Simon Green (born 30 March 1976), known by his stage name Bonobo, is an English musician, producer, and DJ based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He debuted with a

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

aesthetic and has since explored more upbeat approaches as well as

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

influences. His

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

sound incorporates the use of organic instrumentation and is recreated by a full band in live performances.

Career

1999–2009

Green debuted in 1999 on the

Tru Thoughts Tru Thoughts is a British independent record label founded in Brighton in 1999 by Robert Luis and Paul Jonas. The label has put out over 200 LPs of electronic, funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, tropical, grime and other music. History In September 19 ...

compilation ''When Shapes Join Together''. His stage name Bonobo is a reference to the great ape species. Following the release of the EP ''Scuba'', on the Brighton-based label Fly Casual Recordings, and the single "Terrapin", Bonobo was offered label deals with

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. It releases an average of six albums a year. T ...

and

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...

, but he chose to remain with Tru Thoughts. His first album, '' Animal Magic'', was published on the same label in 2000, to mixed reviews. Paul Cooper of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' stated that it "breaks no new ground for chill-out", while ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' said Bonobo " howcasessmooth breakbeat loops, synth sounds, and aforementioned dub effects. nd hiselectronic music draws on live playing." Reviewer Dean Carlson also said that the album "slowly takes shape as a solid debut of narcoleptic downtempo". In spite of these reactions, ''Animal Magic'' has gained Bonobo a cult following. Its accompanying compilation album, titled "'' One Offs...''", was issued in 2002 and contains reworked songs and rarities. In 2001, Bonobo was signed to

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

's label

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an independent record label based in London, with a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1990 by musicians Matt Black and Jonathan More, known collectively as Coldcut. The label was established as an outlet for Col ...

, and in 2003, he released '' Dial 'M' for Monkey''. John Bush of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

stated in a review that Bonobo's influences were drawn more towards

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and world music rather than

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

or trip hop. The album tracks "Pick up" and "Flutter" were featured in the snowboarding game ''

SSX on Tour ''SSX on Tour'' is a 2005 sports video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PlayStation Portable. It is the fourth title in the '' SSX'' series. T ...

''. In 2005, Bonobo contributed to the ''

Solid Steel ''Solid Steel'' are a series of DJ mix albums issued on Ninja Tune, an independent record label in the UK. ''Solid Steel'' also has a radio station webcast and related live concerts which further showcase the DJing talents of such artists. In 1 ...

'' series with ''

It Came from the Sea ''It Came from the Sea'' is a DJ mix album, mixed by Bonobo, released as part of the '' Solid Steel'' DJ mix series for Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an independent record label based in London, with a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was ...

''. The mix features several exclusive tracks as well as remixes and re-edits. His third album, entitled '' Days to Come'', was released on 2 October 2006. An AllMusic review states that " onobobreathes new life into a well-worn genre." With the album as well as his future work, he featured vocalists such as Bajka, thus "adding norganic and vibrant musicality that's rare in electronic music." ''Days to Come'' was voted Best Album of 2006 by

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a broadcaster, DJ, record label and festival owner. He is renowned for his genre-defying approach to music with jazz at its core. From this base he ...

's listeners. The song "Nightlite" appeared on '' UEFA Champions League 2006–2007'', and "Recurring" was used in a surfing film broadcast on Fuel TV.

2010–2015

The song "The Keeper", featuring vocals by

Andreya Triana Andreya Triana is a British singer and songwriter, ''Red Bull Music Academy'' alumna and MOBO nominated artist hailing from South East London, Her debut album, '' Lost Where I Belong'' released in September 2010 on London based record label Nin ...

, was issued in September 2009 as the lead single from Bonobo's fourth album, '' Black Sands'', released in March 2010. A

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

review by Paul Clarke stated that "Green has progressed from predominantly sample-based production to more live instrumentation ndhas become equally adept at mastering ..multi-layered atmospheres." In the same review, Clarke also commented that the song "We Could Forever" "saddles an Afro-inflected guitar and skittish flute to deep sub-bass" and "Kiara" combines "oriental strings with cut-up beats". After their collaboration for ''Black Sands'', Green produced Triana's debut album, '' Lost Where I Belong''. The Bonobo song "Kong" was used during a scene in an artist's studio in the eighth episode of the second season of ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

''. In February 2012, ''Black Sands Remixed'' was released on Ninja Tune, featuring tracks from the original ''Black Sands'' record remixed by electronic producers such as

Machinedrum Travis Stewart (born March 4, 1982), better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina.Mark Pritchard. The first single off the next Bonobo album, "Cirrus", was given its worldwide debut on

's BBC Radio 6 program on 19 January 2013. The album, titled ''

The North Borders ''The North Borders'' is the fifth studio album by British musician Bonobo. It was due for release on 1 April 2013, but was released early on 21 March in digital format after a promotional copy was leaked. The album charted at number 29 on the ...

'', was set for release on 1 April 2013 but came out early in its digital format after a promotional copy was leaked prior to the planned launch date. ''The North Borders'' marked Bonobo's first UK and US album chart entries, where they respectively reached numbers 34 and 122. "Cirrus" was featured as the closing song of the pilot episode for the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

show '' Halt and Catch Fire''. Bonobo produced the song "Pulls" by DELS for his 2014 album, '' Petals Have Fallen'', which was released under

Big Dada Big Dada is a British Record label#Imprint, independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for marketing of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Man ...

—a sister label of Ninja Tune.

2016–present

Bonobo released his sixth album, ''

Migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

'', in January 2017. In an interview with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', he stated that he conceived the album from "living and being in various locations", as he toured extensively and did not "have a home base for about a year". The album and the track "Bambro Koyo Ganda" were nominated at the

2018 Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongch ...

for Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Dance Recording, respectively. The record peaked at number 5 on the UK chart and 59 in the US. In 2018, it won Album of the Year at the

Electronic Music Awards The Electronic Music Awards is a music award show focused on electronic music genres that debuted on September 21, 2017, in Los Angeles. It was created by Paul Oakenfold and entertainment company Hunt & Crest and produced by L!ve Media. The sho ...

, and the artist was nominated for Live Act of the Year. On 1 July 2019, Bonobo released a new song, "Linked", online. The track was later nominated for

Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

at the

62nd Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Crypto.com Arena, Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to Au ...

but lost to "Got to Keep On" by

the Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands in Manchester in 1992. They were pioneers in bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture. Originally known as The Dust Brothers, th ...

. The following year, Bonobo remixed

Michael Kiwanuka Michael Samuel Kiwanuka (born 3 May 1988) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is currently signed to Polydor Records. His debut album '' Home Again'' (2012) went gold in the United Kingdom, while his second album ...

's song "Final Days". Bonobo's seventh studio album, ''

Fragments Fragment(s) may refer to: Computing and logic * Fragment (computer graphics), all the data necessary to generate a pixel in the frame buffer * Fragment (logic), a syntactically restricted subset of a logical language * URI fragment, the compone ...

'', was released on 14 January 2022, with five singles issued ahead of its release. The first one, "Rosewood", debuted on 6 October 2021, followed by "Tides"—a collaboration with

Jamila Woods Jamila Abidemi Woods (born October 6, 1989) is a Chicago-based American singer, songwriter and poet. Woods is a graduate of St. Ignatius College Prep and Brown University, where she received a BA in Africana Studies and Theater & Performance Stu ...

—on 20 October. "Otomo"—a collaboration with O'Flynn—came out on 10 November, followed by "Shadows", with

Jordan Rakei Jordan Rakei (born 23 May 1992) is a New Zealand-Australian musician, singer, songwriter and record producer currently based in London, United Kingdom. Rakei has also released and performed under the moniker Dan Kye. Early life Rakei was born i ...

, on 1 December. The fifth and final single, "From You", with Joji, was released on 3 January 2022. Bonobo was nominated for the

Brit Award for British Dance Act The Brit Award for British Dance Act is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolade was presented at the Brit Awards, an annual cel ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. Bonobo, along with

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Tii Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American arranger, composer and jazz saxophonist. Archived July 9, 2015. He is a founding member of the jazz collective West Coast Get Down. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raise ...

and

Floating Points Samuel Shepherd (born 1986), known professionally as Floating Points, is a British electronic music producer, DJ, and musician. He is the founder of Pluto Records, co-founder of Eglo Records and leader of a 16-piece group called Floating Poin ...

, composed music for the 2025 Japanese anime television series ''

Lazarus Lazarus may refer to: People *Lazarus (name), a surname and a given name * Lazarus of Bethany, a Biblical figure described as being raised from the dead by Jesus * Lazarus, a Biblical figure from the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus * Lazar ...

'', directed by

Shinichirō Watanabe is a Japanese anime television and film director, best known for directing the critically acclaimed and commercially successful anime series ''Cowboy Bebop'', '' Samurai Champloo'', '' Space Dandy'', '' Terror in Resonance'', and '' Carole & T ...

Musical style

Bonobo's sound is oriented on beats and samples but typically "soothing", combining influences ranging from

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

. ''

'' named him a key figure in the 2000s

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

scene, while ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' associated him with the recent popularity of "

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

world electronica". While his earliest work was firmly based in

, his style soon became more upbeat and delved into genres such as

(which has led him to be described as a

nu jazz Nu jazz (also spelt nü jazz or known as jazztronica, or future jazz) is a genre of jazz and electronic music. The music blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, electronic music, and free improvisation. Nu jazz typically ve ...

artist) and traditional

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk, rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over several ...

. He has collaborated with various artists, including Bajka,

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

, and

Rhye Rhye is an R&B musical project of Canadian singer Mike Milosh. It originally consisted of him and Danish instrumentalist Robin Hannibal. They released the singles "Open" and "The Fall" online without much detail, which led to speculation abo ...

, who have contributed vocals to songs on several of his albums. Green has also performed with Robert Luis of the

label under the aliases Nirobi and Barakas. Whilst often touring solo and performing DJ sets and residencies, in 2010, Bonobo opted to start touring with a full band for the ''Black Sands'' tour. The group plays live renditions of studio material, with a singer, keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist, string section, electronics, and drummer, often with improvisations and solos.

Discography

Albums

EPs

* ''Scuba'' (2000) * ''Terrapin'' (2000) * ''Silver'' (2000) * ''The Shark'' (2000) * ''Kota'' (2002) * ''Pick Up'' (2003) * ''Flutter'' (2003) * ''The Keeper'' (featuring

) (2009) * ''Ten Tigers'' (2014) * ''The Flashlight'' (2014) * ''Bambro Koyo Ganda'' (2017)

Live albums

* '' Live Sessions'' (2005) * ''The North Borders Tour – Live'' (2014)

Remix albums

* '' One Offs... Remixes & B-Sides'' (2002) * ''Black Sands Remixed'' (2012)

Other albums

* ''Sweetness'' (2002) * '' Solid Steel Presents: It Came from the Sea'' (2005) * '' Late Night Tales: Bonobo'' (2013) * ''fabric presents: Bonobo'' (2019)

Singles

* "Nightlite" / "If You Stayed Over" (2006) * "Nightlite" (Zero dB Reconstruction/Bonobo Remixes) (2006) * "Stay the Same" (featuring Andreya Triana) (2009) * "Eyesdown" (featuring Andreya Triana) (2010) * " Cirrus" (2013) * "First Fires" (featuring Grey Reverend) (2013) * "Ibrik" (2019) * "Linked" (2019) * "Heartbreak" (with

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Orlando Tobias Edward Higginbottom (born 7 March 1986), known professionally as Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (commonly abbreviated as TEED) is a British electronic music producer, DJ and singer-songwriter based in the United States. Ea ...

) (2020) * "Loom" (with

Ólafur Arnalds Ólafur Arnalds (; born 3 November 1986) is an Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. He mixes strings and piano with loops and beats, a sound ranging from ambient/electronic to atmospheric pop. He is also th ...

) (2020) * "6000 Ft." (with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) (2020) * "Rosewood" (2021) * "Tides" (featuring

) (2021) * "Otomo" (featuring O'Flynn) (2021) * "Shadows" (featuring

) (2021) * "From You" (featuring Joji) (2022) * "ATK" (2022) * "Defender" (2022) * "Fold" (with

Jacques Greene Philippe Aubin-Dionne (born 1989), better known by the stage name Jacques Greene, is a Canadian electronic musician based in Toronto. He has released music on the LuckyMe and Night Slugs labels and co-owns Vase Records. Greene released his de ...

) (2023)

DVDs

* ''Live at Koko'' (2009) * ''The North Borders Tour – Live'' (2014)

References

External links

* *
Bonobo interview for ''Clash'' magazine, September 2006

''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', January 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonobo 1976 births British trip hop musicians Downtempo musicians English electronic musicians English DJs English record producers Living people Musicians from Brighton and Hove Ninja Tune artists Nu jazz musicians