Roni Size & Reprazent - Heroes

When ya dancin with yourself and ya know that it’s so right.

Album: New Forms [debut album]
Genre: Dance, Drum & Bass, Jungle
Album Release: June 23rd 1997
Single Release: September 11th 1997 [2nd single]
Length: 6.34
Producer: Roni Size
Vocalist: Onallee
Label: Talking Loud Records

Music Video


Live on French TV


Updated version for 2008

Charts, Streams & Sales

UK (singles): #31
UK (albums): #8
UK (albums): Certified platinum (Over 300,000 units sold)
Spotify: 2,100,000 +
YouTube Music: 300,000 +
Mercury Prize Winner 1997
MOBO Award Winner 1997 : Best Jungle Act

Credits

The drums are sampled from Dennis Coffey - Scorpio (1971) and Orange Krush - Action (1982)

Details

• An updated version of the album, called New Forms 2, in 2008.
• There is a remix by Kruder & Dorfmeister.
  
• Roni got his name because he's a bit on the short side and when his friends would see a short girl they'd say "she's roni's size".
  
  
• In the eighties a young Roni Size would go to sound system raves in Bristol. The parties just so happened to be hosted by The Wild Bunch, who would go on to become Massive Attack, and were known for blending together a variety of musical styles such as reggae, funk, hip hop and punk. This was a novelty at the time as most clubs lent strongly towards one sound. There would be the disco club, the punk club etc. Roni would later incorporate many of these same styles into his own music as well as other Jamaican forms such as Soca, which is a soulful type of Calypso.
  
  
• The album played an important part in breaking drum & bass to the British mainstream. Size would produce the beats and then perform them with Reprazent, his live band. The band featured a stand up bass, drums, synthesizers and guitar as well as the more expected MC and singer. They had four DJ's (Roni Size, DJ Krust, DJ Die, DJ Suv). The inclusion of traditional instruments and live performance gave legitimacy to the music in the eyes of the average music fan. At this point, electronic music in general wasn't considered to be 'real' music and its creators were generally thought of as less talented than their fellow musicians. This album helped change that. People stopped dismissing the music out of hand and actually gave it a listen on its own merits.
  
  
  
  
  Lyrics