DJ & Producer · Bristol, England
Roni Size
Roni Size, the Bristol drum and bass producer behind Full Cycle and the Mercury-winning New Forms (1997), tours its 30th anniversary in June 2027.
quick facts
- Real name
- Ryan Owen Granville Williams
- Born
- 29 October 1969
- Birthplace
- Bristol, England
- Nationality
- British
- Active since
- 1993
- Labels
- Full Cycle Records, V Recordings, Talkin' Loud
- Genres
- Drum & Bass, Jungle
Sources: en.wikipedia.org, de.wikipedia.org, musicbrainz.org, vrecordings.com, thefader.com, t3.com
Drum and bass has had bigger festival headliners and louder crossover hits, but few records carry the weight of Roni Size and Reprazent's New Forms. The Bristol producer took a sound built in jungle record shops and club basements, added a live band with a double bassist and a drummer, and won the Mercury Prize with it in 1997. Three decades later he is still working at both ends of the culture: on 15 October 2026 he played a set 1,375 feet underground in a Welsh slate mine, and in June 2027 he takes New Forms around the UK.
Bristol Beginnings
Roni Size was born Ryan Owen Granville Williams on 29 October 1969 in Bristol, according to English and German Wikipedia and the MusicBrainz database. He is the son of Jamaican immigrants and grew up in the Bristol suburb of St Andrews, per Wikipedia. Reggae was an early influence. He was expelled from school at 16 and started going to house parties run by the Wild Bunch sound system, the Bristol collective that fed into Massive Attack.
He learned the basics of production at a local youth club, the Sefton Park basement project, which supplied record players, a mixing desk, drum machines and samplers. He later built a home studio around a sampler and drew on his brother's collection of Studio One records.
Full Cycle and V Recordings
Roni Size, Krust (formerly of the Fresh 4), Suv and DJ Die founded Full Cycle Records, and Wikipedia dates the Full Cycle and Dope Dragon labels to 1993. Around the same time he ran the WTP label as part of the Circus Warp club night. In 1994 Bryan Gee founded V Recordings, and its second release, catalogue number V002, was "Agility", the debut by Roni Size and DJ Die.
His early singles include "Witchcraft" (1994) with Krust, "Fashion" (1995) and "Square Off" (1996), per the discography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia credits Bryan Gee, then an RCA Records employee, as an early admirer of the Full Cycle crew.
New Forms and the Mercury Prize
In April 1997 Roni Size & Reprazent made their live debut at Tribal Gathering. The group was built around Roni Size, Krust and DJ Die running banks of equipment, with Dynamite MC and Onallee on vocals, Si John on bass and Clive Deamer on drums, so that studio tracks could be performed live. New Forms followed on 23 June 1997, with singles including "Brown Paper Bag", "Heroes", "Share the Fall" and "Watching Windows".
The record won the 1997 Mercury Prize, beating a shortlist that included Radiohead's OK Computer, The Prodigy's The Fat of the Land and The Chemical Brothers' Dig Your Own Hole, as The Fader recalls. It went platinum, and German Wikipedia says the 2002 Guinness book listed it as the best-selling drum and bass album. The hybrid of jungle beats, live drums and double bass, with hip hop, funk, soul and house in the mix, is how Wikipedia describes the group's sound.
After 1997
Roni Size kept moving after the prize. With DJ Die and Leonie Laws he formed Breakbeat Era, whose Ultra-Obscene appeared in 1999. Reprazent's second album, In the Mode, arrived in October 2000 with guest vocals from Zack de la Rocha and Method Man. In 2001 he started working with the MC Tali, and the 2002 album Touching Down, sixteen tracks segued into an hour-long mix, was his first truly solo album. Return to V followed in the mid-2000s with vocalists including Beverley Knight, Jocelyn Brown and Vikter Duplaix, then Take Kontrol in 2014 and Past & Present, a collaborative album with Krust, in 2016.
His remix work reached outside the genre. German Wikipedia lists versions of U2's "MOFO" (1997), Röyksopp's "Sparks" (2003) and a 2013 treatment of a Bob Marley song among its selected remixes.
Reprazent Reformed and the Live Career
He brought Reprazent back in 2008 with a deluxe edition of New Forms on Universal, and the reformed band, including Dynamite MC, Onallee and Si John, toured major festivals in Europe, among them Bestival, Glastonbury and EXIT. In 2009 they played Ultra in Miami, returning to North America after seven years, and closed Coachella that year. In September 2009 they performed with an orchestra and choir at the reopening of Bristol's Colston Hall, with the composer William Goodchild.
The photo at the top of this page shows him DJing at Astropolis in Brest in August 2009. In the same autumn that his name returned to the headlines, RTS.FM's report on the Noisia reunion covered the Dutch trio's return after seven years.
2026: A Mine, a Tour and New Forms at 30
On 15 October 2026 Roni Size performed a one-off set in the Cwmorthin slate mine in Eryri (Snowdonia), North Wales, an event organised by G-SHOCK to launch a new MUDMAN watch. T3's first-person account, published on 19 October 2026, says a small group of ballot winners descended 1,375 feet (419 metres) over about two hours through flooded passages, with abseils and zip lines, to a chamber called Deep Sleep, where he played with support from G-SHOCK Radio's DJ Nav. Engineers sent parts of the music into the slate with vibration transducers. The event was billed as the world's deepest underground rave, a claim not independently verified in the coverage we read, and the depth is an organiser figure; RTS.FM's full report on the mine rave sets out what is confirmed and how it compares with deeper concerts.
On 2 October 2026, The Fader reported that Roni Size Reprazent will mark 30 years of New Forms with a nine-date UK tour in June 2027, performing the album with a full live band. The dates run from Bournemouth on 3 June to Bristol on 25 June, with Fabio and Grooverider supporting on every date except London, according to the same report. The band is listed as Roni Size on keys, Dynamite MC and Onallee on vocals, Si John on bass, a live drummer and two further keyboard players. The V Recordings artist page also mentions a forthcoming Reprazent album, For the Masses, with no release date given.
FAQ
How old is Roni Size?
Roni Size was born on 29 October 1969, according to English and German Wikipedia and MusicBrainz, which makes him 57 as of November 2026.
Where is Roni Size from?
He was born in Bristol, England, and grew up in the city's St Andrews area, according to Wikipedia. Bristol is also where Full Cycle Records and the Reprazent band were formed.
What nationality is Roni Size?
British. Wikipedia describes him as an English DJ and record producer, and he is the son of Jamaican immigrants.
Who is Roni Size?
Roni Size is a Bristol-born drum and bass DJ and producer, born Ryan Owen Granville Williams on 29 October 1969, who founded Full Cycle Records and fronted the band Reprazent. Their debut album New Forms won the 1997 Mercury Prize.
What is Roni Size's real name?
Ryan Owen Granville Williams, according to English and German Wikipedia.
What is Roni Size's best-known album?
New Forms (1997) by Roni Size & Reprazent, released on 23 June 1997 and winner of that year's Mercury Prize. It includes "Brown Paper Bag", "Heroes" and "Watching Windows".
What labels is Roni Size connected to?
He is a founder of Full Cycle Records with Krust, Suv and DJ Die, and released early records on V Recordings, which Bryan Gee started in 1994. V Recordings says his crew later signed to Talkin' Loud while keeping their own labels.
What is Roni Size doing in 2026 and 2027?
On 15 October 2026 he played a one-off set in the Cwmorthin slate mine in North Wales. Roni Size Reprazent have announced a nine-date UK tour from 3 to 25 June 2027 marking 30 years of New Forms.
What does Roni Size's music sound like?
Drum and bass built on jungle breakbeats and heavy bass, with live drums and double bass added by Reprazent. Wikipedia says the group's sound blends hip hop, funk, soul and house into drum and bass.