Terror Danjah is a long established grime producer from East London currently undergoing a renaissance. His razor sharp productions are bringing his very unique and influential (especially on Bristol's Purple sound) skills back into the public eye with releases on Hyperdub as well as Butterz and Planet Mu.

Terror Danjah makes Afrobotic grime productions; An Esher-like sound which combines complex clusters of asymmetric rhythms and offbeat trapdoors with swooping synths and fx, all tagged with his trademark Gremlin Cackle audio logo.

While his previous long players have been closer to mix-tapes or retrospective compilations, Undeniable, racked full of new productions, and mutations of some classic from Grime's golden days, sees him flexing with ease across the tangled musical landscape of British electronic music at the close of 2010, from vocal and instrumental grime and dubstep to underground house.

Undeniable's ‘Grand Opening’ opens with one of the album's newer vocal talents. Dream Mclean spits bars with the fire and enthusiasm of a more established MC. The album goes on to showcase vocalists he’s worked with for a long time; 'Pro Plus' was an instrumental single earlier in the year on Hyperdub and here, as 'This Year' it gets an irrepressible vocal combo from Mz Bratt and Griminal. The legendary D Double E from Newham Generals is simultaneously abstract and romantic on ‘Undeniable’, and singer Lauren Mason contributes the almost pop dubstep of 'All I Wanna Do'. Terror’s long-time spar Bruza is on exceptional form on ‘Leave me alone’ where trancey chords are unusually evoked to build drama behind Bruza’s bubbling rage and knotted reasoning.

In between these vocal tracks, the album is peppered with instrumentals that display so much rhythmic ingenuity. Tracks switch tempo without warning, pockets of uncertainty open up in what appears to be a predictable beat, vocals becomes stuttering machines and ice cold science becomes squelchy funk. From the constantly shifting, laid back  G-funk mutations of ‘I’m Feelin U’ and 'Time to Let Go' through to the rubber-band bass of the 'Minimal Dub’ to outright breakthroughs in rhythm science such as 'S.O.S', 'Bruzin VIP' and the stunning, almost beat less, 'Sonar (Selassi Mix)' and the purple house of his collaboration of Baby Face Jay, 'Breaking Bad', what is undeniable is that Terror Danjah is one of the most important producers at work in British urban music today.




"Undeniable" Tracklisting:
01. Grand Opening ft Dream Mclean
02. Acid
03. This Year (Pro Plus) ft D.O.K, Mz Bratt & Griminal
04. Bruzin V.I.P
05. S.O.S
06. I'm Feelin U
07. Minimal Dub
08. Breaking Bad ft Baby Face Jay
09. Sonar (Selassi Mix)
10. Undeniable ft D Double E (of Newham Generals)
11. Leave Me Alone ft Bruza
12. Think About Me ft Lauren Mason
13. Time To Let Go
14. Story Ending

"Undeniable" will also be released as a series of four limited edition 12" EPs for info scroll down

Playground Magazine Video Profile of Terror Danjah - November 2010



Kode9 interviews Terror Danjah (August 25 2010)

9: Apart from the Mu compilation last year, you've had relatively quiet few years on the music front compared with say 5 years ago. What have you been up to?

TD: To the public, it seem like I was quiet, but I was behind the scenes working on alot of projects for my label at the time Aftershock. My output was crazy back then, I was engineering 25 plus artists on the label which involved recording, mixing and even mixing down all the other producers on the label tracks (D.O.K, Magnum Force, Big-E-D etc)! I had Bruza, Tinie Tempah, Mz Bratt, Gemma Fox, Sadie Ama, Shola Ama, Elrae, Loudmouth Melvin to name a few lol, but over the years the hype died down and the business model had changed and the music became more about the artist and less about the producers.

Selling music changed from Vinyl to CD's and more recently MP3, and it was hard for Grime producers to sell vinyl when artist mixtapes where popular in 2006/07. So I guess that's the main reason why I went quiet!!!

9: Whats you're feeling about grime these days?

TD: It's actually weird, on one hand the artist have gone from Mixtape artists to Popstars, don't get me wrong, that's great and on the other hand Grime producers are making more mellow Hip hop'ish sounding beats to get on MC's mixtapes or commercial albums, again that's great for the money, but everyone not balancing it out for making Grime music for what if is, CLUB MUSIC!!! So basically the major labels are actually have major influence on Grime. I thought Grime was underground music. I tweeted last year 'Rise Of The Producers' and with talks with Elijah from Butterz, were started deejaying Grime music from new producers and i encouraged the other Grime producers to start deejaying just like it's done in Dubstep. That's why I approached yourself (Kode 9) at Hyperdub because there will be no limitation on me to sell records!!!

9: The album is pretty diverse, and showcases quite a few different styles? Is this what you intended at the outset?

TD: Yeah definitely, I want to show the world how diverse I am and i believe Hyperdub would be the place because their track record and cult following, especially the interested Burial achieved. I don't think I could done this album on another label especially they way yourself (Kode 9) pushed me to be more creative.

9: Almost half the album is vocals. Can you tell us about the vocal tracks on the album and how they came about?

TD: I did try to only have a only a few, but as time went on it became half the album. I don't wanna spoil the storyline of each vocal track, but every artist is perfectly suited to the canvas I provided for them. I wanted to push the artists to their limits like you never heard before. Some you may know like D Double E, Bruza, Mz Bratt, Griminal, Ragga Twins, Mc Skibadde, Shabba D etc and newcomer Dream Mclean and Lauren Mason (she's the real Duffy lol).

I have no idea, seriously. I just make them, and the in process I decided if it's gonna end up as full vocal, vocal sample or instrumental track. what ever the vibe or how the mood takes me!

9: You've also got a beatless version of one of your older tracks from the Aftershock days. How come it never came out?

TD: Then wasn't the time, I think it was always intended for it to come out, but this album is perfect for it (and no, I haven't mention the tune, you have to get the album to relate loooool).

Selected 2010 press
XLR8R Magazine six page Feature (November / December 2010) - LINK (PDF)
Spine TV Podcast (November 2010) - LINK
Fact Magazine Review (November 2010) - LINK
Resident Advisor Review (November 2010) - LINK
NPR "Best New Electronic Music" (October 2010) - LINK
Dusted Review (October 2010) - LINK
Exclaim Interview (October 2010) - LINK
Self Titled Interview & Mix (October 2010) - LINK
MTV UK Interview (September 2010) - LINK
The Wire UK Feature (August 2010) - LINK (PDF)
LittleWhiteEarbuds review (August 2010) - LINK
Fact review (August 2010) - LINK
Dubstepped review (August 2010) - LINK
Urb Interview and mix (April 2010) - LINK
Pitchfork review (March 2010) - LINK
OneThirtyBPM Interview (March 2010) - LINK
SonicRouter review (Feb 2010) - LINK

Terror Danjah - other releases on HYPERDUB
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Terror Danjah
Undeniable EP 4
Format: 12" EP
Catalogue Number: HDB048
Label: Hyperdub
Release Date: TBA
A1. Leave Me Alone ft Bruza / A2. All I Wanna Do ft Lauren Mason / B. Time to Let Go

Fourth of four limited edition EPs featuring three contrasting cuts from Grime Super Producer Terror Danjah’s Hyperdub debut ‘Undeniable’, housed in a lush sleeve.

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Terror Danjah
Undeniable EP 3
Format: 12" EP
Catalogue Number: HDB047
Label: Hyperdub
Release Date: TBA
A. S.O.S. / B1. Sonar (Selassi Mix) / B2. Undeniable ft D Double E (of Newham Generals)

Third of four limited edition EPs featuring three contrasting cuts from Grime Super Producer Terror Danjah’s Hyperdub debut ‘Undeniable’, housed in a lush sleeve.

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Terror Danjah
Undeniable EP 2
Format: 12" EP
Catalogue Number: HDB046
Label: Hyperdub
Release Date: TBA
A, Minimal Dub /B1. This Year ft D.O.K, Mz Bratt & Griminal / B2. Im Feelin U

Second of four limited edition EPs featuring three contrasting cuts from Grime Super Producer Terror Danjah’s Hyperdub debut ‘Undeniable’, housed in a lush sleeve.

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Terror Danjah
Undeniable EP 1
Format: 12" EP
Catalogue Number: HDB045
Label: Hyperdub
Release Date: December 6th 2010
A1. Grand Opening ft Dream Mclean /A2. Story Ending /B. Breaking Bad ft Baby Face Jay

Limited edition EP featuring three contrasting cuts from Grime Super Producer Terror Danjah’s Hyperdub debut ‘Undeniable’, housed in the album's lush sleeve artwork.
The first track aptly titled ‘Grand Opening’, pits Dream Maclean’s masterful myth making lyrics and uber-brags against portentous choral samples and jabbing bass synths.
‘Story ending’ contrasts in mood and feeling, opening with lush trance string arrangements and off beat kicks and scattered snares laced by a R&B vocal before the track breaks into some seriously warped synths.
‘Breaking bad’ ft producer Baby Face Jay is unusual for Terror’s productions, works off a central 4 4 kick allowing the striking ravey stabs, twisted fx and percussive offbeats to fill in and create the syncopations. The track comes off sounding somewhere between a rave classic and an arcade game soundtrack.

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HDB037 (August 2010): Terror Danjah - Bruzin (VIP) / D.O.K feat Terror Danja - Hysteria



HDB031 (Feb 2010): Terror Danjah - Acid / Terror Danjah feat D.O.K Pro Plus

Additional info on Hyperdub singles here