Artful Dodger

In the closing years of the 1990s and the opening stretch of the 2000s, Artful Dodger came to symbolize the ascendant profile of garage across Britain along with its gradual spread beyond those shores. The Southampton duo of Mark Hill and Pete Devereux pursued a path through the genre that set them apart from most contemporaries. Hill’s R&B and jazz leanings combined with Devereux’s affinity for hip-hop and house to produce a comparatively traditional treatment of the style. Eschewing the vocals and time-stretching favored by many garage producers, the pair instead chose to re-record vocals for their remix projects. That decision earned them esteem inside the garage scene and generated considerable anticipation for the U.K. hit “Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta),” which featured Craig David on vocals. Republic Records shipped the single stateside in summer 2000 in an effort to secure club traction inside a market generally hostile to garage. The duo also assembled the Ministry of Sound compilation Rewind: The Sound of UK Garage. Extensive touring accompanied the late-2000 release of their Re-Rewind mix album, while It’s All About the Stragglers surfaced the same year. The pair elected an amicable split in July 2001. Hill subsequently concentrated on writing, producing, and remixing, and Devereux maintained a DJ career under his own name.