“Bloodied and bruised [...] concussive, a bit chilling and thoroughly infectious – just like the music [it] celebrates” - Guardian
This is the full, uncensored memoir of Goldie, one of Britain’s most influential DJs, producers, promoters, and record-label owners, whose contributions to the UK rave scene in the 1990s helped define the genres jungle and drum and bass. He is also a respected graffiti artist and actor.
Born Clifford Joseph Price in Walsall in 1965, Goldie was put up for adoption and raised in a succession of child-care homes and foster families. By his early teens, he had become part of the burgeoning UK breakdance scene, performing in crews around Wolverhampton, and had started to make his name as a graffiti artist, the success of which led to a brief residence in the US.
But it was Goldie’s involvement with the UK rave scene that really brought him into the public eye. In 1991, he was introduced to the emerging jungle scene by his girlfriend DJ Kemistry, and in 1992 he released his breakout track, "Terminator", under the name Metalheadz. It was a massive underground hit and pioneered the time-stretching technique which characterised much of ’90s breakbeat. The Metalheadz record label soon followed, as did the infamous Sunday night Metalheadz sessions at the Blue Note in Hoxton Square where, alongside DJs Kemistry and Storm, he established the frenetic, inclusive template of urban rave.
A constant innovator – "[he] revolutionized jungle not once but thrice", according to Simon Reynolds – Goldie went on to become one of the most respected artists of the past three decades. He has also enjoyed a successful acting career in film and TV, has exhibited his art in London, Ibiza, and Berlin, and in 2016 he was awarded an MBE for services to music and young people.
