Zane Benson Williams,[7] better known by his stage name Riko Dan and formerly by the mononym Riko, is an English multi-genre MC from Bow, East London.[1] He rose to prominence in 2004 as a member of the pioneering grime collective Roll Deep, of which he remains an active member, and is also established in other sound system genres including bashment, jungle, and dubstep,[4] with a prolific discography as a featured artist.[8] He has charted on the UK singles chart with the 2024 Rudimental, Skepsis and Charlotte Plank collaboration "Green and Gold".[9]
Career
1994–1999: Career beginnings, house parties and pirate radio
Williams has performed as an MC since the age of fifteen, when he would rap over hardcore at house parties and later jungle on pirate radio.[5][4][1][10] He used various aliases in his youth including Zany Ranks, Zany Banton and Jookz before settling on Riko, in honour of a friend of the same name who died in a car crash.[1] In 1994, his first radio show saw him MCing on Pressure FM in Bow with the station's founder, Jamie B, as the DJ.[5][1] He met DJ Slimzee, who later co-founded Rinse FM, on the station the following year.[11]
2003: Pay As U Go Cartel and first collaborations
Williams had befriended multiple members of Bow-based UK garage group Pay As U Go at the age of about sixteen through family ties,[5] and has claimed he would have likely been a member earlier had he not been incarcerated.[2] Williams served time in jail for commercial robbery between 1999 and 2002,[11][5] joining the group in 2003 once its sound had shifted from garage to grime and members Wiley, Flowdan and Maxwell D had left to form their own crews.[5] In early interviews, Riko emphasised that he wanted his music to encompass many genres including grime, garage, and bashment.[12][2] The months following his release were musically prolific and he recorded "about six" tracks for a Pay As U Go album,[13] but within around eight months of him joining the crew, the group disbanded.[5]
His first solo appearance was on Nasty Crew's "Cock Back" alongside Crazy Titch in 2003,[1] and he has claimed that he was asked by Marcus Nasty to join the crew but declined due to his ties to Bow.[5] Other songs recorded during this period included a version of Ruff Sqwad's "Pied Piper", features on the OT Crew song "No Games" alongside God's Gift and "Poppadoms" by Rinse FM founder Wizzbit, and a diss track over Wiley's "Igloo" instrumental directed at More Fire Crew's Neeko.[13] Later the same year, he was recalled to jail, serving a further nine months in HMP Weare for a separate historical 1999 burglary.[13] He penned an open letter to his fans in Deuce Magazine, in which he claimed that "When I am out at the end of the year, my plans are to get my career back on track, finish off my album, slew Neeko again and again and again, oh yeah and get my own column in Deuce every month!"[13]
2004–2008: Roll Deep and The Truth Vol. 1
Williams joined Wiley and Flowdan's pioneering grime collective Roll Deep in 2004, first appearing alongside the full crew on "Flame Grilled Whopper", having already collaborated with Wiley on a solo vocal version of "Ice Rink".[1] DJ Target produced his debut solo single, "Chosen One", which was released in 2004.[2] He featured prominently on Roll Deep's 2004 Creeper mixtape series and recorded another single for Target's Aim High label, "Critical" featuring Dogzilla and Discarda,[14] which ultimately appeared on an Aim High compilation. By November 2004, he was remanded to HMP Brixton to stand trial for another alleged offence, and recorded a verse for Lady Sovereign's "Random" remix through the phone.[15] The case against him was dropped in late December 2004.[16]
He appeared on the bonus track "Poltergeist (Remix)" on Roll Deep's 2005 debut album In at the Deep End,[12] which entered the UK Albums Chart at number 50 and marked his chart debut.[17] As part of Roll Deep, he also appeared on Top of the Pops, providing backing vocals on a 2005 rendition of "The Avenue".[3] He subsequently began recording a debut solo album for Sony Music, which was to include the songs "Dead That" (featuring God's Gift) and "Don't Want You Back" (featuring Breeze), but the plans were scrapped when he returned to jail in 2006.[5] His charges were dropped after eight months[5] and his debut mixtape The Truth Vol. 1 was released independently, credited to Roll Deep Recordings, in 2008.[18]
2008–2013: Slaughter House Rydims and Sleeping Giant
Williams went on to appear on all Roll Deep albums except their pop rap albums Winner Stays On (2010) and X (2012), for which they involved a smaller number of members.[5] He released his second solo mixtape, Sleeping Giant, in 2010 via Billy 'Daniel' Bunter's label, Slaughter House Rydims, through which he also released the extended plays Blowing Up Again (2010) and Warfare (2011).[3][19] Slipmatt was credited as a mixing engineer on the lead single for Sleeping Giant, "The Phone Call".[19] After becoming a father, he "put [music] on the backburner for a year", before featuring on the title track of Terror Danjah's 2012 album Dark Crawler[20] and releasing a 2013 mixtape, Rise of the Farda, via Logan Sama's Adamantium label.[3]
2014–present: "Abstract" collaborations and chart success
In the mid-2010s, he began experimenting in recording what he has described as "dark" and "abstract" bass music, collaborating with record producers such as Rabit, Mumdance and Ziro.[5] He featured on producer Wen's 2015 single "Play Your Corner", which peaked at number 96 on the UK Physical Singles Chart,[21] and The Bug's 2016 single "Iceman", which appeared on a double single also featuring D Double E and reached number 23 on the same chart.[8] In 2018, he released the Hard Food EP on Pinch's record label Tectonic, marking the label's hundredth release.[22][4][23] The following year, he released a pair of grime singles, "CR7" and "Farda", via Logan Sama's labels Keepin' It Grimy and Adamantium.[5] Following the success of Wiley's 2019 single "Boasty", Riko was invited into his newly established dancehall crew Boasty Gang, and contributed both solo songs and crew cuts to their eponymous 2020 album, including the singles "Sorry" and "Informer".[6] The same year, he released the Trends-produced single "Run Dem Down", previously a dubplate dating back to 2015.[24] In 2023, he collaborated with Slimzee and Boylan on the single "Mile End". The song was the first release on the FWD>> record label, born out of the events company in partnership with Sony.[25][26]
In 2024, he featured alongside Charlotte Plank on the Rudimental and Skepsis single "Green and Gold", which peaked at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart.[9] He appeared at Capital FM's Summertime Ball to perform the song.[27] Other notable appearances in 2024 included a feature on K Motionz and ArrDee's "Heavyweight", which was released via Universal and reached number 30 on the New Zealand Hot Songs Chart.[28]
Personal life and artistry
Riko raps in what he has described as a "Cockney yardie" style of Jamaican Patois.[1][10] He founded the short-lived crew Cemetery Warriors alongside fellow Caribbean-British MCs Flowdan, Killa P and God's Gift, known for their similar vocal delivery.[11][3] Riko has claimed to have imitated dancehall deejay Bounty Killer's style in his early teens before finding his own, and his nickname London City Warlord is a variation on Bounty Killer's, The Warlord.[4] He credits dancehall culture as a "very important" influence on his style.[29]
Riko has credited MC Buckie as the first artist he looked up to in the London pirate radio scene[5] and has cited Bounty Killer, Capleton, The Notorious B.I.G., Mobb Deep, and the Wu-Tang Clan among his formative musical influences.[1][4] He has spoken openly about his criminal history, telling RWD Magazine in 2004 "I regret all of it",[2] and later collaborated with Operation Trident on the video for his 2010 single "The Phone Call", which condemns gun and knife crime and was produced for their 'Stop the Guns' campaign.[10][30] He is an avid Manchester United fan and presented the NTS Radio football talk show Verbal Volley between 2015 and 2016, latterly joined by DJ Karnage and Discarda.[1][31][32] He was involved in building the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.[5]
Discography
Solo
- Mixtapes
- 2008: The Truth Vol. 1 (Roll Deep Recordings)[18]
- 2010: Sleeping Giant (Slaughter House Rydims)[3]
- 2013: Rise of the Farda (Adamantium Music)[3]
- EPs
- 2010: Blowing Up Again (Slaughter House Rydims)
- 2011: Warfare (with SNK) (Slaughter House Rydims)
- 2018: Hard Food (Tectonic)[4]
- Singles
- As lead artist
| Year | Song | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "Chosen One" (with Target)[2] | Non-album single | Aim High Music |
| 2010 | "The Phone Call"[10] | Sleeping Giant | Slaughter House Rydims |
| 2018 | "Vibration" (with Pinch)[4] | Hard Food EP | Tectonic |
| 2019 | "CR7"[5] | Non-album single | Keepin' It Grimy |
| "Farda"[5] | Adamantium Music | ||
| "Informer"[6] | Boasty Gang - The Album | Chasing The Art | |
| 2020 | "Run Dem Down"[24] | Non-album single | Mean Streets |
| 2023 | "Mile End" (with Slimzee and Boylan)[25] | FWD>> |
- As featured artist[33]
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [9] |
UK Dance [9] |
UK Physical [21] |
NZ Hot [34] | |||
| 2003 | "Cock Back" (Nasty Crew featuring Crazy Titch and Riko Dan)[1] |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single |
| "Gangster" (Wizzbit featuring MC Riko) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| 2005 | "Come On" (Doctor featuring Riko)[35] |
– | – | – | – | Before Surgery |
| 2007 | "Dumpling Riddim" (Chase & Status featuring Riko Dan, uncredited) |
– | – | – | – | The Truth Vol. 1 |
| 2008 | "Piano Riddim" (Riko Dan and The Heatwave) |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single |
| "Knife & Gun" (Geeneus featuring Riko, Wiley and Breeze) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| 2009 | "Bullet A' Go Fly" (DVA featuring Badness, Riko, Flowdan and Killa P) |
– | – | – | – | |
| 2012 | "Dark Crawler" (Terror Danjah featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Dark Crawler |
| 2013 | "Kingpin" (Friction and Skream featuring Scrufizzer, P Money and Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single |
| 2014 | "Mad Man" (Caspa featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | 500 |
| "Black Dragons" (Rabit featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single | |
| 2015 | "Big Slug" (Pinch and Mumdance featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | |
| "Play Your Corner" (Wen featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | 96 | – | Signals | |
| "Zone" (Jack Beats featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single | |
| 2016 | "Screamer" (Pinch featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Screamer / No Justice |
| "Iceman" (The Bug featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | 23 | – | Box / Iceman | |
| "Love$ick (Mumdance Remix)" (Mura Masa featuring ASAP Rocky and Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single | |
| 2017 | "Landslide" (Champion x Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | |
| 2018 | "Krueger" (Trends and Boylan featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Bedlam |
| "Stinker" (Friction featuring Riko Dan and Tantrum Desire) |
– | – | – | – | Connections | |
| 2019 | "King Street" (Monkey Marc and Pinch featuring Ninjaman, Riko Dan, Killa P, Soom T, Rider Shafique and Irah) |
– | – | – | – | Vital Sound |
| "Suspect" (Boylan featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | 2hrs Sleep | |
| "Sorry" (Lickle Jay featuring Wiley and Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Boasty Gang - The Album | |
| "Hear That?" (Cimm and Youngsta featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Unknown Caller!! | |
| "Bushmaster" (Fonzo featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single | |
| 2020 | "16 Bar Rally" (Morfius featuring Wiley, Ejay, God's Gift, Riko Dan and Irah) |
– | – | – | – | |
| "Soundboy Calling" (Lost City featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | MAPS | |
| "War Ting" (Riko Dan, Liondub, Trigon and Dave Gee) |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single | |
| 2021 | "Casual" (Zero and Devilman featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | |
| "Warlord" (Agro featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Scatter Dem" (Modulizer featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Dark & Light" (Nomine and Youngsta featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| 2022 | "Crime Scene" (Muttley featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | |
| "Tek It to Dem" (Funktional featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Babylon" (Numa Crew featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Keep It Moving" (9TRANE featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Mad Ting" (Jim Two Eyes featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Warlord" (Dominus and Daffy featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Riko's Theme" (The Heatwave featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Just Like This" (Dominus featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "London's Burning" (Riddim Punks featuring King Ali Baba and Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| 2023 | "Dem Can't" (DJ Ridler featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | |
| "Hot Pepper" (Agro and DJ Hybrid featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Harrowing Sound | |
| "Off the Chain" (Chad Dubz featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Off the Chain / Against the Grain | |
| "Rude Bwoy Ting" (DJ co.kr featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Soundbwoy 2 | |
| "Careful" (Fearful and MTWN featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Beyond the Veil | |
| "Wicked & Wild" (Daffy x Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single | |
| "Talk Up" (Kasra featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Dream Metal | |
| 2024 | "Real Bad Man" (Hedo and Max Klem featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | Non-album single |
| "War Mi" (Solidstates featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "London" (DJ Zinc featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | TBA | |
| "Original Don" (Y U QT featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Green and Gold" (Rudimental and Skepsis featuring Charlotte Plank and Riko Dan) |
29 | 7 | – | 16 | ||
| "Heavyweight" (K Motionz and ArrDee featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | 30 | ||
| "Warlord" (Buckley featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Bran New Style" (SPK featuring Killa P, Long Range, Riko Dan and Limmz) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Gunman" (Interplanetary Criminal featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "Bang Bang" (Friction featuring Stylo G, Riko Dan and Frisco) |
– | – | – | – | ||
| "The Light" (DJ Cali featuring Riko Dan) |
– | – | – | – | ||
With Roll Deep
- Albums
- 2005: In at the Deep End
- 2007: Rules and Regulations
- 2008: Return of the Big Money Sound
- Mixtapes
- 2004: Creeper Vol. 1
- 2004: Creeper Vol. 2
- 2010: Say No More
- 2012: No Comment Star
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Mumdance In Conversation With Riko Dan". Mumdance x Boiler Room 'In Conversation With' Podcast. 2016-06-15. Boiler Room. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g "MC Riko". RWD Magazine. 2004-06-30. Archived from the original on 2004-08-14. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gibbins, Paul (2018-04-22). "Rise of Da Farda with Riko Dan". Paul Gibbins on Medium.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Abiade, Yemi (2018-02-28). "Vibrations: Roll Deep Man Riko Dan On His 13 Favourite LPs". The Quietus.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "DJ Argue: Grime History Lesson with Riko Dan - 22nd March 2019". Grime History Lesson. 2019-03-22. Rinse. Rinse FM. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ a b c Powell, Jon (2021-09-13). "Wiley returns with new album 'Anti-Systemic'". Revolt.
- ^ "RIKO DAN". ASCAP. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ a b "BUG FT D DOUBLE E songs and albums - full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
- ^ a b c d "RUDIMENTAL songs and albums - full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ a b c d Hancox, Dan (2018). Inner City Pressure. London: William Collins. p. 38, 45, 126. ISBN 978-0-00-825713-2.
- ^ a b c Marcus, Ezra (2015-01-12). "London City Warlord: An Interview with Riko Dan". Noisey.
- ^ a b Collins, Hattie (2005-05-23). "'We're not just moody hood-rats'". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c d Fiddy, Chantelle (2004-11-08). "That Letter". Chantelle Fiddy's World of Grime on Blogspot.
- ^ Fiddy, Chantelle (2004-11-08). "Vinyl preview". Chantelle Fiddy's World of Grime.
- ^ [[chantelle Fiddy|fiddy, Chantelle]] (2004-11-27). "Riko gets Random with Sovereign". Chantelle Fiddy's World of Grime.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Fiddy, Chantelle (2005-01-07). "Words from Riko". Chantelle Fiddy's World of Grime.
- ^ "ROLL DEEP songs and albums - full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ a b Clark, Martin (2008-04-01). "The Month In: Grime / Dubstep - Pitchfork". Pitchfork.
- ^ a b "Gone To A Rave #46: Billy 'Daniel' Bunter (And A Wee Bit Of Slipmatt)". Ransom Note. 2015. Retrieved 2025-01-12.
- ^ Ryce, Andrew (2012-10-01). "Terror Danjah - Dark Crawler - Album Review". Resident Advisor.
- ^ a b "WEN FT RIKO DAN songs and albums - full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
- ^ Murray, Robin (2018-02-27). "Listen: Mumdance x Riko Dan Spar On 'Hungry'". Clash Magazine.
- ^ Morgenthaler, Sean (2018-03-27). "New Adds: BAUM, Riko Dan & more!". KXSC Radio.
- ^ a b Hutchinson, Kate (2015-08-21). "Slimzee's favourite tracks". The Guardian.
- ^ a b Eede, Christian (2023-10-25). "FWD>>, the legendary London club night, launches label with Slimzee, Boylan and Riko Dan collab: Listen". DJ Mag.
- ^ Cardew, Ben (2023-10-25). "Celebraving is more than mere revival: Bugged Out! at Drumsheds". Line Noise.
- ^ Prance, Sam (2024-06-16). "Capital Summertime Ball Setlist: Every Song Performed At The 2024 Summertime Ball". Capital.
- ^ "Official Aotearoa Music Charts - Hot 40 Singles". Official New Zealand Music Chart. 2024-05-31. Retrieved 2025-01-13.
- ^ Collins, Hattie (2016). This Is Grime. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 162. ISBN 9781473639270. Archived from the original on 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ Hancox, Dan (2016-02-18). "Party politics: why grime defines the sound of protest in 2016". The Guardian.
- ^ Black, Billy (2015-10-09). "5 Man United Moments with Riko Dan". Crack Magazine.
- ^ Welsh, April Clare (2016-06-09). "NTS football and grime show to be video-streamed for Euros". Fact Magazine.
- ^ "Riko Dan - Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
- ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ Fiddy, Chantelle (2005-12-19). "The Year In Tunes". Chantelle Fiddy's World of Whatever on Blogspot.
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