Heads High

You want kicks and snares? Roska’s got you covered. His recent TWC EP is smacking it across the board, catching love from purists, polyrhythmists and pundits alike. I’m sending that love too. Why? Because Roska’s productions are testament to his willingness to embrace different forms, progress his art and balance the deep with the devastating. Tracks like ‘Proverbs‘ and ‘The Sheppard‘ verge on the deep sound of NYC while still offering enough bump to call the UK home. It wasn’t always submerged syncopation though…

Born Wayne Goodlitt in 1983, Roska was raised on a strict diet of soundsystem. Like so many youths growing up in 80s London, the speaker stacks and rhythm tracks left a big impression.

‘My father was a soundman back in the days, he used to be in a sound called Extacy with my uncles and played Ragga, Reggae and soul music. my mum was a collector and a hard listener to Soul and Reggae music so its been in my blood since I was really young.’

Solid foundations. Not surprisingly, a decade later he was ready to share his distillation of Soundsystem culture using the son’s and daughters of Reggae music as his vessels. Starting out as an MC backed by his cousin’s DJ selections under the ‘Krazy Brothers’ moniker, Roska was always producing in the background. Back then, people knew him by his MC name Mentor, evolving to Mentor Roska and eventually to the Roska we know today.

‘ I was always making music behind the scenes whilst MCing. it was more of a hobby then so I didn’t take it seriously…I made Hip-Hop, Garage, Broken-Beat from 1999…I moved to House then to Funky as it is called today. My back catalogue is 200 tracks deep from all those genres, released and unreleased…’

Tastes have changed vastly in the time Roska has been behind a mixing desk. The mainstream picked up UK Garage and wrung the life out of it, plastic R&B went super-platinum…taking the cream of the Grime scene with it, Dubstep rumbled and skanked it’s way out of London’s basements and UK Funky has been garnering attention from tastemakers way outside its original sphere of interest. I’m not gonna front like I was there from the beginning either. Far from it. I do know what good music sounds like though so I couldn’t sleep for too long. The elements of Roska’s sound automatically open the borders and encourage those on the ‘Housier’ side of the spectrum to get involved, something that is definitely intentional.

‘I feel the music is going well. With Funky there are a lot of aspects to it and it appeals to many people old or young. I prefer the underground style personally as it keeps me in touch with the ravers and the clubs that people go-to to hear new tracks…I thought through the TWC EP before putting it out….Deep-Tech is something that has always been there but its coming through the UK underground more alongside Funky. I decided to release something that will work in that scene but still be able to crossover in to Funky…it shows my versatility musically.’

Not stopping there, Roska has an entire alter-ego designed to further air out the diversity on his hard drives. Uncle Bakongo is the man charged with putting Roska’s African spirit on wax via polyrhythmic excursions he describes as ‘…more of a tribal style of House or Afrobeat.’. Both artists speak to the public through their Roska Kicks and Snares imprint. With the success of last years Climate Change and Elevated Levels EPs, the hot reception of the TWC EP and the fresh ‘Love 2 Nite’ White Label a forthcoming album project (early 2010) and an EP featuring Zed Bias on remix duties, it looks like the label is set for big things.

‘RKS is just an outlet for my own productions that do not get signed by a major label. I started it up solely to manage my own production via mp3 and vinyl and to push my own profile up in the music scene. I came to realise nobody cares about a nobody, so I had to try and make a name for myself by releasing my own tracks.’

Well, it would seem that the days of being a nobody are far behind Roska…..and his Uncle Bakongo.

Roska’s current Top 5 selections

1. Speech Debelle – Spinnin’ (DVA Funkstep Mix) – OUT SEPT 09
2. Roska & Jamie George – Wonderful Day
3. D-Malice – Praise
4. Geeneus ft Dynamite – Get Low (Crackish Vocal)
5. DVA – Nasty, Nasty, Nasty (Roska Remix)

Roska’s Discography

Roska’s Links

RKS Official Website
Roska’s Myspace
Uncle Bakongo’s Myspace