When Toddla first started taking to the decks outside of his home town he was worried that no one would "get it" and to start with, many didn't. Listen to the track "Roadtrip" from debut album Skanky Skanky to hear an amusing account of just such a night. No one could quite work out who Toddla was. Was he an MC? Was that skinny white kid the voice singing about Rice n Peas? Surely not. Not allowing this confusion to get in his way T stuck to his guns.
He could smell a change in the air and knew that what he was doing was worth sticking with. It was downloaded by more than 10, people, was brilliantly received and announced Toddla as a talent to be watched.
People other than club promoters and other DJ's started to hear about him and his club sets started to get more and more busy with people who were there to see him. Longtime studio spar and MC Serocee joined him on the road and the pair started to travel far and wide around the UK spreading the good word. His debut album Skanky Skanky was released in January , this was followed by a Fabric live mix album and a lot of requests for his production skills with everyone from Major Lazer to Grandmaster Flash getting in touch.
Over a Guinness or two in his new London local he decamped from Sheffield to the capital in Toddla reflects on the last couple of "pretty crazy years", the current UK scene and sets out his stall for what promises to be a very busy and successful G and dancehall were really in the minority. Nowadays kids want to be Skream and Benga, or Tinchy or N-Dubz and because of that all their points of musical reference have changed".
It's true, there has been a huge shift in musical aesthetic, away from the skinny jeans and Chuck Taylors of The Strokes and the seemingly never-ending bandwagon that followed. What Toddla's saying here is borne out of the recently released statistic that rock music has had its worst year in the UK charts since with only 3 rock bands making it into the top songs of As a backdrop to Dizzee, Tinie, Tinchy et al storming the charts, the explosion of dubstep and subsequent re-evaluation of bass-driven, UK club music has seen a major shift in what people aged 15 - 25 are raving to.
Where Soulwax and SMD and their like were ruling the clubs - nowadays seasoned campaigners like Shy FX and David Rodigan are championed by kids who weren't born when they were first spinning records. Watch Me Dance is a bold step forward for Toddla T. Fans of Skanky Skanky will find plenty that will please them but for the countless thousands of clubbers who know Toddla T the DJ but haven't heard his productions this second album may come as a surprise. Toddla explains This is definitely still a record for clubbers, but it's the one they'll listen to at home with their mates or every day on the way to work".
Find out more about our use of this data , and also our policy on profanity. Find out more about our use of this data. Mike Diver A DJ since his early teens, Sheffield native Tom Bell — aka Toddla T, the nickname reflecting his youth — has promised much for no little length of time. His successful fusion of dancehall riddims and bouncy electro with guest raps both caustic and cautious comprises the foundations of a debut album proper that bristles with enthusiasm, energy and an obvious love for its influences.
But while his guests dominate vocal proceedings, at no point does Toddla not stamp his own identity on Skanky Skanky. While it is the sum of its parts, the pieces the fresh-faced DJ has collected for assembly are universally strong, and the album never stalls in its progress.
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