps from crumbling street corners to ganja-filled dancehalls, setting gritty narratives against all manner of warped beats." Manuva was rewarded for his breakthrough with a MOBO as Best Hip Hop Act that year.

The lyrics of his songs are usually known to take a distinctly British edge, with many critics highlighting his references of eating cheese on toast and drinking bitter as examples of this. His warm and easily recognizable voice can be heard on many songs he performed with other artists such as Chali 2na (and Ozomatli), DJ Shadow, Mr Scruff, U.N.K.L.E., Fun Lovin' Criminals, Nightmares on Wax, The Cinematic Orchestra, Beth Orton, The Herbaliser, Leftfield, Saian Supa Crew and most recently Coldcut. He also made an appearance on the Gorillaz album, Demon Days, on the track "All Alone".

Roots Manuva headlined the Lounge On The Farm Festival 11 July 2009^[2]