Flowdan

Easily identified through his deep, commanding delivery and lyrics steeped in patois, Flowdan stands out as a defining figure across the British bass music scene. A founding member of the influential Roll Deep crew, he helped shape the grime sound before reaching wider listeners via the 2007 hit “Skeng,” one of several joint releases with frequent partner the Bug. His first studio album, Original Dan, arrived in 2009; two further full-length projects followed in the next decade while he increasingly turned to production. Long respected in underground circles, Flowdan achieved broader success in 2023 with the Grammy-winning “Rumble” alongside Skrillex and Fred again.. plus the U.K. Top Five single “Baddadan” featuring Chase & Status and Bou. Additional work with Skrillex included the track “Pepper” that featured Lil Baby.

Born Marc Veira in Bow, East London, Flowdan began in drum’n’bass before joining Pay as U Go Cartel, a short-lived U.K. garage outfit active in the early 2000s whose roster included Wiley, Geeneus, and DJ Slimzee. After the crew dissolved, its core evolved into Roll Deep, a name Flowdan proposed. Virtually every prominent grime artist moved through the collective at some point, among them Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder, Skepta, and Jammer, with Flowdan, Wiley, and DJ Target remaining from its inception until the 2013 hiatus. He appeared on all five Roll Deep albums yet was absent from their five U.K. Top 40 singles; he did, however, guest on Lethal Bizzle’s “Pow! (Forward),” which reached number 11 in 2005 and earned a MOBO Award for Best Single. His next high-profile feature came on “Skeng,” the Hyperdub single issued by the Bug in 2007. The cut became a dubstep staple and was later included on the Bug’s 2008 Ninja Tune album London Zoo, which also contained two further Flowdan collaborations, “Jah War” and “Warning.” Original Dan, his debut LP, was released the following year on Wiley’s Eskibeat Recordings and featured production from Scratcha DVA, Target, and the Bug.

In 2012 Flowdan joined Jubei for the Metalheadz half-time single “Say Nothin’.” Hyperdub issued his first solo EP, Serious Business, in 2014. He then moved to Tru Thoughts, which put out his second album, Disaster Piece, in 2016; several tracks featured vocalist Animai, while guest verses came from Roll Deep’s Tinchy Stryder and Manga, and production credits included Commodo, Dexplicit, and Cato. The 2017 single “Original Raggamuffin” paired him once more with Wiley, and he maintained his partnership with the Bug on the song “Bad.” Flowdan’s own grime imprint SpentShell began releasing music in 2018, starting with tracks he produced for PK and GHSTLY XXVII. His EP One Shell Fits All contained appearances by D Double E and Meridian Dan. Tramplezone followed in 2019, after which he returned to Tru Thoughts for the third album Full Metal Jacket and the 2020 EP The Red Pill. SpentShell also issued the EP No Celebrations with Abstrakt Sonance, while Guilty as Charged appeared on Bare Selection at the close of the year.

Flowdan featured on the Bug’s 2021 single “Pressure” as well as “Trenches” by Duke & Jones and Millbrook’s “Power.” He released the Black Rain EP with Snowman Baby and Abstrakt Sonance. Further collaborations with Abstrakt Sonance continued into 2022, and mainstream EDM listeners first encountered his voice on Zeds Dead and Subtronics’ “Gassed Up” before the Skrillex and Fred again.. single “Rumble” brought wider attention. Premiered during Fred again..’s viral July 2022 Boiler Room set, the track received an official release in early 2023, reached number 19 on the U.K. singles chart, and won a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Recording a year later. That success launched one of Flowdan’s busiest and most commercially rewarding periods, during which he appeared on at least a dozen additional releases, among them Sammy Virji’s “Shella Verse,” Schlachthofbronx’s “Ready and Bad,” and the U.K. Top Five hit “Baddadan” by Chase & Status and Bou that also featured IRAH, Trigga, and Takura. He also issued further Skrillex collaborations such as “Hydrate” with BEAM and PEEKABOO, “Badders” with PEEKABOO and G-Rex, and “Pepper” featuring Lil Baby.