British rapper and producer Dot Rotten, who flourished within the grime scene earlier than crossing over to mainstream success, has died aged 37.
The musician, actual identify Joseph Ellis-Stevenson, reportedly died within the Gambia. His household confirmed the demise to the BBC.
Born and raised in south London, Ellis-Stevenson started producing music in childhood and was nonetheless an adolescent when he launched his debut mixtape This Is the Beginning, in 2007. He grew to become celebrated as one of many core beat-makers within the then flourishing grime scene, with tracks corresponding to Petrol Bomb and Bazooka offering heavy but spry backings for MCs. He launched seven volumes of his Rotten Riddims collection, plus quite a lot of different combine tapes.
Rotten was an completed MC himself, unafraid of combative tracks that clashed with friends corresponding to (*37*), P Money JME and Stormzy through the years. He crossed over to a wider viewers after being signed to Mercury Records in 2011, showing on Ed Sheeran’s No 5 Collaborations Project EP that 12 months in addition to an all-star charity file, Teardrop, launched to learn Children in Need. He was nominated for the BBC’s Sound of … ballot in 2012, and later that 12 months launched his solely solo Top 20 hit, Overload, which leaned in direction of a dubstep sound and sampled Robert Miles’ trance hit Children.
His debut album for Mercury was not a business success and Ellis-Stevenson left the label, modified his artist identify to Zeph Ellis, and refocused on manufacturing. One of his instrumentals, XCXD BXMB, was utilized by Kano for his hit observe Garage Skank, and he additionally co-produced I See You Shining, a Top 40 hit for Nines.
Lady Leshurr was among the many British rap names paying tribute, writing: “My jaw just dropped … rest in perfect peace Dot Rotten, we’ve lost another GOAT [greatest of all time]”.
