THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

513-Roni Size & Reprazent-Brown Paper Bag.

1997-Number 20 single.

Best Bit-At 1.12. One Size fits all.

Roni Size is the stage name of Ryan Owen Granville Williams, who was born on October 29th, 1969, in Bristol, England, he is the son of Jamaican immigrants, and cites ‘Reggae Music’ as one of his early influences. At the age of 16 he he met members of ‘The Wild Bunch,’ in Bristol, who were a group of musicians, some of whom would later go on to form the ‘Trip Hop’ group ‘Massive Attack’ (see also best songs 733.) Roni Size learned the basics about music production at his local youth club, which provided record players, a mixing desk, drum machines and samplers. He listened to the ‘Ska,’ ‘Rocksteady,’ ‘Reggae,’ ‘Dub,’ and ‘Dancehall’ music that had originated in Jamaica, and later set up his own home studio, and bought his own sampler. In the mid 1990’s Roni Size co-founded the group ‘Roni Size & Reprazent’ with other fellow like minded musicians to record music in the ‘Drum and Bass’ genre. These other artists included Tracey Bowen, ‘Onallee,’ (vocals) Domonic Smith, ‘Dynamite MC,’ (vocals, and writing) Daniel Kausman, ‘DJ Die,’ (writing and production) Kirk Thompson, ‘Krust,’ (writing and production) Clive Deamer, (drums) and Si John (bass.) The end product became the groups debut studio Album ‘New Forms,’ which has been universally critically acclaimed, and became the winner of the 1997 ‘Mercury Music Prize,’ Album of the year, and is considered one of the leading Albums in the development of ‘Drum and Bass’ music. In 2008 ‘New Forms’ was re-released with four new tracks, but omitted some of the songs from the original Album. In total there have been 10 different members of ‘Roni Size & Reprazent’ come and go, and at the time of writing they remain active, with Roni Size, Onallee, and Dynamite MC, being the only three current members.

The discography of Roni Size & Reprazent includes two studio Albums, New Forms,’ (1997) and ‘In the Mode,’ (1999) and eight singles that have been released between 1997-2008, there is also one extended play, (EP) one official compilation Album, and one live Album available. In the UK, ‘New Forms’ has gone on to sell in excess of 300,000 copies, although it has never gone past a peak of Number 8 on the UK Album chart, while in America on Billboard, the Album has never charted, as have none of their singles. In the UK, six of their singles have made the top 40, with ‘Who Told You,’ from 2000, peaking the highest at Number 17.

‘Brown Paper Bag’ was the third of four singles released from ‘New Forms,’ the debut studio Album by Roni Size & Reprazent, from June 1997, the song was written by Roni Size, with the production credited to Roni Size, DJ Die, Krust, and DJ Suv. The lyrics to ‘Brown Paper Bag’ are a tribute to ‘Drum and Bass,’ the genre of music that the artists perform. A contemporary review of the song was praised in the British daily newspaper ‘The Guardian,’ who wrote, ‘Brown Paper Bag is a masterpiece, an essay in hyper-kinetic pace, it piles up teetering stacks of instrumental layers, their cumulative weight triggering each step in a constant cycle of demolition and reconstruction of its latticework of melody, rhythm and mood.’

‘Drum and Bass’ is a genre of ‘Electronic Dance Music’ that is characterised by fast ‘breakbeats ‘ which are typically 165–185 beats per minute, with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK’s ‘Jungle Music’ scene in the early 1990’s (see also best songs 1053.) A major influence on ”Drum and Bass’ was the original ‘Jamaican Dub’ and ‘Reggae’ sound that influenced ‘Jungle’s’ bass-heavy sound. The Album ‘New Forms’ is an early example of the music that brought ‘Drum and Bass’ in to the mainstream, other influential releases include the Album ‘Timeless,’ by the English music producer ‘Goldie,’ from 1995, and the Album ‘Hold Your Colour,’ by the Australian group ‘Pendulum,’ from 2005. In 2012, ‘Drum and Bass’ achieved its first UK Number 1 single, when ‘Hot Right Now,’ by the English music producer ‘DJ Fresh,’ topped the chart, with vocals by the British singer Rita Ora.

‘Step to the rhythm made out of brown paper, sounds entering of a different nature, rhythms get greater, and the rhythms they get greater. Yes another rough-a-tough four for the chaser. New configuration, new riff and new structure, built on the frame that’ll hold the room puncture, tight, we wrap it up, it’s wrapped, tightly.’