Ninja Tune is an English

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit to Japan, Black and More created Ninja Tune in 1990 as a means to escape the creative control of major labels, and as a vehicle to release music of an underground nature, free from the constraints they experienced in their brief stints with

Arista Arista may refer to: Organizations *Arista Networks, a software defined networking company *Arista Records, an American record label, division of Sony Music **Arista Nashville, a record label specializing in country music *Arista (honor society) ...

and Big Life. The label has been called "visionary" and "reliably excellent". It has signed a diverse range of artists, has created its own publishing company, Just Isn't Music, and finds innovative uses of software. The label's first releases — the first five volumes of DJ Food's ''Jazz Brakes'' — were produced by Coldcut in the early 1990s, and were celebrated by the music press and beat aficionados. They were composed of instrumental sample-based cuts that led the duo to help pioneer new instrumental hip hop beats genres (alongside the

Mo'Wax Mo' Wax was a British record label founded by James Lavelle in 1992. The label was not co-founded by Tim Goldsworthy, as is often reported. Steve Finan became co-owner shortly after. Mo' Wax came to recognition for being at the forefront of t ...

label and Ninja Tune artists such as Funki Porcini, The Herbaliser and DJ Vadim) and, to this day, are recognized as being indispensable tools for DJs. The label has since released music of many artists (including The Cinematic Orchestra, Amon Tobin,

Bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee, is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus '' Pan,'' the other being the comm ...

, Kelis,

BICEP The biceps or biceps brachii ( la, musculus biceps brachii, "two-headed muscle of the arm") is a large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads of the muscle arise on the scapula and join t ...

, The Bug,

Machinedrum Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina.Lee Bannon) and distributes for other record labels – including Big Dada,

Brainfeeder Brainfeeder is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It has signed artists such as Ras G, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, The ...

( Flying Lotus' label) and Technicolour Records.

History

1990–1999

Following a Coldcut tour in Japan with Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, then of Beats International, the label lifted its moniker and aesthetic from the Japanese TV shows of the 1950s and 1960s based on the Ninja. With their first releases in the early 1990s, Ninja Tune went on to, according to Pitchfork, "usher in trip-hop/instrumental hip hop". After Coldcut's success with their first label, ''Ahead of Our Time'', contractual issues prevented them from releasing anything under their own name. Ninja Tune's inaugural release was Coldcut's (under the name Bogus Order) house break collection ''Zen Brakes Vol. 1'' in 1990. The label got a bigger name for itself when Coldcut, as DJ Food, released their funky hip hop jazz-breaks album, ''Jazz Brakes Vol. 1'', which, according to ''Record Collector'', "blew up" in the DJ circuit. DJ Food's ''Jazz Brakes'' series were intended as source material for DJs and producers who worked with breaks and beats. In 1992, Peter Quicke joined as label manager, as did Patrick Carpenter, a.k.a. PC, who joined Coldcut as sound engineer. PC would become a crucial member of Ninja Tune, and from ''Jazz Brakes Vol. 4'' onward, an integral part of the DJ Food production team.

Steinski Double Dee and Steinski is a duo of hip hop producers, composed of Doug "Double Dee" DiFranco and Steven "Steinski" Stein. They achieved notoriety in the early 1980s for a series of underground hip-hop sample-based collages known as the "Less ...

, a big inspiration behind Coldcut's initial forays into music, released his first Ninja Tune EP as Steinski and Mass Media in the same year. The single, in the words of Pitchfork, "builds on a catchy loop of the Jackson 5's 'It's Great to Be Here' and creates one of the few anti- Gulf War protest songs of the era, transforming George H. W. ">George_H._W._Bush.html" ;"title="U.S. President George H. W. Bush">George H. W. Bush's speech into a pop Hook (music)">hook ('Regrettably, we now believe/ That only force will make him leave') and interspersing quotes from Jello Biafra ('don't hate the media, become the media!') and Mario Savio's famous 1964 address to the Berkeley Free Speech Movement". Between 1994 and 1997 Ninja explored and defined the instrumental hip hop beats sound further (often known as trip hop). Its pioneering influence on the genre became more prevalent with the label's first compilation, ''Funkjazztical Tricknology'', in 1995. The genre originated in England as a successor to

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

, taking in acid jazz and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, and using hip hop style

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

s rather than the mechanical '4 on the floor' drum rhythm of house. Ninja artists especially looked beyond the normal sampling sources of old funk records into jazz, epitomised by Ninja act The Cinematic Orchestra. Coldcut's contribution to Britain's flourishing scene was solidified by their Solid Steel show on London's

Kiss FM Kiss FM, Kiss Radio or variants may refer to: Asia-Oceania * Various Kiss FM-branded stations in the Philippines ** 95.1 Kiss FM, Lucena, Quezon ** 102.3 Kiss FM, Tagbilaran, Bohol * Kiss92 FM, Singapore * KISS 969, Sri Lanka * Kiss Radio Taiwan ...

, on airwaves since 1988. The ongoing success of Solid Steel, and its subsequent syndication across the globe, broadcast the Ninja brand across the airwaves. The late night Saturday show cut all manner of beats, samples and loops into a chaotic musical blend. The show's 'everything but the kitchen sink' approach continued through Coldcut's "utterly brilliant" ''Journeys by DJ'' series of mix compilations in 1995. The title ''70 Minutes of Madness'' was a nod to Coldcut's earlier Eric B & Rakim remix, and included sounds from

Depth Charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

, DJ Food, Plastikman, Mantronix, Harold Budd and the

Doctor Who theme The ''Doctor Who'' theme music is a piece of music written by Australian composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Created in 1963, it was one of the first electronic music signature tunes for tele ...

. In 1994, Matt Black's close friend Mixmaster Morris introduced Matt to Openmind – a DJ & design collective in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

– at the Telepathic Fish chill-out club they were running. Openmind included Kevin Foakes a.k.a. Strictly Kev of DJ Food. After submitting a re-styled company logo he was employed by Ninja Tune in the capacity of overall design consultant. Matt Black also invited Foakes to Ninja's recording studio, where he eventually joined the many hands at work on DJ Food's 1995 album, ''

Recipe for Disaster ''Recipe for Disaster'' is the second full-length album by the United States, American hard rock band Brand New Sin. It was released in 2005 via Century Media Records. Singles included "Black and Blue," for which a music video was made, and "Days ...

'' (which also included Patrick Carpenter a.k.a. PC, Isaac Elliston, Paul Rabiger and Paul Brooks). The album was called a "whirlwind of beats put through the blender" and proved a good cross-selection of the group's various styles. In 1995, The Herbaliser, one of the more purely hip-hop oriented acts on Ninja Tune's roster at that point released their debut album '' Remedies''. ''Remedies'' brought both the group and the label much attention. Also in 1995, an album launch party for DJ Food's ''Recipe for Disaster'' was the beginning of what would become a regular club night, Stealth. Stealth was named Club of the Year by NME in 1996, with guests including

Kruder & Dorfmeister Kruder & Dorfmeister, named after members Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister, is an Austrian duo, known for their trip hop/downtempo remixes of pop, hip hop and drum and bass songs. Career In 1993, they released their first EP '' G-Stoned'' ...

, Squarepusher, Ashley Beedle, James Lavelle, Kid Koala and the label roster. Around the same time, Ninja Tune began organizing its first package tours across the UK and Europe. With their two 1994 albums, ''Paradise Blown'' and ''Electric Lazyland'', 9 Lazy 9 helped spawn the funky, subterranean sound for which Ninja Tune would earn its early acclaim, combining hip hop and funk breakbeats with jazz-influenced sound. Their success inspired one half of the Italian-based duo, James Braddell, to return to the UK and begin his own solo project. As Funki Porcini, Braddell released ''Hed Phone Sex'' in 1995, which ran through a gamut of genres, from dub to

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

. Braddell continued to explore sonic territories on 1996's ''Let's See What Carmen Can Do'' EP and the ''Love, Pussycats and Car Wrecks'' album from the same year. DJ Vadim, a Russian born turntablist from London, who'd already released EPs on his own Jazz Fudge label, further expanded the vocabulary of instrumental hip hop with his 1996 album ''U.S.S.R. Repertoire'', bringing "locked grooves and ultra-vivid, up-close sample-textures". ''U.S.S.R. Reconstruction'' followed in 1998, a remix album filled with hip hop that The Wire claimed "turns the air into molasses". With ''U.S.S.R. Reconstruction'', Vadim selected a baker's dozen of likeminded producers, including Reflection, Clatterbox. DJ Krush, Silent Poets and Kid Koala, creating an album that flows without a hitch through the darkest hip hop and beat exploration. Throughout the 1990s, Matt Black began exploring his own interests in burgeoning computer and audio/visual technologies, to experiment with the VJ software and hardware that was already changing the Coldcut DJ performances. His Hex collective – also featuring artist Robert Pepperell and programmer Miles Visman – produced video games and multimedia

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

s in the early 1990s, along with subsequent projects that further affirmed Ninja Tune's alliance with A/V disciples. Teaming up with Hexstatic member Stuart Warren-Hill (who also signed to the

Ntone NTone was a sister imprint to the independent record label, Ninja Tune. The imprint was based in London, United Kingdom and specialised in experimental electronic music. The label was originally called "Ninja Tone", but it was felt this was too ...

label for several audio visual albums), Coldcut's "Timber" video – an AV collage piece using analogous techniques to audio sample collage – was put on heavy rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, and won awards for its innovative use of repetitive video clips synced to the music, including being shortlisted at the Edinburgh Television and Film Festival in their top five music videos of the year in 1998. In 1995, Matt Black created ''Pipe'', Ninja's first website. The label's current website ninjatune.net was developed by the following year. Also in 1996, Ninja Tune expanded across the ocean, opening its Montreal office to manage distribution across North America. That same year, Ninja Tune cemented its place with the double-disc ''Flexistentialism'', a rare compilation that featured the label's growing roster, including DJ Food, Funki Porcini, The Herbaliser, Luke Vibert,

and DJ Vadim, among others. With ''Flexistentialism'', Ninja was described as devising "a term that perfectly expresses the antitheses between chaos and order" Amon Tobin, meanwhile, was building groundbreaking

from 1950s big band drum battles. His 1997 Ninja Tune debut, '' Bricolage'', contains influences from drum and bass, hip hop,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, jazz and

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

, all digitally processed to create a sense of the bricolage suggested by the title. The album proved a strong seller, especially in America, where Pitchfork awarded the album a perfect 10.0. The following year's immensely complex album, ''

Permutation In mathematics, a permutation of a set is, loosely speaking, an arrangement of its members into a sequence or linear order, or if the set is already ordered, a rearrangement of its elements. The word "permutation" also refers to the act or proc ...

'', saw Tobin creating electronic experimentation that retools d'n'b's basic structures to a practically surreal extent. In 1997 Stealth finished at the Blue Note (in Hoxton), and Ninja Tune's sister label Big Dada was launched. Coldcut's fourth album ''

Let Us Play! ''Let Us Play!'' is the fourth album by Coldcut, released on 8 September 1997. It was their first album to be released on their own label, Ninja Tune. It was featured in the video game LittleBigPlanet PSP, LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation Por ...

'' was released in September 1997, making its way to the Top 40, reaching No. 33 in the UK Charts. ''Let Us Play!'' paid homage to the greats that inspired them. Their first album to be released on Ninja Tune, it featured guest appearances by

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Fur ...

, Jello Biafra, Jimpster, The Herbaliser, Talvin Singh, Daniel Pemberton and Selena Saliva. Coldcut's cut 'n' paste method on the album was compared to that of Dadaism and William S. Burroughs.

Hex Hex or HEX may refer to: Magic * Hex, a curse or supposed real and potentially supernaturally realized malicious wish * Hex sign, a barn decoration originating in Pennsylvania Dutch regions of the United States * Hex work, a Pennsylvania Dutch ...

collaborated with Coldcut to produce the multimedia CD-ROM for the album. Hex later evolved the software into the engine that was used on the ''Let Us Play!'' world tour. In 1999, ''Let Us Replay!'' was released, a double-disc remix album where Coldcut's classic tunes were remixed by Cornelius (the opener of the album, which was heralded as a highlight of the album), Irresistible Force, Shut Up and Dance, Carl Craig and J Swinscoe. '' Spin Magazine'' stated that ''Let Us Replay!'' pieces together "short sharp shocks that put the mental in 'experimental' and still bring the breaks till the breakadawn". It also includes a few live tracks from the duo's innovative world tour. The CD-ROM of the album, which also contained a free demo disc of the VJamm software, was one of the earliest audiovisual CD- Roms on the market, and

Muzik ''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003. ''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...

claimed deserved to "have them canonized...it's like buying an entire mini studio for under $15". In March 1999, Big Dada introduced Rodney Smith, a.k.a. Roots Manuva. ''Brand New Second Hand'' was, in the words of AllMusic, "a bright moment for British rap, the debut album from Roots Manuva introduced a hip hop chameleon boasting dark productions and a distinct style, plus much more to say than most rappers". He soon became heralded for his unique delivery, which Pitchfork claimed one of the "addictive, compelling, and, above all, heartfelt". Having worked as an intern in the Ninja Tune office in the mid 1990s, Jason Swinscoe became an instrumental part of the team, and by 1998 he released his first 12" as The Cinematic Orchestra, ''Diabolus'', shortly followed by the full length '' Motion''. The surprise hit album landed somewhere between jazz and electronica and gathered samples from unlikely sources. That same year, Swinscoe began performing live with an expanded line-up, featuring Federico Ughi on drums, Alex James on piano and DJ Food's Patrick Carpenter on turntables.

Mr. Scruff Andrew Carthy (born 10 February 1972), better known by his stage name Mr. Scruff, is an English record producer and DJ. He lives in Stretford, Greater Manchester and studied fine art at the Psalter Lane campus of Sheffield Hallam University. ...

's '' Keep It Unreal'' was released in the summer of 1999. Filled with bubbly breakbeats, slick horn sizzles and bristling house beats, the album opened with BBC Radio 1 DJ

Mary Ann Hobbes Mary Anne Hobbs (born 16 May 1964) is an English DJ and music journalist from Lancashire, England. She currently hosts the BBC Radio 6 Music weekday mid-morning show, Monday to Friday, 10:30am1pm, and her ''6 Music Recommends'' show, Wednesda ...

asking, "Are you ready Mr. Scruff?" At some point in 1999, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission decided that DJ Vadim and Sarah Jones' pro-women empowerment record ''Your Revolution'' was "indecent" for radio. The decision ended up in court in 2002, where arguments were advanced for freedom of speech, freedom of expression and to argue the double standards of the ban and fine.

2000–2010

In 2000, Ninja Tune celebrated its first decade of music with ''Xen Cuts'', a three CD, 6 x LP box set that provided a collection of their artists. The mostly downtempo affair featured the likes of Latyrx (Lyrics Born and Lateef), The Herbaliser, Kid Koala and Luke Vibert,

Clifford Gilberto Clifford may refer to: People *Clifford (name), an English given name and surname, includes a list of people with that name *William Kingdon Clifford *Baron Clifford *Baron Clifford of Chudleigh *Baron de Clifford *Clifford baronets *Clifford fami ...

, Amon Tobin and Funki Porcini. Also in 2000, Kid Koala released '' Carpal Tunnel Syndrome'', "a playfully arranged montage of quirky sound bites, rhythmic scratching and fluid hip hop beats". Relying as heavily upon comedy albums and sound effects records as jazz and funk vinyl for sample material, the release, which was called brilliant and humorous received much critical success. Kid Koala cut two further highly acclaimed albums for Ninja, 2003's ''

Some of My Best Friends Are DJs ''Some of My Best Friends Are DJs'' is the second studio album by Canadian turntablist Kid Koala, released on Ninja Tune in 2003. It peaked at number 26 on the UK Independent Albums Chart. Critical reception On Metacritic, ''Some of My Best Frien ...

'' and 2006's ''

Your Mom's Favorite DJ ''Your Mom's Favorite DJ'' is the third studio album by Canadian turntablist Kid Koala, released on Ninja Tune in 2006. The album features three rock-influenced “Slew Test” tracks that were later included in different, extended form on ''100%' ...

''. In 2001, Roots Manuva delivered his second album, '' Run Come Save Me'', which was deemed one of the albums of the year by '' The Independent'', and "not just a landmark UK hip hop album, but a landmark hip hop album period" by Mojo. The album charted at number 33 in the UK Charts. "Witness (1 Hope)", the first single off the album, charted at No. 45, and was declared by AllMusic as being "the best British rap single since Tricky's 'Aftermath'". ''Run Come Save Me'' won a nomination for the 2002 Mercury Music Award, and was called by '' The Times'' "Too maverick, too brilliantly original a talent to be tethered by mere genre or geography."missing ref Also in 2001 Cornwall's Luke Vibert joined Ninja Tune. Growing up amongst contemporaries

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...

and Tom Middleton/ Global Communication, Vibert had made a name for himself in experimental electronica, though his name has always been hard to pin down: he operates under several different aliases. With the moniker

Wagon Christ Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...

, Vibert released '' Musipal'' on Ninja, which '' NME'' called "an intriguing procession of cheeky collages".

's second album on Ninja Tune, '' Trouser Jazz'', was released on 9 September 2002. It charted at 29 on the UK Chart. In 2003, Simon Green, a.k.a.

, released his first proper Ninja album, '' Dial 'M' for Monkey'', a subliminally seductive collection of atmospheric instrumentals. A live version of Bonobo soon took to the road, which seeped into the production of 2006's '' Days to Come,'' an album that blurs the line between a programmed and live sound and created "a daydream vibe embedded within its moodiness". Blurring lines further, Coldcut collaborated with American video mashup artist TV Sheriff in 2004 to produce their cut-up entitled ''Revolution USA''. The tactical-media project (coordinated with Canadian art duo NomIg) followed on from the UK version and extended the premise "into an open access participatory project". Through the multimedia political art project, over 12 gigabytes of footage from the last 40 years of US politics were made accessible to download, allowing participants to create a cut-up over a Coldcut beat. Coldcut also collaborated with TV Sheriff and NomIg to produce two audiovisual pieces "World of Evil" (2004) and "Revolution '08" (2008), both composed of footage from the United States presidential elections of respective years. The music used was composed by Coldcut, with "Revolution '08" featuring a remix by The Qemists. Roots Manuva climbed back into the limelight at the beginning of 2005, with his deft album ''

Awfully Deep ''Awfully Deep'' is a studio album by British alternative hip hop artist Roots Manuva, released in 2005 by Big Dada. A limited edition version of the CD was released, which included a second disc entitled ''The Noodle Pack: Demos, Versions and ...

''. His third album, which reached number 24 in the UK Charts, was celebrated by critics for his growth as an artist, with '' NME'' calling it "a set of immense maturity that never rubs your nose in its thematic complexity, compositional innovation and thunderous thump-beats". The Cinematic Orchestra scored a new soundtrack, Man with a Movie Camera, for a screening of the visionary 1929 Russian silent feature, '' Man with a Movie Camera'', for the 2000 Portuguese Film Festival Fantasporto. The following year it was performed at the opening gala of Portugal's year as European Capital of Culture in Porto in front of 3000 people. The material written for this film score laid the groundwork for what would be The Cinematic Orchestra's second full-length, '' Every Day'', released in May 2002, and one of Ninja's best-selling albums. Roots Manuva featured on the track "All Things to All Men", which later soundtracked the final scenes of 2006 movie '' Kidulthood''. The Cinematic Orchestra's albums grew increasingly ambitious over the years, with 2007's '' Ma Fleur'' album marking a move away from beats, and embracing folk influences. The album was based on the work of photographer Maya Hayuk (who commissioned 11 pictures based on three short stories recounting the journey from birth to death), and conceived by Swinscoe as the premise for the score of an imaginary film. Album track "To Build a Home" became one of Ninja's top tracks of all time (with its fan video clocking up nearly 9 million plays), and track "TBAH" features vocals from Patrick Watson, which became the band's most successful song. Following Jason Swinscoe's vocal appreciation of

Jaga Jazzist Jaga Jazzist (also known as Jaga) is a Norwegian experimental jazz band, that rose to prominence when the BBC named their second album, ''A Livingroom Hush'' (Smalltown Supersound/Ninja Tune), the best jazz album of 2002. (in Norwegian) Biograph ...

's 2001 album '' A Livingroom Hush'', the Norwegian jazz band signed to Ninja Tune to re-release ''A Livingroom Hush'' in 2002, followed by ''The Stix'' later that year, and their fourth album ''What We Must'' in 2005. Coldcut returned with the single "Everything Is Under Control" at the end of 2005, featuring Jon Spencer (of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) and Mike Ladd. It was followed in 2006 by their fifth studio album '' Sound Mirrors'', which was quoted as being "one of the most vital and imaginative records Jon More and Matt Black have ever made", and saw the duo "continue, impressively, to find new ways to present political statements through a gamut of pristine electronics and breakbeats". The fascinating array of guest vocalists included Soweto Kinch,

Annette Peacock Annette Peacock is an American composer, musician, songwriter, producer, and arranger. She is a pioneer in electronic music who combined her voice with one of the first Moog synthesizers in the late 1960s. Biography Annette Peacock was writing ...

Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous bo ...

, and

Saul Williams Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor. He is known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop, and for his lead roles in the 1998 independent film ''Slam'' ...

. Ninja hooked up with L.A. filmmaker and photographer B+, who had filmed ''Keepintime: Talking Drums Whispering Vinyl'', a short movie documenting a meeting between jazz/funk drummers Paul Humphrey and James Gadson, and a bunch of turntablists who now scratched and sampled their breakbeats, including DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and the Beat Junkies. This project snowballed into a live concert featuring the drum duo jamming along with the turntablists – and included extra guests Madlib and DJ Numark. In 2005, Ninja released ''Keep in Time: A Live Recording'', a CD/DVD package that included remixes from King Britt,

Oh No Oh No may refer to: * An exclamation used to indicate shock or dismay, primarily used in the English language Music * Oh No (musician) (born 1979), American rapper Albums * ''Oh No!'', 2004 album by Crackout * ''Oh No'' (OK Go album), 2005 * ...

J Rocc The Beat Junkies is an American hip hop crew of DJs specializing in turntablism. Established in 1992 in Orange County, California by J. Rocc. As of 2014, The Beat Junkie Crew also host their own record pool, clothing line and radio station. Th ...

and AmmonContact. Back in London, having previously scored a place with his college band E.V.A. on the 1996 Ninja 12" ''One Track Mind'', Fin Greenall subsequently signed to the label as a solo artist, under the name Fink. First releasing ''Fresh Produce'' – an atmospheric set of downtempo instrumental hip hop tracks – on sister label

in 2000, it was 2006's ''

Biscuits for Breakfast ''Biscuits for Breakfast'' is the second album from British musician Fin Greenall and, collectively as Fink, the band's debut album. It was released in 2006 on Ninja Tune. Background Prior to this album, Fin Greenall had been DJing and produc ...

'' album that set Fink officially on Ninja Tune. And it set him far apart from the rest of the label, going his own way to become a full-blown, guitar picking singer-songwriter. Two subsequent full lengths – 2007's ''

Distance and Time ''Distance and Time'' is the third album of original studio material from British musician Fink. It was released on 1 October 2007 on the Ninja Tune independent record label. The track "Make It Good" is a variation on a song that Fink appear ...

'' and 2009's ''

Sort of Revolution ''Sort of Revolution'' is the fourth album of original studio material from British musician Fink (singer), Fink, also known as Fin Greenall. It was released on 25 May 2009, on the Ninja Tune independent record label. Track listing Personnel ...

'' (which featured song-writing collaborations with John Legend) have seen Fink further develop this new sound. On the topic of sound, noise manipulator Amon Tobin came back around at the beginning of 2007 with '' Foley Room'', his sixth studio album, and a long player that was called his "darkest work yet". Tobin was inspired by the work of foley artists: a foley room is where the sound effects are recorded for films; foley artists use their imagination and ingenuity to make the right noise for the situation they are presented with. Amon and a team of assistants headed out into the streets with high sensitivity microphones and recorded found sounds from tigers roaring to cats eating rats, from wasps to falling chickpeas, kitchen utensils to motorbikes to water dripping from a tap. Added to this were the sounds of

The Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary class ...

, Stefan Schneider (of To Rococo Rot) and Sarah Pagé, Tobin travelling from foley rooms in Montreal to San Francisco to Seattle and back as he collected them (the CD release is accompanied by a short DVD, ''Foley Room: Found Footage'', documenting the recording process). Kevin Martin began developing his own sound further as The Bug, after other projects as GOD, Techno Animal, Ice and Curse of the Golden Vampire. The Bug's second album in 2003, ''Pressure'', demonstrated a fully formed aesthetic – stark spaces, gleefully subsonic bass – holding collaborations with vocalists such as Toastie Taylor, Wayne Lonesome and Daddy Freddy. 2008's ''London Zoo'', meanwhile, was The Bug's third album – and first for Ninja Tune. Recorded over three years with its maker living in his studio, without a kitchen or shower, the album included collaborations with Warrior Queen, Tippa Irie,

Burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

, Kode9 collaborator Spaceape, and even singer-toaster Ricky Ranking showing up on three tracks. The multivocal, spoken-sung, collaborative album has enjoyed recent cult success, appearing in many outlets' Best of 2008 lists. The year 2008 launched Ninja Tune's ''You Don't Know'', their sixth official label sampler, and, like its predecessors, contained high quality picks from their major releases, with select remixes and a few rarities. While 2007's ''Well Deep'' multimedia package shed light on Big Dada, Ninja Cuts drew a healthy cross-section from all three Ninja associated labels. 2008 also marked Daedelus' first official Ninja album, ''

Love to Make Music To ''Love to Make Music To'' is a studio album by American electronic music producer Daedelus. It was released on Ninja Tune in 2008. Critical reception Michael Slevin of '' The Skinny'' gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying: "The songs on this a ...

'', after his previous albums '' Exquisite Corpse'' and '' Denies the Day's Demise'' had been licensed by Ninja Tune. The album showcased the L.A. artist's diverse nature and his skills as a multi-instrumentalist as well as his engrossing stylistic shifts. Additionally that year (a year after their 2007 ''Stompbox'' 12"), The Qemists released their debut album, ''Join the Q.'' Known to construct some of the most energetic breakbeats of the late 2000s, the vinyl version of the album comes as four super-heavy platters, weighing nearly a kilogram. In 2008, an international group of party organisers, activists and artists – including Coldcut – received a grant from the Intelligent Energy Department of the European Union, to create a project that promoted intelligent energy and environmental awareness to the youth of Europe. The result was ''Energy Union'', a piece of VJ cinema, political campaign, music tour, party, art exhibition and social media hub. ''Energy Union'' toured 12 EU countries throughout 2009 and 2010, completing 24 events in total. Coldcut created the ''Energy Union'' show for the tour, a one-hour Audio/Visual montage on the theme of Intelligent Energy. In presenting new ideas for climate, environmental and energy communication strategies, the ''Energy Union'' tour was well received, and reached a widespread audience in cities across the UK, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain and the Czech Republic.missing reference Speech Debelle's debut album, 2009's ''

Speech Therapy Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...

'', finally scored Big Dada a Mercury Prize, after prior nominations for Roots Manuva's '' Run Come Save Me'' and Ty's '' Upwards''. With the album, NME called her: "one to seriously watch".

2010–present

In 2010, Ninja Tune celebrated 20 years of releasing music. A book entitled Ninja Tune: ''20 Years of Beats and Pieces'' was released on 12 August 2010, and an exhibition was held at

Black Dog Publishing Black Dog Publishing was a British publishing company specialising in illustrated non-fiction books on contemporary culture. Topics covered by Black Dog include architecture, art, craft, design, environment, fashion, film, music and photograph ...

's Black Dog Space in London showcasing artwork, design and photography from the label's 20-year history. A "stunning futurespective" compilation album was released on 20 September in two formats – a regular version consisting of two 2-disc volumes, and a limited edition (of 3,500 copies), containing six CDs, six 7" vinyl singles, a hardback copy of the book, a poster and additional items. It featured new music from Amon Tobin (also as Two Fingers), Roots Manuva, The Cinematic Orchestra, Kid Koala, Mr Scruff, The Bug, King Geedorah, Zomby,

, Toddla T, Daedelus, Dorian Concept, Floating Points,

, cLOUDDEAD and many others. It also included new remixes from Switch, Autechre, Benga, Cut Chemist,

Modeselektor Modeselektor is a German electronic music duo consisting of Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. History The group members met in 1992 in Berlin with group member Szary performing live acid house music at illegal underground parties, under t ...

, Roots Manuva,

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

, Gold Panda, Mark Pritchard,

Rustie Rustie (born Russell Whyte) is a Scottish musician from Glasgow. He is associated with the Numbers label collective and first received attention for his 2007 EP ''Jagz the Smack''. He signed to Warp Records in 2009. His 2011 debut album '' Glas ...

, Prefuse 73,

808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' New ...

, Joe Goddard, King Jammy, The Orb, Micachu,

Gaslamp Killer William Benjamin Bensussen (born November 7, 1982), better known by his stage name The Gaslamp Killer, is an American alternative hip hop producer and DJ based in Los Angeles, California. Career He grew up in San Diego, California, where he beca ...

, Kronos Quartet, Mala, El-P (and El-B) and many more. In The Independent's "Album of the Week" review, the compilation was deemed "a glorious celebration of Ninja Tune's audio splendour". As part of the 20th anniversary, Ninja Tune produced 20 different events around the world. Ninja Tune sold out

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in London, with The Cinematic Orchestra, Amon Tobin and Dorian Concept all presenting a one-off orchestral performance with the London Metropolitan Orchestra arranged by composer

Ilan Eshkeri Ilan Eshkeri (born 7 April 1977) is a British neoclassical composer known for his concert music, films scores and artist collaborations. Early life Eshkeri was born to a Jewish family in London. During his childhood, he learned to play the ...

. For a separate London event, Ninja also placed a legendary rave in 3 rooms in a car park behind the Tate Modern with all of their artists in one place for first time (artists included Coldcut, Mr Scruff, Roots Manuva, Toddla T, The Bug, Daedelus, Kid Koala, Bonobo, Dj Food + DK, Mark Pritchard, DJ Kentaro, Dorian Concept, XXXchange (Spank Rock), DELS, Floating Points, Jammer, Dark Sky and Offshore). For the Ninja XX gig in New York, the label's venue (Santos Party House) was shut down unexpectedly, moving the event at the last minute to the Bowery (CITATION: Brooklyn Vegan, 28 October 2010). In October 2011, Ninja Tune's massive "Ninja Tune XX" campaign won "Innovative Marketing Campaign of the Year" at the 2011 AIM Awards. It was around this time that Ninja Tune began expanding its roster in an interesting new direction, co-signing underground labels with whom they felt artistically aligned. In February 2010, LA-based producer Flying Lotus, a.k.a. Steven Ellison, announced his Brainfeeder imprint had struck up a partnership for Ninja Tune to handle manufacturing, marketing and distribution for Brainfeeder everywhere outside the US. In April 2010, Sheffield-born producer and DJ Toddla T (who'd originally arrived at Ninja having produced parts of Roots Manuva's 2008 album, '' Slime & Reason'', which reached number 22 in the UK Charts) also signed his Girls Music record label to Ninja Tune for distribution, manufacturing and marketing, in addition to signing a three-album deal. In June 2012, Ninja announced a partnership with underground artist Actress and his Werkdiscs imprint, home to Zomby's ''Where Were U in 92?'', Actress's ''Hazyville'', and various records by Lukid and Lone. Also in 2010, Bonobo's own ''Black Sands'' album marked his fourth full-length. It pushed Bonobo's sound "much more steeped in beat-making, creating deluxe, post-dance soundscapes", and achieved worldwide commercial success. In February 2012, Ninja followed up with a remix album, ''Black Sands Remixed'', which featured re-imaginings from producers such as Lapalux, Mark Pritchard,

Machinedrum Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina.FaltyDL. A couple months before, in November 2011, New York producer FaltyDL had made his debut on the Ninja roster with his ''Atlantis'' EP, a "smoother and shufflier" ride than most of his earlier work. His work for Ninja was deemed "calm and focused, a trend that continued on his third album", ''Hardcourage'', released in January 2012. The album was "sure-footed and big-hearted, accessible and yet cerebral".

returned in 2010 with their strongest release to date, ''One-Armed Bandit'', which featured new members within Jaga Jazzist's ranks and included "tropical polyrhythms, modernist patterns, and even techno-inspired synth sequences". Another release that pushed Ninja to new sonic territories came from London-based artist Floating Points at the end of 2010 with 'Post Suite / Almost in Profile'. The Floating Points Ensemble is an instrumental ensemble headed by himself on Fender Rhodes and Sequential Circuits Pro One and Prophet keyboards. The double A-side 10" vinyl single featured two tracks by the full Ensemble, recorded and mixed at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

for the Ninja Tune XX twentieth anniversary celebration. In 2010, a sound designer from Berlin (by way of Bristol), Emika, brought a new sound to the label, with her melodic, R&B tinged bass-heavy 'Double Edge.' Her self-titled debut was later released in 2011, bridging the "minimalist menace of Bristol dubstep to breathy accessible vocals and classical piano". On her 2013 follow-up, 'DVA,' Emika beefed up her songwriting, focusing on political and personal themes. In March 2011, another exploratory bass cadet – Dorian Concept – released his first Ninja EP, ''Her Tears Taste Like Pears''. It proved to be a "solid example of the kind of genius Concept, himself something of a child piano prodigy, is capable of". The following May saw the release of a much-awaited album from Amon Tobin, '' ISAM'', which set a new benchmark for live electronic music. Tobin decided to step away from previous DJ centric performances, and instead provided a large-scale live audio/visual experience to select cities around the world. Developed alongside V Squared Labs, Leviathan, Vello Virkhaus & Matt Daly, Alex Lazarus, Vitamotus Design Studio, and Stefano Novelli, the show featured a 25' x 14' x 8' multi-dimensional/ shape shifting 3D art installation surrounding Tobin and enveloping him and the audience in a 3D experience. Tobin conceptualized the show as a projection mapped "visual score" to the music from ''ISAM''. The show completed a sold-out 15-show run through US and Canada, in addition to five sold out UK/EU shows. In 2012, ISAM Live returned with a larger tour, starting at Coachella and traveling to

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

, London's Brixton Academy, New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, Greek Theatre (Los Angeles), Sonar (Barcelona), as well as full European and US tours throughout summer and fall. In May 2012, Ninja Tune released an Amon Tobin box set (7 × CD, 2 × DVD, 6 × Vinyl, 10"). At the beginning of 2012, Speech Debelle returned to Big Dada, after much critical speculation about leaving the label. She returned from her Mercury Prize win to release another critically acclaimed album, 'Freedom Of Speech,' with – according to Scottish magazine The Skinny – "a verve and vigour that more than justify the early hype". The "refreshingly outspoken" album went on to "trounce all expectations" and was awarded CD of the week by Evening Standard. In 2009, Ninja's longest-serving artist, DJ Food a.k.a. Strictly Kev, released the 2009 EP 'One Man's Weird Is Another Man's World,' and its 2010 follow up 'The Shape Of Things That Hum' made up two-thirds of a forthcoming album. In January 2012, 'The Search Engine' was released as the first DJ Food album in 11 years. As an album release event, DJ Food created his most ambitious live gig to date: a bespoke AV live show for London's only public planetarium, in conjunction with astronomers from The Royal Observatory Greenwich, using art from The Search Engine, images from Kev's own visual archive, plus a wealth of material provided by the astronomers themselves. Kev adapted his content to fit Montreal's Satosphere in July. In mid 2012, The Bug announced that after "London Zoo," he set out a new genre and sub-label with Ninja Tune: Acid Ragga. Releasing a set of 7"'s, in June the first Bug track – "Can't Take This No More" – unleashed featuring the legendary Daddy Freddy, while on the flip "Rise Up" featured Inga Copeland of Hype Williams. The "Ganja Baby" 7-inch released shortly afterwards, featuring Daddy Freddy, followed by the 2 x 10" Filthy EP featuring rapper Danny Brown and long time collaborator Flowdan. In August 2012, London-based band The Invisible dropped their second album, the "cerebral yet instantly accessible" 'Rispah,' on Ninja Tune, having been recorded in Brighton – with producer

Richard File Richard File (born 19 November 1975) is a British composer, music producer, and vocalist best known for his work with James Lavelle as part of Unkle. He has also released singles under the alias Forme. Career File joined Unkle in 1999, having ...

. The trio's self-titled debut album (produced by

Matthew Herbert Matthew Herbert (born 1972), also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, and Wishmountain, is a British electronic musician. He often takes sounds from everyday items to produce electronic music. Career Mat ...

) in 2009 was nominated for the Mercury Prize and selected as critics choice for iTunes album of the year. The band's tongue-in-cheek definition of their style of music is 'Experimental Genre-Spanning Spacepop'. In 2012, Ninja Tune also struck a deal with game developer United Front Games and their publisher

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

for their game '' Sleeping Dogs''. Ninja Tune was featured as a in-game radio channel available to the player during gameplay, one of the ten total. The station featured a select group of works by the real life Ninja Tune record and their then artist lineup, including works by Bonobo, Lorn, Emika, Stateless, Two Fingers, and Cinematic Orchestra among others, for a total of 18 tracks. Ninja Tune scored well at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2013, with

winning "Label of the Year" – and Ninja Tune scoring 2nd – with the public vote. Invisible's ''Rispah'' also won album of the year. In typical pioneering fashion, in February 2013, Ninja Tune spearheaded the launch of Beat Delete – a new service for out of press vinyl. The demise of

Sony DADC Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation (Sony DADC) is a manufacturer of CDs, DVDs, Universal Media Disc, UMDs, and Blu-ray Discs. The company has many plants worldwide. Although it primarily services Sony Music Entertainment-owned record labels, Son ...

warehouse in Edmonton (destroyed during the London riots in the summer of 2011), left many independent labels ravaged. Ninja Tune launched a website Beat Delete as a pledge scheme enabling fans to partially fund the release of rare collectibles. In April 2013, Coldcut released Ninja Jamm, an iOS music remix

app App, Apps or APP may refer to: Computing * Application software * Mobile app, software designed to run on smartphones and other mobile devices * Web application or web app, software designed to run inside a web browser * Adjusted Peak Performan ...

, in collaboration with London-based arts and technology firm Seeper. Geared toward both casual listeners and more experienced DJs and music producers, the freemium app allows users to download and remix "Tunepacks" that feature original tracks and mixes by Coldcut, as well as other Ninja artists, creating something new altogether. With the "intuitive yet deep" app, users can turn instruments on and off, swap between clips, add glitches and effects, trigger and pitch-bend stabs and one-off samples, and change the tempo of the track instantly. Users can additionally record as they mix and instantly upload to SoundCloud or save the mixes locally. Tunepack releases for Ninja Jamm are increasingly synchronised with Ninja Tune releases on conventional formats. To date over 20 tunepacks have been released, including Amon Tobin,

, Coldcut, DJ Food,

Martyn Martyn may refer to: *Martyn (surname), one of the Tribes of Galway and others *Martyn (given name) See also *Martin (disambiguation) *Marten (disambiguation) A marten is a mammal in the family ''Mustelidae''. Marten, Mårten, or Martén may also ...

, Emika,

Machinedrum Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina.Raffertie, Irresistible Force, Falty DL. In March 2013, Bonobo unleashed his highly anticipated follow-up to ''Black Sands'', the triumphant and revelatory ''The North Borders''. Hailed as being sumptuous and accomplished, the album featured Erykah Badu, Motion Audio artist Grey Reverend, British singer Szjerdene and Swedish singer-songwriter Cornelia. Visual artist Cyriak's video for Bonobo's "Cirrus" was a cascading visual mantra that hit over 1 million views. The album charted at number 29 on the UK Album Charts. The following November, Bonobo released his contribution to the '' Late Night Tales'' series with a 21-track selection, which Bonobo described as ranging "from neo-classical to more abstract electronic pieces to spiritual jazz." Bonobo's popularity in the live spectrum continues to grow, having sold out a Roundhouse Ninja Tune festival in 2013 and

. He has a live performance scheduled at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...

in November 2014. Another popular Ninja Tune artist,

Travis Stewart Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina.Machinedrum Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina.XLR8R donned "quite possibly deeper and more ambitious than anything we've heard from Stewart to date". After releasing a second 12" ("Gunshotta Ave") the following month, Machinedrum released his full LP ''

Vapor City Vapor City is the first album released by Travis Stewart, p.k.a Machinedrum on Ninja Tune and his nineteenth release under the Machinedrum name overall. It was released on September 29, 2013. Production The concept for ''Vapor City'' came about ...

'' at the end of September 2013. A visceral album about an imaginary metropolis, ''Vapor City'' received much acclaim from critics and DJs alike, even landing three live performances on the Boiler Room (New York, Berlin and London). Machinedrum claimed it was his biggest and boldest project to date. In January 2014, Big Dada released a deluxe European edition of Killer Mike and El-P's Run the Jewels album, featuring new artwork, a new colour vinyl LP + 12" release plus deluxe CD and download editions. Ninja Tune also released Actress' fourth album, ''Ghettoville'' in January 2014. The exquisite In April 2014, new Ninja Tune signing Kelis released a raw soul record entirely produced by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek. Kelis says of the signing: "I'm really happy to be partnering with Ninja Tune on my new record. This is the album I've wanted to make for a long time." In May 2014, "UK festival favorite" Mr Scruff released his fifth LP on Ninja Tune, entitled ''Friendly Bacteria''. Meanwhile, The Bug is continuing his series of "Acid Ragga" singles throughout 2014, leading up to his next full length later in the year, ''Angels & Devils''. Names that The Bug has worked with on the project (in addition to

Inga Copeland Alina Astrova, better known by the recording aliases Lolina and Inga Copeland, is an Estonian experimental musician and singer living in London. In addition to her solo work, she collaborated with British musician Dean Blunt on various releases, ...

and Daddy Freddy) include Death Grips, Gonjasufi, Grouper, JK Flesh (Godflesh/Jesu), The Spaceape, Flowdan, Warrior Queen and Earth's Dylan Carlson. On 2 November 2014, Young Fathers' "Dead" entered the official top 100 UK album chart for the first time, four days after their Mercury success, debuting at 35. On 30 October 2015, Big Dada's Roots Manuva released his 9th studio album entitled '' Bleeds'', receiving positive reviews in most publications, currently holding an 80% score on Metacritic. Kamasi Washington debut solo recording, '' The Epic'', was released in May 2015 via Flying Lotus'

to critical acclaim. It appeared on numerous 'Best of 2015' lists, including publications such as

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

, The Guardian, Pitchfork, Vice's

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

, MOJO,

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

, Rolling Stone and many more.

released his sixth album, '' Migration'', in January 2017. It was announced on 3 November 2016 with the release of the single "Kerala" and an official video. The official video for the single is directed by Bison ( Jon Hopkins/ London Grammar/

Rosie Lowe Rosie Lowe is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence by releasing her debut single "Right Thing" in November 2013. She released her debut extended play under the same name the following year. She subsequently released her 2016 ...

), featuring lead Gemma Arterton (''

Quantum of Solace ''Quantum of Solace'' is a 2008 spy film and the twenty-second in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sequel to Casino Royale (2006 film), ''Casino Royale'' (2006). Directed by Marc Forst ...

''/'' Inside No. 9''). The album artwork was designed by Neil Krug (

Boards of Canada Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin, formed initially as a group in 1986 before becoming a duo in the 1990s.Hoffmann, Heiko.Pitchfork: Interviews: Boards of Canada (Septemb ...

/ Lana Del Rey). The album features Nick Murphy, Rhye, Innov Gnawa and Hundred Waters. The album and the track "Bambro Koyo Ganda" were nominated for the 60th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Dance Recording and Best Dance/Electronic Album. The album peaked higher in the UK chart (number 5) and in the US (number 59). In 2018, Bonobo's "Migration" album also won Album of the Year at the 2017 Electronic Music Awards and Bonobo was also nominated for Live Act of the Year. Around the release of the album, Bonobo performed sold-out shows at venues such as Brixton Academy and

. On 19 May 2017, Ninja Tune Founders Coldcut and Adrian Sherwood released their collaborative debut album ''Outside The Echo Chamber'' via Ninja imprint Ahead of our Time. Collaborators that featured on the album included Lee "Scratch" Perry, Roots Manuva,

Junior Reid Delroy "Junior" Reid (born 6 June 1963) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall musician, best known for his featuring on the songs " One Blood", " It's Okay (One Blood)" and "This Is Why I'm Hot", as well as being the lead vocalist for Black Uhuru ...

, Ce’Cile,

Sugar Hill Gang Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...

alumni Skip McDonald and Doug Wimbish on Guitar and Bass respectively and production from Toddla T. In 2017 Ahead Of Our Time released the album ''Stories From Far Away On Piano'' by

James Heather James Heather (born 16 March 1980) is a British pianist and composer based in London. He releases music on ''Ninja Tune'' founders '' Coldcut''’s other record label Ahead Of Our Time. Heather released his debut album, ''Stories From Far Away ...

, and also released its follow up in 2022, the album ''Invisible Forces''. After signing to Ninja Tune in 2017, Belfast based duo

Bicep The biceps or biceps brachii ( la, musculus biceps brachii, "two-headed muscle of the arm") is a large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads of the muscle arise on the scapula and join t ...

released their long-awaited debut album ''

'', which reached the Top 20 of the UK Album Charts and received positive reviews on its release, with support from publications such as Pitchfork, The Guardian,

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. It was established in 2001. ''RA''s editorial team provides news, musi ...

and a cover feature on Mixmag. They went on to play a sold-out show at London's Roundhouse. '' A Moment Apart'', Odesza's third studio album was released on 8 September 2017 on Ninja Tune imprint Counter Records. It reached #3 on the ''Billboard'' 200, while topping the Top Electronic/Dance Albums Chart. It was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album, with "Line of Sight" also nominated for Best Dance Recording, at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in 2018. The duo were also nominated for Producer of the Year at the 2017 Electronic Music Awards. Young Fathers' third studio album, ''

Cocoa Sugar ''Cocoa Sugar'' is the third studio album by Scottish indie group Young Fathers. It was released on Ninja Tune on 9 March 2018. It won the Scottish Album of the Year Award for 2018. It peaked at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart. Artwork The album ...

,'' was announced with the single "In My View" on 17 January 2018. The album was released to critical acclaim on 9 March 2018. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 28, making it the band's highest-charting album.UK Music Charts. Due to their support of Palestinians through the BDS movement, the band was dropped from the 2018 Ruhrtriennale line-up. Berlin based South Korean Dj and Producer Peggy Gou released her EP ''Once'' in March 2018, with lead single "It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)", on which she sings in Korean, receiving widespread radio play on stations like BBC Radio 1,

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

and more. This earned Peggy a place on publication Dazed's top 100 artists of the year. Following the release of the 'Audio Track 5' EP and live performances at the

Strelka Institute Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design is a non-profit international educational project, founded in 2009 and located in Moscow. Strelka incorporates an education programme on urbanism and urban development aimed at professionals wit ...

(Moscow),

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

and the Tate Modern, electronic producer and musician Darren Cunningham AKA Actress and the

London Contemporary Orchestra The London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO), founded in 2008 by Hugh Brunt and Robert Ames, is an ensemble of young musicians whose stated aim is "to explore and promote new music to an increasingly wide audience". LCO staged its inaugural season at ...

released a full album of their collaboration on 25 May 2018 entitled 'LAGEOS'. Originally performed at the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

in February 2016, the project was curated by Boiler Room and

with support from

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

and Ninja Tune. In December 2017, Ninja artist Helena Hauff became the first ever female DJ to be named BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix of the year. She was also rated number 1 in

Crack Magazine ''Crack'' is a monthly independent music and culture magazine distributed across Europe. Founded in Bristol in the UK in 2009, the magazine has featured Björk, MF Doom, Lil Yachty, FKA twigs, Gorillaz and Queens of the Stone Age on the cover. T ...

's "50 Most Exciting DJs Right Now" 2017. On 3 August 2018 the Hamburg-based Techno producer and DJ released her album "Qualm". The album currently holds an 82% rating on Metacritic indicating "Universal acclaim", with five star write ups in publications such as The Guardian. The subsidiary label Technicolour released

Yu Su Yu Su is an electronic dance music producer and DJ. She was born in Kaifeng, China, and moved to Vancouver, Canada, in 2013. She started to produce music the following year and after a tour of mainland China in 2019 from Qingdao Qingdao (, ...

's ''Watermelon Woman'' EP in 2019.

Design

As the imprint grew, Ninja grew into an 'anti-corporate' brand, supporting the work of visual artists, filmmakers, and mavericks of all media, running its own club nights and helping disseminate the work of its artists across the globe. From its very beginnings, Ninja Tune sought a strong visual identity, thanks to Michael Bartalos (whose original logo was a monochrome woodcut of a hooded ninja brandishing his long sword) and Mark Porter, Matt Black's friend from Oxford, Ninja's first art director who defined the logo and overall aesthetic (in addition to creating Ninja's striking yellow and black in-house record bags), and subsequently became Art Director at The Guardian. It was the arrival of Kevin Foakes as in-house designer in 1994 that developed the logo to its current international recognition, and became largely responsible for some of the label's most iconic artwork. Working as Openmind, Foakes has designed many of Ninja's album sleeves, including memorable covers for Amon Tobin, Coldcut and Funki Porcini's 2002 album ''Fast Asleep''. He's also commissioned acclaimed outside talent for a number of key projects. Foakes' Ninja logo has found its way in diverse remix forms onto DJ bags (the "Wax Sack"), cigarette lighters, T-shirts, turntable slip-mats, iPod skins (bearing the slogan "Remember vinyl?"), sunglasses by Japanese company Less Than Human and the label's own brand of cigarette rolling papers ("Ninja Skins"). French

urban vinyl Art toys, also called designer toys, are toys and collectibles created by artists and designers that are either self-produced or made by small, independent toy companies, typically in very limited editions. Artists use a variety of materials, such ...

specialists Rolito also marketed a Foakes-designed toy Ninja, who came armed with a 3" CD of Ninja Tunes. Ewan Robertson (a.k.a. Offshore) and Oscar Bauer, were integral co-designers for Ninja Tune or Big Dada, responsible for iconic covers such as the , Playtime Is Over'', the Roots Manuva slime-head for '' Slime & Reason'' and

's '' Black Sands'' triptych. Some Ninja Tune artists, meanwhile, design their own sleeves, such as Mr Scruff, whose cartoon illustrations are emblazoned across much of his catalogue and merchandise. Another prodigious cartoonist who designs his own sleeves is Kid Koala, whose ''Nufonia Must Fall'' graphic novel was published in 2003 by

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...

in association with Ninja Tune, and whose 2000 debut album, '' Carpal Tunnel Syndrome'', and its 2003 follow-up ''

'' came accompanied by Koala-illustrated comic books. Other unique promotional Ninja Tune items include Coldcut's Top Trump-inspired ''Control Cards'', Amon Tobin ear-plugs, Kid Koala-illustrated playing cards, Mr Scruff-designed jigsaw puzzles, Scruff-branded tins of tuna-in-brine (to promote his 2008 LP '' Ninja Tuna'', which was available pre-loaded on a tuna-shaped USB stick), The Heavy and TTC-branded condoms, and plastic travelcard wallets emblazoned with artwork from Big Dada's ''Well Deep'' compilation and Roots Manuva's ''Slime & Reason'' album. As part of Ninja Tune's 20th Anniversary in 2010, 3500 Ninja Tune XX box sets were released, all housed in limited edition hi-spec packaging designed and conceived by Ninja artwork legend Openmind. In May 2013, golden ticket holders for Bonobo's Camden Roundhouse gig in London were given a limited edition 12" for Bonobo's "Cirrus", which came in gatefold plastic cover with "zoetrope" viewer stand and art print, with picture disc art by Cyriak. In January 2014,

Werkdiscs Werkdiscs (formerly spelt as Werk Discs) is a British independent record label based in London. It was originally a club night started by Darren J. Cunningham also known as Actress (musician), Actress, Ben Casey and Gavin Weale in the early 200 ...

boss Actress released a boxset for a collection of photos presented by Hard Format, which included ''

Ghettoville ''Ghettoville'' is the fourth studio album by British electronic musician Actress. It was released on 27 January 2014 by Werkdiscs and Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office i ...

'' as vinyl and CD, as well as—for the first time on vinyl—a 2 LP white vinyl edition of ''

Hazyville ''Hazyville'' is the debut album by the electronic musician Actress. It was initially released on November 28, 2008, by Werk Discs Werkdiscs (formerly spelt as Werk Discs) is a British independent record label based in London. It was origin ...

'' and CD. The boxset also contained a 40-page artbook, all carefully encased in a black "elephant-skinned" outer box.

has collaborated with art director

Leif Podhajsky Leif Podhajsky is an Australian graphic designer and art director, well known for his distinctive album art working with artists such as Tame Impala, Bonobo, Foals, Kylie Minogue, Of Monsters and Men, Lykke Li, Toy, The Horrors, Mount Kim ...

and photographer Pelle Crépin to create covers for some of his albums. The cover of his 2010 album '' Black Sands'' was designed by design studio Oscar & Ewan and features an image taken by Crépin. The three cover photographs form a triptych around Derwentwater in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

. They were taken at each point on the map with each view capturing the place of the next photograph and the last photograph capturing the place of the first. The abstract cover for

's 2013 follow-up album

The North Borders ''The North Borders'' is the fifth studio album by British musician Bonobo (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 a ...

was created by

using a polaroid image of a wave. Podhajsky also provides the artwork for Bonobo's Flashlight EP in 2014, its cover art is a gold lava effect forming the inside sleeve glimpsed through tiny holes in a dark grey die-cut cover for the vinyl product.

again collaborated with Ninja Tune on the artwork for Kelis' 2014 album ''

Food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

''. For the release of

's sixth album '' Migration'' in January 2017, the album artwork was designed by Neil Krug. The physical artwork included photography of the Mojave Desert, with Krug capturing footage using a drone. This drone footage would come to form the video for ''Break Apart feat. Rhye''. He drove to the desert in the middle of the night to photograph the area just before sunrise, avoiding the sun's intense heat. The shots were then superimposed with various effects such as flames. The LP was accompanied by a special edition booklet containing meditations on themes from the album, the deluxe version housed in a gold-embossed PVC sleeve. In 2017, Belfast based duo

released their debut album ''

'', with artwork created by design team Royal Studio in partnership with AnaTypes Type, Xesta Studio and Lyft Studio. Photographs of textures were digitally transformed, modulated, colored, gridded and regridded over and over again in hundreds of different formations. These arrangements of textures in different colorways were then sent to

, who would select their highlights from each. The artwork for Young Fathers' 2018 album ''

'' was created by photographer Noni Julia & creative director Tom Hingston.

Partnerships

Solid Steel

Pre-dating Ninja Tune is the radio show Solid Steel, which Coldcut set up in 1988 and joined at a later date by DJ Food and DK. What initially began as a

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

on then-pirate

went on to become a weekly 2-hour mix show broadcast online and syndicated to numerous radio stations around the world, with highlights available as a podcast on iTunes. Solid Steel is also the name of a series of DJ mix CDs from the label and various club nights showcasing the talents of the Solid Steel DJ's and a number of Ninja Tune artists. The show, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2013, showcases a varied blend of left field tunes, the broadest beats and forward-thinking selections. Being a freestyle eclectic mix, the weekly two-hour show was described by The Quietus as being "the past mashed with the present plus a dash of the future". In addition to Solid Steel, Ninja Tune has conducted regular podcast interviews with their roster under the name ''The Ninja Tune Podcast''.

Big Dada

Hip hop label Big Dada was set up by journalist and writer Will Ashon in 1997. Big Dada was created with a similarly open-minded remit to sister label Ninja Tune, traversing the boundaries between hip hop, grime and ragga. Born out of a frustration over acts going unappreciated elsewhere, Big Dada swiftly cemented itself as a force in its own right. The name came up in reference to Ashon's love of Kool Keith, who he'd described in print as the "Mac Dada", as a combination of mac daddy and Dadaism. Big Dada began releasing 12"'s in the summer of 1997, the first couple of which were produced by Luke Vibert. The label's debut release, ''Misanthropic'', featured Alpha Prhyme, a.k.a.

Juice Aleem Juice Aleem is a rapper born in Birmingham, in ceremonial counties West Midlands, England. Biography After putting years of energy into the Birmingham hip hop scene, Juice's "Ghetto Grammer" freestyle rap sessions started featuring such other f ...

, soon to become a member of crew New Flesh for Old, who would release their own ''Electronic Bombardment'' on Big Dada that September. Since then, Big Dada has become home of some of the most maverick, forward-thinking and innovative artists in hip hop and beyond, including essential British hip hop artist Roots Manuva ( Mercury Prize nominee), Mercury Prize winner Speech Debelle, UK hip hop artist TY (whose 2003 ''Upwards'' album was also Mercury nominated). Roots Manuva's album releases have been integral to the label, including ''

Brand New Second Hand ''Brand New Second Hand'' is the first studio album by English hip hop musician Roots Manuva. It was released on Big Dada in 1999. Critical reception Paul Cooper of ''Pitchfork'' gave the album a 9.5 out of 10, saying, "I find Roots Manuva's de ...

'', '' Run Come Save Me'', ''

'', '' Slime & Reason'' and ''

4everevolution ''4everevolution'' is the eighth studio album by English rapper Roots Manuva. It was released on 3 October 2011 on the Big Dada label. Critical reception ''4everevolution'' was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacriti ...

''. Other notable artists include

, cLOUDDEAD,

DELS Kieren Gallear also known as DELS (pronounced "Dels") is a British art director, recording artist, rapper, graphics designer and filmmaker born in Ipswich, England, currently based in London. Gallear signed with the Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada ...

, Young Fathers (Mercury Prize Winner 2014) and Spank Rock, with a roster that's as prolific as it is varied. In the words of The Guardian, "heaven help the music hack who tries to pigeonhole Big Dada's output". In 2021 the label relaunched as "a label run by Black, POC & Minority Ethnic people for Black, POC & Minority Ethnic artists."

Brainfeeder

is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Warp Records recording artist Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop amongst other styles of music.

Werkdiscs

Werkdiscs (formerly spelt as Werk Discs) is a British

based in London. Originally a club night started by Darren J. Cunningham a.k.a. Actress, Ben Casey and Gavin Weale in the early 2000s, 1Werkdiscs released their first record in the summer of 2004.

Ntone

In 1994, Ninja Tune's first sister imprint was

, a label that initially specialised in avant-garde music and in more electronically inclined ambience. Artists on the roster included

Animals on Wheels Animals on Wheels is the stage name of Andrew Coleman, an electronic musician based in Cambridge. Coleman collaborated with Adam Butler (a.k.a. Vert) to form Bovinyl, an independent record label, and released his first EP, ''Baits Bite'', in ...

Cabbageboy Si Begg (born 1972) is an English electronic dance music DJ, musician and record producer. His recording career began in 1993 and he has used a number of different pseudonyms and band names, and released music in different styles on several ...

, Hexstatic and Neotropic. Ntone was, in the words of Peter Quicke, "for ambient and techno and other stuff that didn't quite fit Ninja Tune, but which we really liked, and didn't want to restrict ourselves from releasing." A collision of spacey dub and chilled ambient house, the first release was ''AntiStatic'' (TONE 1) by Hex released in February 1994, and last one ''Sunflower Girl'' (NTONE 45) by Neotropic in 2001.

Current artists and alumni

Ninja Tune: Current

* Actress (Werkdiscs / Ninja Tune) * Amon Tobin *

Anz ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ** ...

* Andreya Triana *

Ash Koosha Ashkan Kooshanejad (Persian: اشکان کوشانژاد; born 13 August 1985), also known as Ash Koosha, is a British-Iranian technology entrepreneur, multidisciplinary artist, futurist and innovator. He is known to use computer software suc ...

A Winged Victory for the Sullen A Winged Victory for the Sullen is an American ambient music duo composed of Dustin O'Halloran and Adam Wiltzie. They have released four studio albums, an EP, and one soundtrack album. In 2015, they performed at the Royal Albert Hall as part ...

*Barry Can't Swim *Beat Spacek *

* Black Country, New Road *

Blockhead Blockhead(s) may refer to: Films * ''The Blockhead'', a 1921 German silent film * ''Block-Heads'', a 1938 film starring Laurel and Hardy * ''Blockhead'' (film), a 1966 Italian film Music * Blockhead (music producer) (born 1976), American hip-h ...

* Bronson * The Bug * The Cinematic Orchestra * Coldcut *

Congo Natty Michael Alec Anthony West (born 27 August 1964 in Islington, London, England), better known as Rebel MC and Congo Natty, is a British jungle producer and toaster. He has also gone by aliases including Conquering Lion, Blackstar, Tribe of Issac ...

*David August * Dedekind Cut *DJ BORING * DJ Food *DJ Seinfeld * Dorian Concept *Dauwd * Elkka * FaltyDL * Fink *

Floating Points Sam Shepherd, 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 Points Ensemble. Bi ...

*Folly Group *

Forest Swords Matthew Barnes, known by his stage name Forest Swords, is an English record producer, composer, DJ, and artist. Career ''Dagger Paths'' EP Forest Swords's debut six-track EP, '' Dagger Paths'', was originally released in March 2010, before bei ...

* Georgia Anne Muldrow *The Group * The Heavy *Illum Sphere * Helena Hauff * Hiatus Kaiyote *Howling * Iglooghost *Illum Sphere *

India Jordan I. JORDAN is a British electronic music producer and DJ. Life I. JORDAN grew up in Doncaster, England. They studied philosophy at the University of Hull, where they became involved in the Crystal Clear DJ society, booking club nights and eventu ...

* The Invisible *

*James Heather *

Jameszoo Mitchel Van Dinther, better known by his stage name Jameszoo, is a Dutch record producer from 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Life and career Dinther started as a DJ in his hometown of 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. In May 2013, he attended th ...

Jayda G Jayda Guy, known professionally as Jayda G, is a Canadian house music producer and DJ. She was nominated at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in the best electronic dance recording category for her song "Both of Us", and later remixed Dua Lipa's "C ...

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 in ...

* Julianna Barwick
King Midas Sound
* Lee Bannon *

Kadhja Bonet Kadhja Bonet (; born January 31, 1988, in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician. Bonet grew up in a musical family and studied classical music from an early age. She began her career in 2014 with her debut single "Tears for Lamont" a ...

* Kae Tempest * Kamasi Washington * Keleketla! * Kelis * King Geedorah * King Midas Sound * Lapalux * Leon Vynehall *

Letherette Letherette is an electronic music production duo, consisting of Richard Roberts and Andrew Harber. They released their debut album '' Letherette'' through their current label Ninja Tune in 2013, and have previously released material on Ho Tep ...

* Little Dragon * Lorn * Lou Rhodes *

Louis Cole Louis Cole can refer to: * Louis Cole (musician), American multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, part of Knower * Louis Cole (YouTuber) Louis John Cole (born 28 April 1983), better known by his original online alias FoodForLouis, then l ...

* Lukid *

Machinedrum Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina.Maribou State Maribou State are an English electronic music duo consisting of Chris Davids and Liam Ivory. To date, they have released eight EPs and two studio albums, ''Portraits'' (2015) and ''Kingdoms In Colour'' (2018). Besides their own material, the tw ...

Marie Davidson Marie Davidson (born 1987) is a French-Canadian electronic musician and producer from Montreal. Career Davidson was part of the duo Les Momies de Palerme, along with Xarah Dion. Their album, ''Brûlez ce coeur'', was released on Constellation Re ...

*Max Graef & Glenn Astro *

* Nabihah Iqbal * Nathan Fake *

Octo Octa Maya Bouldry-Morrison, better known by her stage name Octo Octa, is an American house producer and DJ based in Brooklyn, New York. In 2016, Bouldry-Morrison came out as transgender, after having already gained prominence as an artist. Career O ...

* Odesza * Onyx Collective *Park Hye Jin * Peggy Gou *

Phantoms Phantom may refer to: * Spirit (animating force), the vital principle or animating force within all living things ** Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living Aircraft * Boeing Phantom Ray, a stealthy unm ...

Portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

*Poté *PVA *Romare * Roots Manuva *Roses Gabor (Girls Music) *

Ross From Friends Felix Clary Weatherall (born June 1993), better known by his stage name Ross from Friends, is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He is signed to Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label, and released his debut album ''Family Portrait'' in July ...

* Sampa the Great * Sarathy Korwar *Seven Davis Jr *Shire T *Sofia Kourtesis * Speech Debelle * Taylor McFerrin * Teebs *

Thundercat Thundercat or Thundercats may refer to: * Thundercat (snowmobile), a series of snowmobiles produced by Arctic Cat * Thundercat (musician), stage name of Stephen Lee Bruner, an American musician * ThunderCats, a media franchise, featuring a fictio ...

*TSHA *

Tycho Tycho is a masculine given name, a latinization of Greek Τύχων, from the name of Tyche ( grc-gre, Τύχη, link=no), the Greek goddess of fortune or luck. The Russian form of the name is '' Tikhon'' (Тихон). People Given name * Tych ...

*Visionist *VTSS *Weval *Yaya Bey * Young Fathers

Ninja Tune: alumni

* 9 Lazy 9
Airborne AudioAmmonContact
*

* Antibalas *

Chris BowdenClifford Gilberto
* Daedelus * The Death Set
Deco Child
* DJ Kentaro * DJ Vadim
The DragonsDSP
* Dwight Trible *Dynamic Syncopation * Emika * Eskmo
FlangerFloating PointsFog
* Funki Porcini *

Grasscut Grasscut are a musical group featuring composer/producer Andrew Phillips and musician/writer Marcus O'Dair. Phillips writes and produces all Grasscut music; he also sings and plays various instruments including guitar and keyboards. O'Dair manag ...

* The Herbaliser * Hexstatic *

Hint Hint and similar may refer to: * Hint (musician), musician Jonathan James from Sussex, England * Hint (SQL), a feature of the SQL computer language * Hint Water, a beverage company from San Francisco, California * Aadu Hint (1910–1989), Estonian ...

HomelifeHot SugarIgor Boxx
(real name Igor Pudło)
The Irresistible Force
* Jesse Boykins III & MeLo-X *Jupiter Jam *Jono McCleery * Kelis
Kid A
* Kid Koala
King CannibalLoka
* The Long Lost
Max & Harvey
*

* Raffertie * Neotropic
One Self
*

Pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

PlugThe Poets of Rhythm
* Poirier * The Qemists * Quannum
Rainstick Orchestra
*

Shuttle
* Sixtoo *

Skalpel Skalpel are Polish nu jazz DJs, musicians and record producers, Marcin Cichy and Igor Pudło, from Wrocław, Poland. Their musical style is a distinctive blend of hip hop beats, laced with samples lifted from the rich seam of Polish jazz recor ...

* The Slew
Starkey
* Stateless *

Super Numeri Super Numeri were an English instrumental avant-garde group based in Liverpool and signed to the Ninja Tune label in 2002. The band was formed by Pop Levi (Jonathan Levi), Snap Ant (James Morgan) and Karl Webb and was based at Adlington Hous ...

Slugabed
*

Submotion Orchestra Submotion Orchestra are a seven piece band formed in 2009 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. They are influenced by dubstep, soul, ambient electronica, jazz and dub. Their debut LP ''Finest Hour'' was released on Ranking Records. They have performe ...

* Toddla T
Treva Whateva
* Up, Bustle and Out *

* Yppah *

Zero dB Zero-db is an English music duo composed by Chris Vogado and Neil Combstock, whose specialty is trip hop, jazz and fusion music. They signed a record contract with Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in Londo ...

Big Dada: Current

Baishe Kings
* Busdriver
Cell Broco
*

Dels Kieren Gallear also known as DELS (pronounced "Dels") is a British art director, recording artist, rapper, graphics designer and filmmaker born in Ipswich, England, currently based in London. Gallear signed with the Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada ...

* Kae Tempest
Offshore

PVA
* Roots Manuva
Roseau

Tre Mission

Samuel

Two Fingers
* Young Fathers

Big Dada: Alumni

Antipop Consortium Antipop Consortium is an American alternative hip hop group. The group formed in 1997, when Beans, High Priest, M. Sayyid, and producer Earl Blaize met at a poetry slam in New York City. They are notable for their stream-of-consciousness lyric ...

*Bang On! * Cadence Weapon * Clouddead *

* Dobie *Elan Tamara
GammaInfesticonsInfinite LivezJammer
*

* K-the-I??? *Kail * King Geedorah
Lotek Hi-FiThe MajesticonsNew Flesh
*NMS / Bigg Jus
OffshoreParis Suit YourselfPart 2
* Spank Rock * Speech Debelle
Sticky
* Thavius Beck *

Thunderheist Thunderheist was an electronic music duo from Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec in Canada. Thunderheist was made up of producer Graham Bertie (Grahmzilla) and Omolola Isis Salam (Isis). The two began collaborating before they had ever met in p ...

* TTC * Ty *XRABIT +DMG$

References

External links

* – official site *
Ping Pong
– promotion agency of Ninja Tune in France
Ninja Tune
feature in Rip It Up Magazine
Ninja Tune
discography & review at Djouls.com (Fr)
Ninja Tune
reviews by the BBC {{Authority control British independent record labels Record labels established in 1990 Electronic dance music record labels Drum and bass record labels Electronic music record labels Experimental music record labels Hip hop record labels British hip hop record labels