Click below to view: Deekline & Ed Solo feat Darrison - Touch Your Toes Video
Darrison,the Artist formerly known as Ragga D!
Started his music career at the tender age of 13,,toasting on South Coast Reggae Sound system ,,King Tafari Love.
Ragga D, or Ragga Dan as he was known to some of his Piers,frequented reggae parties and concerts from young with his mother,,and quickly became taken in and drawn to the culture of selecting, and mc'ing, or Dj'ing.
" I was inspired by a few Jamacian artists in particular like,,,Papa San,Cutty Ranks,Lecturer,leuitenant Stitchie,and a representative from Englands Saxon sound system, Daddy Levi."
"I enjoy the story telling, and flamboyance, and character in alot of the artists from the eighties to the early mid nineties."
"After attending reggae blues, dance's over the years into my late teen's,
i became involved with local pirate Radio show's here and there,,and from being quite well known in Brighton managed to get my foot in the door of a few little club, and bar spots.
In the early 90's i heard Jungle for the first time when it first had that Reggae Ragga flavour,,,and at first,,,, i couldn't stand it.I just saw Jungle as rave music with ragga samples, and thought that it was impossible to dance to unless you were tanked up and full of Drugs,,, How Wrong!.
After attending my first jungle rave in Worthing on the South Coast of Uk,,at a club called the Factory,,, i was seriously hooked."
"I remember it like it was yestsrday ,there was myself,,Ronnie Biggs,Mc Gee,,Juniour Dan,Doobie,Rok One Quantum,Skinny,Starsky,Tyra,Krome and Time.Most of these people i would be around for the next several years to come ,as Ragga D progressed and eventually bloomed into the now known Darrison".......
Dj Quantum, Rok One, Skinny, and myself, became close over the next coming years. Quantum opened a record shop with Martin Reeves (Krafty Kuts),,called H, V.R in Brighton,and moved from worthing in order to run the shop, and start on our residdency at the Beachcomber that would become the Famous Steppaz Convention.
Steppaz struggled for a long time to become popular outside of Brighton,and set foundations for many of the jungle drum and bass nights that you see going on in the City today. However Quantum and Mark Matrix,his partner, worked hard to promote the night and it quickly turned around,,becoming the best d, n, b night on the south.
My residency every Friday was at the time one of the best things that could of happened for me.
Radio one broadcasted from the club one night whilst on their one in the Jungle Tour,,and this was a great boost for us all,,including the ravers,who were equally chuffed to have a sucsessful night of their own at last.
Out of nowhere came the big bad news that we were to stop the night,in order for a Danny Rampling night to step up!.....we were crushed.
After Steppaz came Meltdown,,,run by Mr Dave Stone,,,after that,,,they all came one by one,turning brighton into the scene it is today.
Whilst all this evolving was happening in Brighton I was slowly but surely becoming recognised outside of the area, and the country.And in 1998 a Tape that was recorded at a Previous Steppaz night,earned me a trip to America to play a string of local Parties from Washington D.C,to Phillidelphia,to Conneticut,and New York.
I stayed in Newyork for a Month with a Guy called Dj Dinesh, who quickly plugged me into the social pipeline there, and sheltered me in Brooklyn.
This trip was a turning point for me,and set the ball rolling for future visits to the U,S,A. Over the next following years i returned to tour with, Stakka, and Skynet for the UnderFire Tour, Dj Quantum of the Pressure Krew,Ray keith for the Movement Tour, Bad Company for the Inside the Machine Tour,and Bryan G,and Marky, for the Brazillian Job Tour, aswell as many individual trips for other parties.
For pretty much all this time i was still Known as Mc Ragga.D,
it wasnt until i had the fortune to meet Dj Krust,and Suv, that i became "Darrison". Whilst on Tour with the guys, and Singer Morgan,and Visuals performer Justin, they bought it to my attention that Ragga,D
didn't really Gell with the groups Titles, and that for the Tour Maybe i should take on a New Identity. So after spending a night awake on the tour Bus racking ones Brain for a new Alias,i came up with Darrison.
After my work on the Coded Language Tour,this solidified my relationship with Krust, Suv, and the rest of the Full Cycle Team,which was a dream come true in all honesty.
Around this time also Dave Stone from Melt down,introduced me to the Movement collective,,and after some chats here and there, i was made resident at Bar Rumba In Londons West end,which completed the Full cycle V recordings, movement Cake mixture if you like.
TO BE CONTINUED...
