SAM BINGA

Sam Binga is an artist at the meeting of dance music’s most vibrant strains. Since the project’s 2013 debut, the Bristol linchpin has consistently drawn a line between forward-thinking club sounds from around the world while infusing them with a classic UK soundsystem sensibility and a unique personality which can only be described as his. 

From the bump’n’flex of Garage to the intensity of Jungle, the Afro-Caribbean influences of UK Funky to the percussive energy of Techno and Footwork – Binga’s channelling of worldwide influences has resulted in some of underground dance music’s most innovative music of recent years, with ripple effects felt worldwide. Along with frequent collaborators Fracture and Om Unit, Binga was part of the first wave of UK artists to take the rawness of Chicago’s 160bpm pulse and mix it with elements of classic Jungle to create a cross-genre, multi-continent cultural conversation that is still making waves today. At the same time, early experimentations with Redders spawned ‘AYO’ and ‘Lef Dem’, epitomizing the ‘halftime’ sound which became a movement that brought a whole new sound to one of dance music’s most enduring forms – Drum & Bass. Wasted Days, his standout 2015 debut, continued this journey, weaving Grime vocals and production seamlessly into his work and reaching out across the globe to feature vocal talent from Baltimore’s TT The Artist and Jamaica’s Warrior Queen, while his work with Rider Shafique has charted new links between classic Dancehall and cutting-edge club music.

The pandemic put a temporary hold on a global DJ schedule that has taken him from Argentina to China, from America to India, and beyond – but the enforced time off the road was not wasted. Locking himself in the studio, the focus on his very own label ‘Pineapple’ has allowed him to build an essential destination for those DJs and listeners who appreciate multi-genre, tempo-fluid productions underpinned by a focus on fresh vocal energy and infectious percussive workouts. Collaborations with artists such as Bakey and Nikki Nair, and solo EPs from Amy Kisnorbo, Fixate and Cesco have all found their way into the sets of everyone from DJ Stingray to Ben UFO – while in the live arena, Pineapple has taken over Keep Hush, Outlook and toured the United States, with Sir Hiss and Addison Groove joining Binga on a two-week set of label showcases from Baltimore to Seattle. Meanwhile, the Pineapple Records show on Rinse channel SWU.FM has quickly become an essential listen for fans of cutting edge multi-genre underground dance music.

For the label, and for Binga himself, the sound is local, but the perspective is global.

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