Roots Manuva

British rapper/producer Rodney Smith established himself as Roots Manuva in the late '90s and began releasing a series of highly regarded albums through Big Dada (which were usually distributed by Ninja Tune). Smith's work spanned the music spectrum, firmly rooted in dub and ragga but also incorporating much of the trip-hop style often associated with Ninja Tune. He debuted in 1999 with Brand New Second Hand, a promising album that garnered a sizable amount of attention from the international hip-hop crowd and won Britain's coveted MOBO award. Beginning in late 1999, shortly after its release, Smith returned to the studio to begin work on Run Come Save Me, his follow-up. He completed the album and released it on Big Dada in 2001; thanks to his own production on the breakout single "Witness (1 Hope)," the album became a British hit and increased his worldwide recognition. It narrowly missed winning the prestigious Mercury award and spawned an excellent dub album, Dub Come Save Me, released one year later. His third album, Awfully Deep, appeared in 2005. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide