Goldie

Goldie emerged as the breakout superstar of jungle/drum’n’bass in the ’90s, and remained the genre’s most visible figure throughout the following decades. While many electronic music producers during the ’90s were content with facelessly pumping out tracks designed for DJs and club play, Goldie was a true personality, combining roots in hip-hop and graffiti culture with jazz and soul influences, as well as a sense of ambition grand enough to rival most classical composers. While he has often worked in collaboration with other producers and engineers, including , , and , he’s responsible for envisioning ideas far beyond the scope of most drum’n’bass artists. Early singles such as 1992’s “Terminator” (as Metalheads) pioneered the timestretching technique and ushered in the darkside movement. Goldie’s full-length debut, 1995’s Timeless, remains his crowning achievement, as well as one of the few jungle releases to reach a wide audience outside of the underground scene. Its 1998 follow-up, the misunderstood SaturnzReturn, was even more ambitious and personal. Since then, his celebrity status in the U.K. has only increased, as he’s appeared in several movies (including the 1999 James Bond flick The World Is Not Enough) and television programs (particularly reality shows). He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2016. While he continued releasing music as Rufige Kru in addition to running the crucial  label, his third proper solo album, The Journey Man, didn’t arrive until 2017. He’s explored genres outside of drum’n’bass with his subsequent work as part of the duo  and his 2020 EP with rapper Osquello, Something Behind Me.