R E P R A Z E N Tfunction follows new forms
They have done something I thought not possible. Even when I thought it could be possible I would never have dreamed it would be like the way they have done it. Reprazent has proven itself to be the strongest group of musicians coming from Europe presenting themselves as a new form, a collective, as a whole and creating a platform from which anything can and will happen. Roni Size, founding member and spokesperson of the collective only hinted at what this collective can do. But back in june, when I spoke with him, I wasn't aware of what he truly meant. Reprazent may be the first group ever to live up to the hype, to bring new and innovative music in new ways and through different media, completely overturning the way we listen to, look at and think about music.
It's no coincidence the first product of this collective has the title 'Newforms'. New forms is exactly what this double-album contains. New forms is exactly what Reprazent is about. The way the collective works is more democratic than in all other group forms. Take for instance a simple form as a band. A band has always a focal point of one person attracting the most attention, because this person is presented as the most skilled, the most beautiful or the most well spoken. Reprazent isn't like that. Every member on his own has already proven to be perfectly capable of producing innovative and excellent music, but together they become so much more. In the collective there's no single person to look up to. Although Roni is the most well known name in the group, he just became the one to look at from the media standpoint because he's the opportunist, the one who started it. That doesn't make the rest of the group anything less. Every single soul couldn't do without the other within the collective. The new forms can also be found on album. Many see this collection of 22 songs as a drum'n'bass record, but by listening carefully you can easily spot hiphop, soul, funk, jazz, disco and rock. Not as samples, but as pillars in the music, as the foundations on which Reprazent is building new forms.
I have only just become aware of what Reprazent is about after seeing them play live in the Melkweg in Amsterdam. From the very first second I was completely swept from my feet by the sheer energy of the music and the way they presented it. Take for instance the way they started. After a boasting introduction by MC Dynamite, from all sides of the stages four hooded persons, looking like the Mogwai from the Star Wars films, ran up to the computers and mixing desks set up like a square in the middle of the stage. From the instant they crouched behind their green light emitting screens the sounds of breakbeats and thundering bass starts flooding the room, passing right through every body and making them sway whether the bodies want to or not. Early in the set MC Dynamite plays the crowd like a true showman, bringing his lines so natural and so convincing you could easily think he was making them up right that moment and believe every word he says. And Onallee the singer of the collective does this in a totally un-diva-like way, that even the biggest soul-hater could fall for the emotional sweeps of her voice. After two tracks the four Mogwai take off their hoods and reveal themselves to be Roni Size (bass sounds), Suv (special fx), Die (DJ and samples) and Krust (rhythm). The drummer and bassist complement the collective perfectly live, by showing it is possible to make these fast rhythms on natural instruments. But Reprazent shows that the electronic instruments can be used just as natural, by having four people behind the mixing desks and computers the sequencer can stay home and the songs get a depth and richness just like with every other truly live presentation. Only more so.
Reprazent show it is possible. You can make music like this, live onstage, by just using your hands, not relying on any pre-recordings or sequencer. It makes a difference. Also presenting it in a way which is entertaining to look at, can make a very big difference. By doing what they are doing, Reprazent have already become what they want to be. In the conversation I had with him in june, Roni Size said he would really like Reprazent to make music the way James Brown and Erik B. and Rakim were doing, the roughness and energy of it, not by sampling, but by doing it themselves. They have done it! In WIRE recently Bootsy Collins, legendary bass-player and a music veteran, said after listening to a track by Reprazent: 'Sounds like the James Brown group on acid! This is bad, I like it. Who is it?', a huge compliment, he should know, he has played with James Brown. But in a way they are even better than James Brown, by having no main focal point the only thing to rely upon is the music, not getting distracted by the center of attention, the center of attention is the collective itself. The New Form, making New Forms.
