Music > Interviews

Feature // Rodney P

05/12/11

This summer, Channel 4 visited an entire culture of sights, sounds and personalities with its combined programming, Street Summer. With hip hop being the predominant soundtrack to the whole concept, there was one particular go-to name for the documentaries – Rodney P, because that man is fed into the very foundation of British street sound.

Across the pond in 1987, US hip hop was defying the radio waves that were reticent in taking them on, using MTV and popular youth majority to set the blueprint for the hip hop that we ingest so easily now. We attribute Public Enemy with setting the social framework, N.W.A with injecting some intelligent fire, Run DMC with adding the irreverent style they’re famous for. It’s true that 1988 was a vintage year for hip hop, but the rare grape that was producing the lesser known sweet nectar was London Posse, with Rodney P amongst its numbers.

At the same time that hip hop was still malleable and relied on the message as much as its delivery, London Posse were introducing the world to British hip hop, with just as much street credibility, and real, London accents. It was at the invitation of Mick Jones, formerly of The Clash that the Posse was formed, with Sipho the Human Beatboxer – who had previously worked with Mick – bringing together the different members. It made sense; Jones was touring with his new band Big Audio Dynamite, but the man understood hip hop. To understand punk is to understand hip hop; it just walks and talks differently.

London Posse were responsible for tape decks up and down the country having the record button pressed from 1988’s ‘Money Mad’, still a firm favourite on any hip hop DJ’s turntables 23 years on, to later hits like 1993’s ‘How’s Life in London’, arguably one of the greatest ever hip hop records (of any country). Their full length recordings included the seminal hip hop album, ‘Gansta Chronicle’, which has in time been named the Most Important UK Hip Hop Album of All Time. Worthy.

Their adventures in that time took them to meet another character of the British rap scene, Tim Westwood, who owned a record label, Justice, which housed the London Posse for a couple of years. To see how Rodney P and Westwood were linked together almost maps out the integral family tree of British hip hop. Without these two characters biding their time before dominating the airwaves, the landscape would surely be very different.

Rodney P, or Da Riddim Killa as he is also known, as an individual is a true London Battersea boy; a second generation West Indian gent, it was his parents’ musical heritage that would have formed the reggae-inspired sounds that starting emanating from Rodney as a solo artist. Sporadically between the time that London Posse disbanded and now, Rodney P has released a smattering of singles and EPs, but what’s been lacking in quantity – as goes the old adage – has been more than made up for in quality. Tracks like ‘The Nice Up’ join his previous group’s output as soundtracks to the British hip hop scene. His one album in that time, ‘The Future’, was released on his own imprint, Riddim Killa, which was his own subsidiary of Low Life Records.

Although profoundly aware of his musical heritage, with a recognisable sound, one of the most inspiring things about the man as an artist is his openness to the ideas of working with different people. For Rodney, he’s aware of the magic of all music, and with the special chemistry that can be found when you blur the boundaries. One of his biggest singles to date comes from working with Dub Pistols and Terry Hall on their version of The Stranglers’ ‘Peaches’, but the collaborations don’t stop there. From soul sister Terri Walker, to the untamable mind of Bjork, and the other truly british sound that comes from Roni Size – the real fun happens when you cross musical borders…

We mentioned before Rodney P’s dominance of the airwaves; if you’re aware of BBC Radio 1Xtra now, but not of Rodney’s involvement, let us tell you that he’s woven into the very tapestry of the station’s make-up. Along with DJ Skitz, who Rodney had already recorded with on Skitz’ albums, the duo were responsible for producing the station’s first ever aired track, especially recorded for the show. It was a pairing that was synonymous with the station, and with the burgeoning British urban scene, with all of its derivatives, and the duo continued to host their show, ‘Original Fever’ from the station’s inception in 2002, for five years, ‘til 2007. Since that time, Da Riddim Killa has remained as musically prolific as ever, touring worldwide with the Dub Pistols and not straying far from his influential environment of the radio studio. The pull of radio was too strong, and he now enjoys a Friday night slot with celebrated DJ / producer, Joe Buhdha on Bang Radio online.

Far from reaching his golden years, his service to the British hip hop scene is not over, and he’s proving that he’s not just here to report, but he will continue to create. Although proud of his own imprint, Rodney P has a new record label home in the form of quality independent, Tru Thoughts. The exciting thing for us is that this is a multi-album deal; we will no longer be rationed for the thoughts and creations of our Godfather of UK hip hop.

The first output from his new signing has been the single, ‘Live Up’, featuring the People’s Army and Mighty Moe. Even being so long in the game, it hasn’t burnt him out in respects to music. There is an active passion in new talent, that is evident with The People’s Army, but that Rodney is reminding should have a message. Recently on Nihal’s Radio 1 Review Show, Zane Lowe said that commercial british black music hasn’t been saying anything for a while. Rodney P’s music is the antidote to that, ‘Live Up’ being case in point. Twenty-four years and more ago, hip hop took off where punk left off, as social commentary, social instruction, a loud hailer for awareness. Now we are too often faced with the senseless celebration of material goods and transient concerns. The climate is changing though, and Rodney P will lead the revival.

Rodney P performs with his old pal, big daddy DJ Skitz at the Soundflow Festival Warmup #1 at the Norfolk Showground on December 3rd. For tickets, go to www.soundflowfestival.com. Watch out for the full festival action coming in Summer 2012.