RODNEY P BIOGRAPHY
Since his days in the seminal UK Hip-Hop group London Posse, Rodney P is widely regarded as the Godfather of British Hip Hop. Inspiring a whole generation of British emcees and producers by being one the first to rap in his authentic London accent and produce a home-grown Hip Hop reggae sound that is distinctly rooted in the UK.
MUSIC
Rodney P’s formidable career in music began in 1987 as a founding member of the atypical and hugely influential London Posse. Then known as Roddy Rock, he and fellow London Posse members Bionic and Sipho were invited on tour by and Mick Jones of the legendary Clash and Don Letts to support their new project Big Audio Dynamite. Success for London Posse quickly followed, securing their first recording contract with Big Life records and releasing their debut single, the self titled London Posse in 1987. Pioneering Hip-Hop classics Money Mad and How’s Life in London swiftly followed before releasing their debut album Gangsta Chronicle in 1990, an album that was recently named the Most Important UK Hip-Hop Album of All Time in renowned music magazine Hip-Hop Connection.
Following the international success of London Posse, Rodney P has enjoyed one of the most esteemed and perpetual careers in UK Hip-Hop to date. His name has become synonymous with UK Hip-Hop and he is widely recognised as Britain’s most eligible candidate for Hip-Hop ambassador. One look at his discography illustrates a who’s who of the UK music scene with collaborations with fellow UK Hip-Hop giants Roots Manuva, Skinny Man, Black Twang and The Nextmen amongst others. Featuring on various R&B and Soul productions with artists such as Omar and the Brand New Heavies and contributing to Dance and Electro tracks with The Dub Pistols, MJ Cole, Roni Size, The Stanton Warriors and Timo Maas. He has also worked with artists Bjork and Nitin Sawhey, demonstrating Rodney P’s role as a genre defying emcee as well as reflecting his own diverse taste in music.
LABEL/PRODUCTION
In 2000 Rodney P and leading UK Hip-Hop label Lowlife joined forces to form the label imprint Riddim Killa Records. As label owner and Chief Executive of Riddim Killa Records Rodney P released a series of popular singles including Big Tings and the anthem Riddim Killa. In 2003 he released his long awaited and eagerly anticipated solo album The Future to critical acclaim which included the Hip-Hop reggae club banger The Nice Up. Rodney P continued to build on the Riddim Killa brand with the release of underground UK Hip-Hop artist’s Klashnekoff' long awaited debut album Lionheart-Tussle With The Beast in 2007.
Rodney P and long time musical collaborator Corin (The Sea) Pennington formed the production company The Landscapers in 2006 which has seen distinguished success across a variety of projects. Productions included the remix of poet Benjamin Zephaniah's 'Naked' album which was later reissued, to great acclaim, by record label One Little Indian under the title Benjamin Zephaniah V Rodney P: Naked & Mixed Up. More recently The Landscapers were invited by Tate Modern to compose a song for the 2007 Tate Tracks exhibition which ran as a ground-breaking twelve month project, where leading musicians such as Klaxons, Chemical Brothers and The Long Blondes contributed original recordings in response to Tate works.
RADIO
Shortly after setting up Riddim Killa Records, Rodney P and long-time cohort DJ Skitz (aka Daddy Skitz) were invited by the BBC to host a Hip-Hop show called The Original Fever on the BBC’s newly formed digital station 1Xtra. It wasn’t long before The Original Fever show became nationally renowned for supporting UK Hip-Hop and being an essential platform for up and coming artists. Rodney P and DJ Skitz’s On-Air chemistry and honed musical knowledge created an authentically groundbreaking show that also gained massive cross culture appeal. During his 5 years hosting The Original Fever show Rodney P was also seconded on numerous radio documentaries, reporting for programmes such as South Africa Beats and Apartheid 10 Years On in Johannesburg for Unique Production’s. Then in 2004 Rodney was nominated for a Sony Radio Award for his reporting on the DVD magazine F.E.D.S The Worlds Most Dangerous Magazine.
As Rodney submerged himself deeper into the world radio more opportunities arose to report on socially led BBC documentaries such as travelling to Africa in 2005 to make The Beautiful Struggle about a musician’s ability to effect social change in Sierra Leone. And later that year Rodney P returned to Johannesburg, this time with DJing comrade Daddy Skitz, to host a live radio broadcast as part of the Africa Lives season for the BBC.
Whilst conducting a series of insightful interviews for the BBC 1Xtra Hip-Hop weekend in 2006 Rodney P successfully prised open the inner workings of US Hip-Hop and R&B greats Busta Rhymes, Jermaine JD Dupri and Sean P Diddy Combs for the radio show The Life & Times Of… A thrilling series of hour long ‘one on one’ conversation with music’s most successful artists, producers and entrepreneurs.
LIVE
Constantly in demand as a live performer Rodney P has performed to audiences across the Globe. Fans in Europe, China, Japan, Australia, America, and numerous countries across Africa have enjoyed the distinctive live style and party inducing performances of one of the UK’s finest.
As a host Rodney P has taken the helm of a wide range of events including the 2004 UN sponsored UNHabitat Charity Concert alongside artists Jazzy Jeff and Mos Def. While hosting The N Word film premiere in 2007 Rodney P directed answers and questions about the Rich Mix Art Centre in Bethnal Green, one of London’s most exciting new art spaces. Also in 2007 Rodney P was asked to host the Nike Supersonic Final event that was broadcast by Channel 4. Co-hosting the entire event alongside Kymberlee Jay and sharing the stage with artists such as Dizzie Rascal and The Enemy.
Rodney P was the only BBC DJ offered an opportunity to curate his own artist showcase event called Word, Sound & Power for the BBC Electric Proms at the Round House in Camden In 2006. The bringing together of an eclectic mix of musical styles and performances such as Benjamin Zephaniah, Catch 22 and Eva Abraham saw a hugely successful night that was highly praised and commended.
TV/FILM
Rodney P is a highly regarded spokesperson for the UK music scene and is often asked to contribute to televised discussions, sharing his knowledge and opinion on many topics; this has lead to numerous appearances on shows like Trevor Nelsons The Low Down, Don Letts’s 2007 3 part soul music anthology Soul Britannia’ and The Mercury Prize Award Ceremony. Rodney contributed to an ITV documentary called The Highbury Years and featured in the 2006 award winning motion picture Rollin’ With The Nines.
In his most recent TV appearance Rodney P has received a great deal of exposure on Channel 4’s Dub Plate Drama, featuring along side UK artists Shyste, Ms Dynamite, N Dubs and Westwood in the world's first viewer-led interactive television drama. This inner city Soap Opera saw Rodney P summarising the events of each series and enticing public opinion and decision.
NEXT
Future projects for Rodney P include the musical Gangsta Rap for which he and poet/author Benjamin Zephaniah have been commissioned by the Theatre Royal, Stratford East to adapt from Benjamin’s original novel. Set around the London Music scene Gangsta Rap is scheduled for the summer of 2008 which promises to be a new and exciting piece of theatre.
Rodney is also busy in the studio recording with the Dub Pistols for the follow up to there successful 2007 album Speakers and Tweeters on Rob Da Banks Sunday Best Label as well as recording his second solo album for his own Riddim Killa Records label.
