Big Dada

{{Infobox record label

| image = Logo-Profile-Pic.png

| image_caption =

| image_size = 200

| distributor = Ninja Tune

| founded = 1997

| founder = Will Ashon

| country = United Kingdom

| location = London

| genre = Hip hop, dub, grime, electronic dance music

| url = [http://bigdada.com bigdada.com]

}}

Big Dada is a British independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for marketing of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Manuva, poet and playwright Kae Tempest, grime pioneer Wiley, rapper and designer DELS and Mercury Prize winners Speech Debelle and Young Fathers.

History

Big Dada's first release was Alpha Prhyme's 12-inch single Misanthropic, a collaboration between Luke Vibert and Juice Aleem in 1997.Swash, Rosie (8 June 2009). [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jun/08/label-love-big-dada Label of love: Big Dada - Music - The Guardian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306185036/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jun/08/label-love-big-dada |date=6 March 2016 }}. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2012-03-25. Over the following years, the label has released over one hundred and fifty records{{cite web |url=http://www.bigdada.com/releases.php |title=Big Dada |publisher=Big Dada |access-date=2014-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219234811/http://www.bigdada.com/releases.php |archive-date=19 February 2010 |url-status=live }} and garnered considerable critical acclaim, being described by Observer Music Monthly as "the very best underground hip hop label".Mulholland, Garry (1 February 2004). [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1132416,00.html 'Dead Dogs Two' by cLOUDDEAD - OMM - The Observer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002014653/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1132416,00.html |date=2 October 2006 }}. The Observer. Retrieved on 2012-03-25.

File:bigdadaoldlogo.png

File:Bigdadalogo.png

In 2007, Big Dada released the compilation Well Deep to celebrate their tenth anniversary. NME said the label was "not only a platform for the British urban underground but also attracts some of the most progressive wordsmiths and beat-scientists in the whole world... Big Dada are still pushing things forward."{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/various-artists/9085 |title=NME Reviews – Various Artists: 'Well Deep: Ten Years of Big Dada Recordings' |work=NME |date=2007-10-12 |access-date=2014-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604223150/http://www.nme.com/reviews/various-artists/9085 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |url-status=live }} As the quote suggests, Big Dada is not exclusively a label for British acts. Their roster has also featured contributions from American hip hop artists including Bigg Jus, Busdriver, and Mike Ladd, as well as French hip hop group TTC. They also released debut albums by both Diplo and Spank Rock, as well as the comeback album from grime legend Wiley, who was so pleased with the record deal they offered that he recorded "50/50" in tribute.Chick, Stevie (26 October 2007). [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/oct/26/urban1 Stevie Chick on Big Dada Records - Music - The Guardian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306165338/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/oct/26/urban1 |date=6 March 2016 }}. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2012-03-25.

On 8 September 2009, Speech Debelle won the 2009 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for her debut album Speech Therapy produced by Wayne Lotek. It is the label's third nomination, after Roots Manuva's Run Come Save Me in 2002 and Ty's Upwards in 2003.[http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/starinterviews/article-23732508-victory-for-speech-debelle.do] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305152542/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/starinterviews/article-23732508-victory-for-speech-debelle.do|date=5 March 2010}} On 30 October 2014, Young Fathers won the 2014 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for their debut album Dead. It was the label's joint fourth nomination alongside Everybody Down by Kae Tempest and second Mercury Prize winning album.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/29/mercury-2014-young-fathers-win | title= Mercury prize 2014: Young Fathers defy the odds to win - Mercury Music Prize 2014 - The Guardian | date=30 October 2014 | access-date=10 May 2020}}

Roots Manuva, one of the label's best-known artists, signed a new deal with the label in 2011. In the 2007 documentary for the label Well Deep, he said, "It's been a lovely relationship over the years... Big Dada's unique and it will always be unique because it's a philosophy, y'know? It's unique because it dares to stick its neck out and it's run by people who genuinely love music. It's not just a record label, it's a movement."{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO6O7zwzmY8 |title=Roots Manuva 'Well Deep' Interview |via=YouTube |date=2010-03-19 |access-date=2014-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416230746/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO6O7zwzmY8 |archive-date=16 April 2016 |url-status=live }}

In 2021 Big Dada relaunched "as a label run by Black, POC & Minority Ethnic people for Black, POC & Minority Ethnic artists."{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/pioneering-hip-hop-label-big-dada-announces-relaunch/|title = Pioneering Hip-Hop Label Big Dada Announces Relaunch|date = 25 January 2021}}

Roster (current)

Congo Natty
Hype Williams{{Cite web |url=https://boomkat.com/labels/big-dada |title=Big Dada |access-date=26 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115120617/https://boomkat.com/labels/big-dada |archive-date=15 November 2017 |url-status=live }}
Lyzza
Kae Tempest
King Geedorah
Onyx Collective
Rahill
PVA
Roots Manuva

Roster (alumni)

Anti-Pop Consortium
Baishe Kings
Busdriver
Bang On!
Cadence Weapon
Cell Broco
cLOUDDEAD
Darq E Freaker
DELS
Diplo
Dobie
Elan Tamara
FARAI
Gamma
Infesticons
Infinite Livez
Wiley{{col-break}}
Jammer
Juice Aleem
K-The-I???
Kai Whiston
Kail
Kutmah
Lotek Hifi
Majesticons
New Flesh
NMS / Bigg Jus / Orko Eloheim
Offshore{{cite web|title=Big Dada to release final, posthumous album by Offshore|url=http://www.factmag.com/2015/07/14/offshore-posthumous-album-big-dada/|website=FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music.|access-date=13 August 2016|date=14 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422082539/http://www.factmag.com/2015/07/14/offshore-posthumous-album-big-dada/|archive-date=22 April 2016|url-status=live}}
Paris Suit Yourself