$pyda (Black Tarantula)

 V
Location:
Robin Hood, Midlands, US
Type:
Artist / Band / Musician
Genre:
Drum & Bass / Reggae / Hip Hop
MC $pyda
Known as $pyda Don out of Nottingham, he started out as a reggae dancehall DJ on the UK midlands reggae sound system circuit in the mid to late 80’s and quickly established himself as a solid performer on sounds like Supertone, Quantro tone, Black Star & then ultimately joining the popular Nottingham based sound V.Rocket where he worked with a whole host of UK based Jamaican dancehall artists of that era.
In 1987 $pyda decided to take a trip to Antigua to visit his parents and subsequently recorded 2 tracks produced by Corporal Montana for African Treasure, the first was ”Antigua got the best sunshine” which was a hit on the island, he then went onto record ”African Girl” with singer Caution as a follow up. He next ventured to Jamaica, utilizing his links to King Jammys through his association with V.Rocket & Mike Phipps and visited Jammys studio in Waterhouse, Kingston. This resulted in three tracks being recorded titled ”Kickin up a dust” ”Love and Unity” & ”Nah bless you”.
Returning to the UK in 1990 to a very static dancehall scene that hadn’t really progressed much since his departure, $pyda decided it was time for a change and diverted into the underground Hip Hop and R&B circuit trying to integrate his vocal talents into some different styles of music which brought about an enhancement of new flavor to his work on the mic. Around 93-94 he embedded himself further into the cutting edge of UK underground dance music and began to MC over what was then known as Jungle and it was during this period of time that $pyda acquired the tag ’Black Tarantula’ courtesy of MC Bassman.
$pyda become a household name along with his alter-ego ‘Black Tarantula’ when he hooked up with a fledgling drum and bass group named Pendulum and together they recorded the self-titled track “Black Tarantula” which has fixed his name into the CD collections of hundreds of thousands of new fans across the world. Coupled with his work alongside ex-Bad Company member and drum and bass figurehead Dan Fresh with the project “Mo Fire”, $pyda’s status as a desired vocalist in d&b is legendary!
Over recent years he has worked a number of times with longtime partners Aquasky and featured on various tracks on their Passenger label with other artists such as DJ Friction, Backdraft and Simon ‘Bassline’ Smith. This brought him to the attention of Tayo & Baobinga for their Soul Jazz release “Style & Trend” which brought him to the ears of a new audience and fan base.
The tours keep coming and the guest features never stop… the man is a key vocalist of the UK ragga scene with a delivery that will always be memorable and a cut above the rest…
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