THIS SUNDAY!!! ROOTS MANUVA'S DUB COLLEGE RETURNS

This Sunday, Roots Manuva brings back The Banana Klan & his bass heavy series of Dub College nights for a Carnival reunion at The Book Club in Shoreditch, London. Previous sessions have been jam packed & this is gonna be a roadblock for sure. Featuring Roots Manuva himself doing a rare DJ set & his Banana Klan family, along with suprise special guests bringing the Sound System vibes this is one not to be missed! Peep the flyer for details & check out The Dub College Reunion mix below with myself & Mr Manuva at the control tower. One Dub One Love.

Banana Klan Dub College Reunion Mix 2014 by Dj Diablo on Mixcloud

Banana Klan - Rebel "I" Roots : A Dub College Education

Happy New Year Rebels..... Here's a little education mix from myself and the whole of the Banana Klan. Blessings!

Banana Klan - Rebel "I" Roots : A Dub College Education

Banana Klan - Rebel "I" Roots: A Dub College Education... mixed by Rebel I (DJ Diablo) by Dj Diablo on Mixcloud

Ricky Ranking Featuring Roots Manuva "Heal Your Mind"

Banana Klan Godfather and UK Dancehall legend Ricky Ranking returns with some new material. "Heal Your Mind" Featuring Roots Manuva.....

Seanie T Featuring Roots Manuva "Move Ya Shoulder"

Big tune that done the rounds over the last few months was by my good friend Seanie T featuring Banana Klan Field Marshall Roots Manuva " Move Ya Shoulder".......

Ricky Ranking and The Rebel "I" - A Banana Klan Community Story

Rebel "I" and Ricky Ranking Brixton 2008

So it started in Amsterdam (where else lol) I was there DJing at a club on a Friday night back in 2001. When I finished I saw a text from my good friend DJ MK saying that he's touchin down in 'Dam in the morning to DJ for Roots Manuva at a gig at The Melkweg that night. Do I wanna roll with them? he asked so I said yeah, I'm up for that bell me when you land. The next morning I got up early, changed my flight round and headed out for breakfast waiting for his call.


Ricky Ranking, DJ MK, Roots Manuva and Rebel I
Slime And Reason Tour 2008

I'd been waiting outside the famous Barneys Breakfast Bar for ages, my breakfast eaten, my coffee was cold and my spliff was now a dead roach in the ashtray. I was pissed off at waiting even though it was a sunny morning and I was feeling pretty lean off the White Widow I'd been smoking.
Finally MK called me and told me what hotel they were at and said he'll meet me in the lobby. The phone was down before I got a chance to cuss him. I knew the hotel where they were staying and I made my way down there. As I walked towards the entrance I saw him walking out the lobby like he was on a mission. "We've lost Ricky, We Can't Find Ricky" MK said. "Who's Ricky?" I replied.
"Ricky Ranking!" MK said amazed I didnt know who he was talkin bout
"Ricky Ranking?... What Ricky Ranking from Nasty Rockers?" I replied stoned and confused
"Yeah, he's known Rodney for years" he said "Thought I told you that?"
"Oh,didn't know that... Let's go find him then"


Ricky Ranking, Banana Klan Godfather

Ricky Ranking is a legend, make no mistake about that. He started in the sound system business in the late 70's on the Small Axe 2 sound. He earned his stripes performing at various dances for sounds like King Tubby's. But it was when he joined Brixton sound Nasty Rockers that he established himself as a star MC in the UK London dancehall scene. Soon he found himself in the recording booth and "Rocking The Dance" became a massive dancehall hit followed by "I Can't Get Enough Love" which hit number 2 in the reggae charts and stayed there for 6 weeks.
More hits followed and tours with the late great Sugar Minott's Youthman Promotion and shows with Pablo Gad, Twinkle Bros,and not forgetting legendary dancehall nights with Brigidier Jerry and Josey Wales and the famous jams with Supercat at Balham 200 and Nitty Gritty at Jubilee Hall and countless classic performances at dances for Nasty Rockers and Taurus Hi-Fi and Coxone Sound cemented his position as a microphone Don Dada.


Ricky Ranking with dancehall award in 1980's


Ricky Ranking performing on Coxone Sound Clapham 1986

Fast Foward a few years from the Amsterdam trip and I'd seen Ricky along with the whole Roots Manuva/Banana Klan family at various shows and tours over that time. Since I was down with the Klan Lords and knew them from the 90's Hip Hop scene I soon became a member of the Banana Klan and Roots then asked me to DJ for Ricky.
So when we would meet up we'd get into a reasoning and he'd school me on the history, the dancehall clashes, the road stories from legends he'd rolled with and I learned so much all the shit I didn't know that put the Sound System puzzle together. I had all the Riddims and Versions and knew how to drop them but Ricky fine tuned me into getting the sequence of selection at a dance to perfection.
We'd also talk about getting together to make music and record some sessions but with so many commitments on both sides we've only managed to get a couple sessions recorded. The legendary Banana Klan Community Session 2008 Part's One and Two are posted below....download links to follow. As for me and Ricky...well the story is to be continued. Peace.

Dj Diablo And The Godfather Ricky Ranking Banana Klan Session Pt1 (Unreleased) by Dj Diablo Aka Rebel "I" on Mixcloud

Dj Diablo And The Godfather Ricky Ranking Banana Klan Session Pt2 (Unreleased) by Dj Diablo Aka Rebel "I" on Mixcloud

Foundation Words From Roots Manuva

FOUNDATION WORDS

The Banana Klan mission in essence is an "informal appreciation community," that has evolved out of the Roots Manuva live tour entourage. Indeed, this said party have partied hard over the years. In a nutshell, Banana Klan is a vessel of anti brand provocations, and interactive socio-economic concern, for a street level think-tank community.

Membership is achieved from living the Hip-Hop and Punk Rock "do-it-yourself" aesthetic. As a result, the Klan is a constantly evolving organism. For me the inception was more akin to a trade seal of approval rather than a conventional record label or band. There are 3 degrees of Banana Klan type:

BK HARDCORE
BK FRINGE
BK ADOPTEE

A rebel community animal in its very least, we will: jam, brainstorm, squabble, and agree to agree or disagree. We obsess about all things elastic to a migrant adjustment in the UK and beyond. As founder of the platform my inspiration grows out of frustration with the "give me a record deal mentality" of our times.

The Klan hustle is deeper than money, genre, religion, age, greed, class and political persuasion. The struggle continues strength of conviction; recognized over-standing. When you see the trade mark: let it be said that we do not follow trends. We do this for the love of our school of thought; an underground Academy of DIY reluctant anti-heroes.

As the Klan grows daily, the Question "What is Banana Klan?" is getting harder to answer. The harder the better.

Thank you for your interest,

Roots Manuva